Jonah 4

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

But this seemed very wrong to Jonah, and he was angry.

2 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.

And he made prayer to the Lord and said, O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still in my country? This is why I took care to go in flight to Tarshish: for I was certain that you were a loving God, full of pity, slow to be angry and great in mercy, and ready to be turned from your purpose of evil.

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

So now, O Lord, give ear to my prayer and take my life from me; for death is better for me than life.

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

And the Lord said, Have you any right to be angry?

5 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.

Then Jonah went out of the town, and took his seat on the east side of the town and made himself a roof of branches and took his seat under its shade till he saw what would become of the town.

6 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;

And the Lord God made a vine come up over Jonah to give him shade over his head. And Jonah was very glad because of the vine.

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

But early on the morning after, God made ready a worm for the destruction of the vine, and it became dry and dead.

8 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.”

Then when the sun came up, God sent a burning east wind: and so great was the heat of the sun on his head that Jonah was overcome, and, requesting death for himself, said, Death is better for me than life.

9 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!”

And the Lord said to Jonah, Have you any right to be angry about the vine? And he said, I have a right to be truly angry.

10 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.

And the Lord said, You had pity on the vine, for which you did no work and for the growth of which you were not responsible; which came up in a night and came to an end in a night;

11 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?”

And am I not to have mercy on Nineveh, that great town, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons without the power of judging between right and left, as well as much cattle?