| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, | 1The LORD said to Jonah a second time, |
| 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” | 2"Go immediately to Nineveh, that large city, and proclaim to it 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 went immediately to Nineveh, as the LORD had said. (Now Nineveh was an enormous city--it required three days to walk through it!) |
| 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!” | 4When Jonah began to enter the city one day's walk, he announced, "At the end of forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!" |
| 5So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. | 5The people of Nineveh believed in God, and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. |
| 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 the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on 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. | 7He issued a proclamation and said, "In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not 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. | 8Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly to God, and everyone must turn from their evil way of living and from the violence that they do. |
| 9Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? | 9Who knows? Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we might not die." |
| 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. | 10When God saw their actions--they turned from their evil way of living!--God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and he did not destroy them. |
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