Jonah 3:5–4:11
5 And the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth—from the greatest of them ⌊to the least important⌋.e
6 And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. 7 And he had a proclamation made, and said,
“In Nineveh, by a decree of the king and his nobles:
“No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything! They must not eat, and they must not drink water! 8 And the human beings and the animals must be covered with sackcloth! And they must call forcefully to God, and each must turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in hisf hands. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind and turn ⌊from his blazing anger⌋g ⌊so that⌋h we will not perish.”
10 And God saw their deeds—that they turned from their evil ways—and God changed his mind about the evil that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.i
Jonah Is Angry at Yahweh’s Compassion
4 And thisa ⌊was greatly displeasing⌋b to Jonah, and ⌊he became furious⌋.c 2 And he prayed to Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh, was this not ⌊what I said⌋d while I was in my homeland? Therefore ⌊I originally fled⌋e to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger ⌊and having great steadfast love⌋,f and one who relents concerning calamity.g 3 And so then, Yahweh, please take my life from me, because for me death is better than life!” 4 And Yahweh said, “⌊Is it right for you to be angry⌋?”h
5 And Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city, and he made for himself a shelter there. And he sat under it in the shade, ⌊waiting to see⌋i what would happen with the city. 6 And Yahweh God appointed a plant,j and he made it grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. And Jonah ⌊was very glad⌋k about the plant. 7 So God appointed a worm ⌊at daybreak⌋l the next day, and it attacked the plant, and it withered. 8 ⌊And when the sun rose⌋,m God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he grew faint. ⌊And he asked that he could die⌋n and said, “My death is better than my life!” 9 So God said to Jonah, “⌊Is it right for you to be angry⌋o about the plant?” And he said, “⌊It is right for me to be angry enough to die⌋!”p
10 But Yahweh said, “You are troubled about the plant, for which you did not labor nor cause it to grow. ⌊It grew up in a night and it perished in a night⌋!q 11 And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, the great city, ⌊in which there are⌋r more ⌊than one hundred and twenty thousand⌋s people who do not know right from left,t plus many animals?”