lJonah 3:4-10 (NIV) On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." 5 The Ninevites believed God. They
declared a fast, and all of them, from the
greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When the news 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 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let any man or beast, herd or
flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast 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."