Jonah 4

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

And it is grievous unto Jonah — a great evil — and he is displeased at it;

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.

and he prayeth unto Jehovah, and he saith, 'I pray Thee, O Jehovah, is not this my word while I was in mine own land — therefore I was beforehand to flee to Tarshish — that I have known that Thou [art] a God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, and repenting of evil?

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

And now, O Jehovah, take, I pray Thee, my soul from me, for better [is] my death than my life.'

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

And Jehovah saith, 'Is doing good displeasing to thee?'

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.

And Jonah goeth forth from the city, and sitteth on the east of the city, and maketh to himself there a booth, and sitteth under it in the shade, till that he seeth what is in 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.

And Jehovah God appointeth a gourd, and causeth it to come up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head, to give deliverance to him from his affliction, and Jonah rejoiceth because of the gourd [with] great joy.

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

And God appointeth a worm at the going up of the dawn on the morrow, and it smiteth the gourd, and it drieth up.

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.”

And it cometh to pass, about the rising of the sun, that God appointeth a cutting east wind, and the sun smiteth on the head of Jonah, and he wrappeth himself up, and asketh his soul to die, and saith, 'Better [is] my death than my life.'

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.”

And God saith unto Jonah: 'Is doing good displeasing to thee, because of the gourd?' and he saith, 'To do good is displeasing to me — unto 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.

And Jehovah saith, 'Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for which thou didst not labour, neither didst thou nourish it, which a son of a night was, and a son of a night perished,

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?”

and I — have not I pity on Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than twelve myriads of human beings, who have not known between their right hand and their left — and much cattle!'