Jonah 3

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

¹A message from the Lord came to Jonah a second time. The Lord said,

²“Go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce to its people the message I give you.”

³Jonah obeyed the Lord . He went to Nineveh. It was a very large city. In fact, it took about three days to go through it.

⁴Jonah began by going one whole day into the city. As he went, he announced, “In 40 days Nineveh will be destroyed.”

⁵The people of Nineveh believed God’s warning. So they decided not to eat any food for a while. And all of them put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. That’s what everyone did, from the least important of them to the most important.

⁶Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh. He got up from his throne. He took off his royal robes. He also dressed himself in the clothing of sadness. And then he sat down in the dust.

⁷Here is the message he sent out to the people of Nineveh.

¹⁰God saw what they did. He saw that they stopped doing what was evil. So he took pity on them. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would.