Jonah 4

1 And Jonah was afflicted with a great affliction, and he was angry.

But this displeased Jonah and he became very angry.

2 And he prayed to the Lord, and he said, “I beg you, Lord, was this not my word, when I was still in my own land? Because of this, I knew beforehand to flee into Tarshish. For I know that you are a lenient and merciful God, patient and great in compassion, and forgiving despite ill will.

So Jonah prayed to Yahweh and said, “Ah, Yahweh, is this not just what I said when I was back in my own country? That is why I acted first and tried to flee to Tarshish—because I knew that you are a gracious God, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in covenant faithfulness, and you hold back from sending disaster.

3 And now, Lord, I ask you to take my life from me. For it is better for me to die than to live.”

Therefore now, Yahweh, I beg you, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 And the Lord said, “Do you really think you are right to be angry?”

Yahweh said, “Is it good that you are so angry?”

5 And Jonah went out of the city, and he sat opposite the east of the city. And he made himself a shelter there, and he was sitting under it in the shadow, until he might see what would befall the city.

Then Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made a shelter and sat under it in the shade so that he could see what might become of the city.

6 And the Lord God prepared an ivy, and it ascended over the head of Jonah so as to be a shadow over his head, and to protect him (for he had labored hard). And Jonah rejoiced because of the ivy, with great rejoicing.

Yahweh God prepared a plant and made it grow up over Jonah so that it might be a shade over his head to relieve his distress. Jonah was very glad because of the plant.

7 And God prepared a worm, when dawn approached on the next day, and it struck the ivy, and it dried up.

But God prepared a worm at sunrise the next morning. It attacked the plant and the plant withered.

8 And when the sun had risen, the Lord ordered a hot and burning wind. And the sun beat down on the head of Jonah, and he burned. And he petitioned for his soul that he might die, and he said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

It came about that when the sun rose the next morning, God prepared a hot east wind. Also, the sun beat down on Jonah's head and he became faint. Then Jonah wished that he might die. He said to himself, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

9 And the Lord said to Jonah, “Do you really think that you are right to be angry because of the ivy?” And he said, “I am right to be angry even unto death.”

Then God said to Jonah, “Is it good that you are so angry about the plant?” Then Jonah said, “It is good that I am angry, even to death.”

10 And the Lord said, “You grieve for the ivy, for which you have not labored and which you did not cause to grow, though it had been born during one night, and during one night perished.

Yahweh said, “You have had compassion for the plant, for which you have not labored, nor did you make it grow. It grew up in a night and died in a night.

11 And shall I not spare Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand men, who do not know the difference between their right and their left, and many beasts?”

So as for me, should I not have compassion for Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know the difference between their right hand and their left hand, and also many cattle?”