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.
Parallel translations
- WEB God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
- KJV And 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.
- NKJV Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
- NASB When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their evil way, then God relented of the disaster which He had declared He would bring on them. So He did not do it.
- NLT When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God sees Nineveh's repentance and relents from the disaster He had threatened. It matters because it reveals God's readiness to forgive all who truly turn to Him.
Overview
God's 'relenting' describes His response to genuine repentance, consistent with His unchanging character and His revealed willingness to spare the penitent (Jeremiah 18:7-8). His mercy is not fickleness but faithfulness to His own merciful nature. That a cruel pagan empire is spared upon repentance magnifies the breadth of God's grace, which the gospel extends to all nations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 18:8But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.
- 1 Kgs 21:27–29When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
- Exod 32:14So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.
- Amos 7:6So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD.
- Luke 15:20So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
- Luke 11:32The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
- Amos 7:3So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen,” He said.
- Jer 31:18–20I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
- Joel 2:13So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
- Jonah 4:2So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
- Job 33:27–28Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.
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Christ at the center
Three days in the belly of the fish is the sign Jesus gave of his own death and resurrection (Matt 12:40); and God's mercy on pagan Nineveh foreshadows the gospel going to the nations.
How Jonah 3:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.