1The word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second time, saying,
2"Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message I give you."
3So Jonah obeyed the word of Yahweh and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was an extremely large city, a three-day journey to cross.
4Jonah started into the city, walking for one day, and he cried out, "In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!"
5The people of Nineveh believed God. They announced a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least.
6As soon as the king of Nineveh heard the news, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7He then issued a city-wide proclamation, approved by the king and his nobles, which stated: “Let no one—man or animal, herd or flock—eat or drink anything.
8Instead, let every person and animal be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone pray earnestly to God. Let everyone turn from their evil ways and stop all their acts of violence.
9Who knows? Maybe God will change his mind and turn away from his fierce anger, so we won’t die.”
10God saw what they did—that they turned from their evil way. So God changed his mind about the disaster he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.