[1] Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, [2]
"Arise, go to Nin'eveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message
that I tell you." [3] So Jonah arose and went to Nin'eveh, according to the
word of the LORD. Now Nin'eveh was an exceedingly great city, three days'
journey in breadth. [4] Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's
journey. And he cried, "Yet forty days, and Nin'eveh shall be overthrown!"
[5] And the people of Nin'eveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and
put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. [6] Then
tidings reached the king of Nin'eveh, and he arose from his throne, removed
his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. [7] And he
made proclamation and published through Nin'eveh, "By the decree of the
king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste
anything; let them not feed, or drink water, [8] but let man and beast be
covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every
one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. [9]
Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we
perish not?" [10] When God saw what they did, how they turned from their
evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them;
and he did not do it.