Jonah’s Anger
4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “I pray thee, 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 thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, take my life from me, I beseech thee, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” 5 Then Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.
Jonah Is Reproved
6 And the Lord God appointed a plant,[a] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.[b] 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm which attacked the plant,[c] so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he was faint; and he asked that he might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?”[d] And he said, “I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant,[e] for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night, and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nin′eveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
Footnotes
- Jonah 4:6 Heb qiqayon, probably the castor oil plant
- Jonah 4:6 Heb qiqayon, probably the castor oil plant
- Jonah 4:7 Heb qiqayon, probably the castor oil plant
- Jonah 4:9 Heb qiqayon, probably the castor oil plant
- Jonah 4:10 Heb qiqayon, probably the castor oil plant