The oracle against Nineveh; ¹  the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite: ² 

and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. ¹ 

“Go immediately ¹  to Nineveh, ²  that ³  large capital ⁴  city, ⁵  and announce judgment against ⁶  its people ⁷  because their wickedness ⁸  has come to my attention.” ⁹ 

The people ¹  of Nineveh believed in God, ²  and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. ³ 

From that land he went ¹  to Assyria, ²  where he built Nineveh, ³  Rehoboth-Ir, ⁴  Calah, ⁵ 

“Go immediately ¹  to Nineveh, that large city, ²  and proclaim to ³  it the message that I tell you.”

So Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, as the Lord had said. (Now Nineveh was an enormous city ¹  – it required three days to walk through it!) ² 

When the news ¹  reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.

Everyone who sees you will turn away from you in disgust; they will say, ‘Nineveh has been devastated! Who will lament for her?’ There will be no one to comfort you!” ¹ 

The Lord ¹  will attack the north ²  and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins; it will be as barren ³  as the desert.

Should I ¹  not be even more ²  concerned ³  about Nineveh, this enormous city? ⁴  There are more than one hundred twenty thousand people in it who do not know right from wrong, ⁵  as well as many animals!” ⁶