| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, | 1Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:" |
| 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” | 2Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you." |
| 3So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. | 3So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the LORD's command. Now Nineveh was an extremely large city, a three-day walk. |
| 4And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” | 4Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed, "In 40 days Nineveh will be demolished!" |
| 5So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. | 5The men of Nineveh believed in God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth--from the greatest of them to the least. |
| 6Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. | 6When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. |
| 7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. | 7Then he issued a decree in Nineveh: By order of the king and his nobles: No man or beast, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. |
| 8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. | 8Furthermore, both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God. Each must turn from his evil ways and from the violence he is doing. |
| 9Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? | 9Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His burning anger so that we will not perish. |
| 10Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. | 10Then God saw their actions--that they had turned from their evil ways--so God relented from the disaster He had threatened to do to them. And He did not do it. |
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