Jonah 4

Jonah’s Displeasure Rebuked

1But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became 1angry. 2Then he 2prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was this not 3what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore in anticipation of this I 4fled to Tarshish, since I knew that You are a 5gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in mercy, and One who relents of disaster. 3So now, Lord, please 6take my 7life from me, for death is 8better to me than life.” 4But the Lord said, “Do you have a good reason to be angry?”

5Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of 9it. There he made a shelter for himself and 10sat under it in the shade, until he could see what would happen in the city. 6So the Lord God designated a 11plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to 12relieve him of his discomfort. And Jonah 13was overjoyed about the plant. 7But God designated a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it 14withered. 8And when the sun came up God designated a scorching 15east wind, and the 16sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint, and he begged with all his soul to die, saying, “17Death is better to me than life!”

9But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to the point of death!” 10Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant, for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which 18came up overnight and perished 19overnight. 11Should I not also 20have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people, who do not 21know the difference between their right hand and their left, as well as many 22animals?”