| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, | 1Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: |
| 2Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. | 2"Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." |
| 3So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. | 3Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. |
| 4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. | 4Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city, proclaiming, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown." |
| 5So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. | 5The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. |
| 6For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. | 6When Jonah's warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. |
| 7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: | 7This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. |
| 8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. | 8But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. |
| 9Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? | 9Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." |
| 10And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. | 10When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. |
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