Jonah 3
1Then Yahweh said to Jonah a second time, saying,
2"Go immediately to that great city called Nineveh, and tell the people who live there the message that I gave you previously." that great city OR that large/important city that great city Jonah 1:2 that great city How you described the city in Jonah 1:2, be consistent to describe it the same way here.
3So, this time Jonah obeyed Yahweh, and he went to Nineveh. That city was so big that a person had to walk for three days to go everywhere in it. a person had to walk for three days to go everywhere in it OR it took three days to walk through it OR it took three days for a person to visit/see it all a person had to walk for three days to go everywhere in it The walls surrounding Nineveh extended five kilometers around, so a person could walk around the city in a few hours. Jonah’s three-day walk likely refers to walking about inside the city. The number three is important to retain in this story.
4On the first day after Jonah arrived, he began walking through the city. He started proclaiming to the people, "Forty days from now, God will destroy Nineveh!"
5The people in Nineveh believed God's message. They all decided that everyone should stop eating food, and they must dress themselves with old/rough clothes, to show that they were sorry for having sinned. So, everyone, including important people and unimportant people, did so. stop eating food OR fast OR abstain from food
6Nineveh's king heard the news about Jonah and what the people were doing. So, he took off his royal robes, and he also put on old/rough clothes. He left his palace, and sat down on cold ashes, to humble himself and show that he also was sorry for having sinned.
7Then he sent messengers to proclaim to everyone 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.
8Instead, every person must put on old/rough cloth. Put old/rough cloth on your animals, too. Then everyone must pray fervently to God. And everyone must stop doing evil actions/things, and stop acting violently toward others.
9Perhaps, if everyone does so, then God may change his mind and be merciful to us. Maybe God will stop being very angry with us, with the result that we will not die."
10When they all did that, God saw what they were doing, and he saw that they had stopped doing evil things. So, he pitied them, and he did not destroy them as he had threatened to do.