The Ninevites Repent (Matthew 12:38–42; Luke 11:29–32)
1 UDB Then Yahweh said to Jonah again, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2 UDB "Go to that huge city of Nineveh, and tell them the message that I gave you previously." BSB BSB: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
3 UDB So this time Jonah obeyed Yahweh, and he went to Nineveh. That city was very big. A person had to walk for three days to completely go through it. BSB BSB: This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.
4 UDB When Jonah arrived, he began walking through the city for one day. Then he started to proclaim to the people, "Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed!" BSB BSB: On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
5 UDB The people of Nineveh believed God's message. They all decided that everyone should begin fasting. So everyone, including all the important people and all the unimportant people, did that. They also put on coarse cloth to show that they were sorry for having sinned. BSB BSB: And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
6 UDB The king of Nineveh heard about Jonah's message. So he took off his royal robes, and he also put on coarse cloth. He left his throne and sat down where there were cold ashes to show that he also was sorry for having sinned. BSB BSB: When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 UDB Then he sent messengers to proclaim to the people in Nineveh: "My advisors and I have decreed that no one may eat or drink anything. Do not even allow your animals to eat or drink. BSB BSB: Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.
8 UDB Instead, every person must put on coarse cloth. Put coarse cloth on your animals, too. Then everyone must pray fervently to God. And everyone must stop doing evil actions and stop acting violently toward others. BSB BSB: Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands.
9 UDB Perhaps, if everyone does that, God may change his mind and be merciful to us and stop being very angry with us. If that happens, we will not die." BSB BSB: Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
10 UDB When they all did that, God saw what they were doing, and he saw that they had stopped doing evil actions. So he pitied them, and he did not get rid of them as he had threatened to do. BSB BSB: When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.