"And it was"- [for] a second time.

"Get up"- He [God] is showing him [Yonah] that he did not go a way that distanced him from Nineveh [since the fish spat him out on the shore of Nineveh], [therefore] if He sends him a second time, he will go.

"And he got up": Rabbi Yeshuah said that the sailors went to Nineveh and spoke about [or, spoke the message of] Yonah. This is why they believed him, and the word "to god" explains this [to be the case].

"a three-day walk"- [to walk] around the city is a one day, [if one is only traveling] from one end to the other [and not throughout the entire city, as we might assume Yonah did], or [maybe] he did not walk [three days into the city] to call out, [rather he] only [walked] one day's walk because of this.

"And he started"- Some say:

that "overturned" [means] that it would overturn [itself] from [doing] it's evil actions, and this interpretation is not correct; [rather] the [interpretation of the] matter is only like [the verse]: "For a moment I speak [of a nation to be destroyed and smashed...]" (Jeremiah 18:7)

"And they believed"- [this case is] like [it says in the verse]: "and the people believed" (Shemot 4:31).

and the essence of [the meaning of the word]: "in God" is [that the believed] "in the word of God."

"And it reached"- this [was] before the donning of the sackcloth.

"And he took off"- [this word ויעבר means] remove.

"And he covered"- his flesh[himself] in sackcloth, [and this is not meant to be read that he simply "covered"], for this a transitive verb [which requires an object on which to act in the sentence, thus he covered himself].

"And he cried" - [the understanding of this phrase stems] from the reasoning [that he screamed] from his counsel, knowledge, and intellect, like [it says in the verse] "[A Psalm of David,] when he changed his sanity [before Avimelech, and he drove him out and he left...]"(Tehillim 34:1).

"And they shall cover themselves," "and they shall call out [to God]"- [The king's proclamation said:] "Any man who is a knowledgeable person, or someone who knows they have done evil," or [the decree was saying] like [that which it says when Avraham entreated God regarding Sodom] "Perhaps [there are ten good men to be found there?]" (Bereshit 18:32).

And the word "and he will return" is [going] on the glorious name [of God].

"And God saw" - that they believed in him. And it [the people's belief] is like this [episode] in [Parshat] Yitro: "before God." (Shemot 18:12).

"And he relented"- [In describing God with human attributes, the Torah here employs the principle] "The torah spoke like the language of human beings."