Jonah 3-4

GOD’S WORD Translation

Nineveh Turns from Its Wicked Ways

3 Then the Lord spoke his word to Jonah a second time. He said, ² “Leave at once for the important city, Nineveh. Announce to the people the message I have given you.”

³ Jonah immediately went to Nineveh as the Lord told him. Nineveh was a very large city. It took three days to walk through ^[a] it. ⁴ Jonah entered the city and walked for about a day. Then he said, “In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed.”

⁵ The people of Nineveh believed God. They decided to fast, and everyone, from the most important to the least important, dressed in sackcloth.

⁶ When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷ Then he made this announcement and sent it throughout the city:

“This is an order from the king and his nobles: No one is to eat or drink anything. This includes all people, animals, cattle, and sheep. ⁸ Every person and animal must put on sackcloth. Cry loudly to God for help. Turn from your wicked ways and your acts of violence. ⁹ Who knows? God may reconsider his plans and turn from his burning anger so that we won’t die.”

¹⁰ God saw what they did. He saw that they turned from their wicked ways. So God reconsidered his threat to destroy them, and he didn’t do it.

The Lord Has to Remind Jonah about His Mercy

4 Jonah was very upset about this, and he became angry. ² So he prayed to the Lord, “Lord, isn’t this what I said would happen when I was still in my own country? That’s why I tried to run to Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, patient, and always ready to forgive and to reconsider your threats of destruction. ³ So now, Lord, take my life. I’d rather be dead than alive.”

⁴ The Lord asked, “What right do you have to be angry?”

⁵ Jonah left the city and sat down east of it. He made himself a shelter there. He sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. ⁶ The Lord God made a plant grow up beside Jonah to give him shade and make him more comfortable. Jonah was very happy with the plant.

⁷ At dawn the next day, God sent a worm to attack the plant so that it withered. ⁸ When the sun rose, God made a hot east wind blow. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he was about to faint. He wanted to die. So he said, “I’d rather be dead than alive.”

⁹ Then God asked Jonah, “What right do you have to be angry over this plant?”

Jonah answered, “I have every right to be angry—so angry that I want to die.”

¹⁰ The Lord replied, “This plant grew up overnight and died overnight. You didn’t plant it or make it grow. Yet, you feel sorry for this plant. ¹¹ Shouldn’t I feel sorry for this important city, Nineveh? It has more than 120,000 people in it as well as many animals. These people couldn’t tell their right hand from their left.”