The Ninevites Repent (Matthew 12:38–42; Luke 11:29–32)
1 ULT Then the word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second time, saying, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2 ULT “Get up, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the proclamation that I tell to you.” BSB BSB: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
3 ULT So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was a city great to God, a journey of three days. 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 ULT So Jonah began to go into the city a journey of one day, and he called out and said,“Still 40 days, then Nineveh will be overthrown.” 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 ULT And the men of Nineveh believed God. And they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. BSB BSB: And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
6 ULT Then the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he rose up from his throne, and he took off his robe from being on him, and he covered himself{ with} sackcloth and sat down on the ash heap. 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 ULT And he proclaimed and spoke within Nineveh from a decree of the king and his nobles, saying:“The person and the animal, the herd and the flock, must not taste anything; they must not graze, and they must not drink water. 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 ULT But let the man and the beast be covered{ with} sackcloth, and they must cry out to God with strength, and each man must turn back from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands. 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 ULT Who knows? This god might turn back and have compassion and relent from the burning of his nose so that we will not perish.” BSB BSB: Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
10 ULT And God saw their deeds, that they turned away from their evil ways. And God relented in regard to the evil that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do{ it}. 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.