Jonah 4

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

4But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.^{j 2}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^k that you are a gracious^l and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love,^m a God who relentsⁿ from sending calamity.^{o 3}Now, Lord, take away my life,^p for it is better for me to die^q than to live.”^r

⁴But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”^s

⁵Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. ⁶Then the Lord God provided^t a leafy plant^a and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. ⁷But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.^{u 8}When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die,^v and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

⁹But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”^w

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

¹⁰But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹And should I not have concern^x for the great city of Nineveh,^y in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”