1
Neno la Bwana likamjia Yona mara ya pili, kusema,
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2
Ondoka, uende Ninawi, mji ule mkubwa; ukaihubiri habari nitakayokuamuru.
“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
3
Basi Yona akaondoka, akaenda Ninawi, kama Bwana alivyonena. Basi Ninawi ulikuwa mji mkubwa mno, ukubwa wake mwendo wa siku tatu.
This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.
4
Yona akaanza kuuingia mji mwendo wa siku moja, akapaza sauti yake, akasema, Baada ya siku arobaini Ninawi utaangamizwa.
On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
5
Basi watu wa Ninawi wakamsadiki Mungu; wakatangaza kufunga, wakajivika nguo za magunia, tangu yeye aliye mkubwa hata aliye mdogo.
And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
6
Habari ikamfikia mfalme wa Ninawi, naye akaondoka katika kiti chake cha enzi, akavua vazi lake, akajivika nguo za magunia, na kuketi katika majivu.
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.
7
Naye akapiga mbiu, akatangaza habari katika mji wa Ninawi, kwa amri ya mfalme na wakuu wake; kusema, Mwanadamu asionje kitu, wala mnyama wala makundi ya ng'ombe, wala makundi ya kondoo; wasile, wala wasinywe maji;
Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “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.
8
bali na wafunikwe nguo za magunia, mwanadamu na mnyama pia, nao wakamlilie Mungu kwa nguvu, naam, na wageuke, kila mtu akaache njia yake mbaya, na udhalimu ulio mikononi mwake.
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.
9
Ni nani ajuaye kwamba Mungu hatageuka na kughairi, na kuiacha hasira yake kali, ili msiangamizwe?
Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
10
Mungu akaona matendo yao, ya kuwa wameiacha njia yao mbaya. Basi Mungu akalighairi neno lile baya, ambalo alisema atawatenda; asilitende.
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.