The LORD told Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry out against it because its evil had come up before him Jonah 1:2. The command is repeated later, telling Jonah to proclaim the message God would give him Jonah 3:2.
Jonah 1:1–2 opens by introducing a direct message from Yahweh to a man named Jonah, identified by his father’s name. The message is a commission: Jonah must get up and travel to Nineveh, described as an important city. His task is public proclamation against the city. These verses function as the story’s launching point, setting the main tension by placing Jonah under a clear divine command. The narrative begins abruptly with Yahweh speaking, without background explanation, which creates momentum and focuses attention on Jonah’s response.
These opening lines present Jonah’s mission as starting with God’s initiative, not Jonah’s idea. The story begins with “the word of Yahweh” coming to Jonah, identified as “the son of Amittai,” which treats him as a real, named messenger in Israel.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Jonah 1:2, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
2"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me."