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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 18:8If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
- 1 Kgs 21:27–29And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
- Exod 32:14And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
- Amos 7:6The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.
- Luke 15:20And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
- Luke 11:32The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
- Amos 7:3The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
- Jer 31:18–20I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
- Joel 2:13And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
- Jonah 4:2And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
- Job 33:27–28He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.