²He ^aprayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this ¹what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore ²in order to forestall this I ^bfled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a ^cgracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

³“Therefore now, O Lord, please ^atake my ¹life from me, for death is ^bbetter to me than life.”

⁴The Lord said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1Lit my word
2Lit I was beforehand in fleeing
1Lit soul

Cross references

a Jon 4:4, 9; Matt 20:15; Luke 15:28
a Jer 20:7
b Jon 1:3
c Ex 34:6; Num 14:18; Ps 86:5, 15; Joel 2:13
a 1 Kin 19:4; Job 6:8, 9
b Job 7:15, 16; Eccl 7:1

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious. He prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster. And now, Lord, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

The Lord asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

NLTNew Living Translation

This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.”

The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And this was greatly displeasing to Jonah, and he became furious. And he prayed to Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh, was this not what I said while I was in my homeland? Therefore I originally fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and having great steadfast love, and one who relents concerning calamity. And so then, Yahweh, please take my life from me, because for me death is better than life!” And Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

KJV 1900King James Version

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?

Public Domain