The Ninevites Repent
(Matthew 12:38–42; Luke 11:29–32)
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: Jon 1:1Jhn 21:15-17 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.” Ezk 2:7Jer 1:17Jon 1:2Jon 3:3Ezk 3:17Jer 15:19-21Jhn 5:14Mat 3:8
This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Gen 22:3Mat 21:28-29Psa 80:10Gen 30:8Psa 36:62Ti 4:11
Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, 1 requiring a three-day journey. 2 On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!” Deu 18:22Jer 18:7-102Ki 20:12Ki 20:6Jon 3:10
And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. Luk 11:32Dan 9:3Jol 2:12-17Mat 12:412Ch 20:3Jol 1:14Exo 9:18-21Act 27:25
When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Est 4:1-4Jas 4:6-10Dan 9:3Job 2:8Ezk 27:30-31Jas 1:9-10Jer 6:26Luk 10:13
Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: 2Ch 20:3Jol 1:18Jol 2:15-16Jon 3:5Ezr 8:21Rom 8:20-22
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink. Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. Isa 55:6-7Isa 59:6Jon 1:6Act 3:19Ezk 18:21-24Isa 1:16-19Jon 1:14Act 26:20 Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.” 2Sa 12:22Jol 2:13-14Jon 1:6Luk 15:18-20Psa 106:45Amo 5:15
When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them. Jer 18:81Ki 21:27-29Exo 32:14Amo 7:6Luk 11:32Luk 15:20Amo 7:3Jer 31:18-20