約拿書 4

1 這事約拿大大不悅，且甚發怒，

But this seemed very wrong to Jonah and he became angry.

2 就禱告耶和華說：「耶和華啊，我在本國的時候豈不是這樣說嗎？我知道你是有恩典、有憐憫的上帝，不輕易發怒，有豐盛的慈愛，並且後悔不降所說的災，所以我急速逃往他施去。

He prayed to the Lord and said, “Ah, Lord, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? That was why I fled at once to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, patient, and loving and ready to forgive.

3 耶和華啊，現在求你取我的命吧！因為我死了比活着還好。」

Therefore, Lord, I beg you, take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live!”

4 耶和華說：「你這樣發怒合乎理嗎？」

But the Lord said, “Are you doing right in being angry?”

5 於是約拿出城，坐在城的東邊，在那裏為自己搭了一座棚，坐在棚的蔭下，要看看那城究竟如何。

Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down on the east side, and there made a hut for himself and sat under it, waiting to see what would become of the city.

6 耶和華上帝安排一棵蓖麻，使其發生高過約拿，影兒遮蓋他的頭，救他脫離苦楚；約拿因這棵蓖麻大大喜樂。

And the Lord arranged for a bush to grow up over Jonah as a shade for his head to make him comfortable. The bush gave Jonah great pleasure;

7 次日黎明，上帝卻安排一條蟲子咬這蓖麻，以致枯槁。

but at dawn the next day God arranged for a worm which attacked the bush, so that it wilted.

8 日頭出來的時候，上帝安排炎熱的東風，日頭曝曬約拿的頭，使他發昏，他就為自己求死，說：「我死了比活着還好！」

And when the sun rose, God arranged a hot east wind. And the sun beat upon Jonah’s head, so that he was faint and begged that he might die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

9 上帝對約拿說：「你因這棵蓖麻發怒合乎理嗎？」他說：「我發怒以至於死，都合乎理！」

But God said to Jonah, “Are you doing right in being angry about the bush?” He replied, “I have every right to be as angry as I could possibly be!”

10 耶和華說：「這蓖麻不是你栽種的，也不是你培養的；一夜發生，一夜乾死，你尚且愛惜；

The Lord said, “You care about a bush which has cost you no trouble and which you have not made grow, which came up in a night and wilted in a night.

11 何況這尼尼微大城，其中不能分辨左手右手的有十二萬多人，並有許多牲畜，我豈能不愛惜呢？」

Should I not care for the great city Nineveh, in which there are one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left; and many cattle too?”