1And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the second time , saying , 2Arise , go unto Nineveh , that great city , and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee . 3So Jonah arose , and went unto Nineveh , according to the word of Jehovah . Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city , of three days ’ journey . 4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day ’s journey , and he cried , and said , Yet forty days , and Nineveh shall be overthrown .
The Response of Nineveh
5And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast , and put on sackcloth , from the greatest of them even to the least of them . 6And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh , and he arose from his throne , and laid his robe from him , and covered him with sackcloth , and sat in ashes. 7And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles , saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock , taste anything ; let them not feed , nor drink water ; 8but let them be covered with sackcloth , both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way , and from the violence that is in his hands . 9Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent , and turn away from his fierce anger , that we perish not ?
God’s Compassion and Mercy
10And God saw their works , that they turned from their evil way ; and God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them ; and he did it not .