Jonah 4

1 Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.

这事约拿大大不悦，且甚发怒，

2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.

就祷告耶和华说：“耶和华啊，我在本国的时候岂不是这样说吗？我知道你是有恩典、有怜悯的 神，不轻易发怒，有丰盛的慈爱，并且后悔不降所说的灾，所以我急速逃往他施去。

3 And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

耶和华啊，现在求你取我的命吧！因为我死了比活着还好。”

4 But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”

耶和华说：“你这样发怒合乎理吗？”

5 Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.

于是约拿出城，坐在城的东边，在那里为自己搭了一座棚，坐在棚的荫下，要看看那城究竟如何。

6 So the LORD God appointed a vine, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.

耶和华 神安排一棵蓖麻，使其发生高过约拿，影儿遮盖他的头，救他脱离苦楚；约拿因这棵蓖麻大大喜乐。

7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.

次日黎明， 神却安排一条虫子咬这蓖麻，以致枯槁。

8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

日头出来的时候， 神安排炎热的东风，日头曝晒约拿的头，使他发昏，他就为自己求死，说：“我死了比活着还好！”

9 Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”

神对约拿说：“你因这棵蓖麻发怒合乎理吗？”他说：“我发怒以至于死，都合乎理！”

10 But the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you neither tended nor made grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night.

耶和华说：“这蓖麻不是你栽种的，也不是你培养的；一夜发生，一夜干死，你尚且爱惜；

11 So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”

何况这尼尼微大城，其中不能分辨左手右手的有十二万多人，并有许多牲畜，我岂能不爱惜呢？”