The City That Said Sorry

God talked to Jonah again. 'Jonah, go to Nineveh and tell them My message.'

This time, Jonah obeyed! He went to the big city of Nineveh. It was HUGE—it would take three whole days to walk through it!

Jonah walked into the city and shouted God's message: 'In forty days, God is going to destroy this city because you've been doing bad things!'

Jonah probably thought the people would laugh at him or get mad. But something amazing happened!

The people LISTENED! They believed Jonah's message was from God. They were very, very sorry for all the mean and bad things they had done.

Everyone put on scratchy, uncomfortable clothes called sackcloth to show they were sad about their sins. Even the KING took off his fancy crown and royal robes and put on sackcloth!

The king made a rule: 'Everyone stop eating! Pray to God! Stop doing bad things! Maybe God will forgive us!'

Even the animals wore sackcloth! Can you imagine cows and horses wearing scratchy clothes? The whole city was saying sorry to God!

God saw that they really meant it. They weren't just pretending. They really wanted to change and do what was right.

So God decided NOT to destroy the city! He forgave them! God's mercy is SO big that He forgives anyone who is truly sorry—even people who had been very, very bad.

God loves ALL people, everywhere!