Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I give you.”
- BSB “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
- NKJV “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”
- NASB “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.”
- NLT “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”
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 again sends Jonah to Nineveh to preach the message He gives. It matters because Jonah must speak God's word, not his own, faithfully delivering what he is told.
Overview
The renewed commission repeats the original call but stresses preaching 'the message that I give you,' underscoring that the prophet is a messenger, not the author. God's persistence shows His unchanging purpose to warn Nineveh. The verse models faithful proclamation, in which the preacher's task is to declare God's word accurately and fully.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ezek 2:7And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
- Jer 1:17Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
- Jonah 3:3So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
- Jonah 1:2Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
- Jer 15:19–21Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
- John 5:14Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
- Zeph 2:13–15And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
- Matt 3:8Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
- Ezek 3:17Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 3:2 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.