[5] The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. [6] When 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. [7] This 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. [8] But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. [9] Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” [10] When 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.
