Jonah 4

Modern

Literal

Jonah’s Anger at the LORD’s Compassion

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

¹And it was evil to Jonah—a great evil—and he became hot at it.

²So 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.

²And he prayed to YHWH and said, “Ah, YHWH, was not this my word while I was in my own land? Upon thus, I acted beforehand to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving devotion, and one who relents from disaster.

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

³And now, O YHWH, take, please, my soul from me, for better is my death than my life.”

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

⁴And YHWH said, “Is it right for you to be hot?”

⁵Then 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.

⁵And Jonah went out from the city, and sat on the east of the city; and he made for himself there a shelter, and he sat under it in the shade, until that he might see what would become of the city.

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

⁶And YHWH God appointed a qiqayon, and He made it come up above Jonah to be shade over his head to deliver him from his trouble. And Jonah was glad about the plant with great joy.

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

⁷And God appointed a worm at the rising of the dawn on the next day, and it struck the qiqayon, and it withered.

⁸As 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.”

⁸And it came to pass at the rising of the sun that God appointed a scorching wind from the east, and the sun beat on the head of Jonah. And he became faint, and he asked for his soul to die, and said, “Better is my death than my life!”

⁹Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?”

“I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”

⁹And God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be hot about the qiqayon?” And he said, “It is right; it burns in me, even to death!”

¹⁰But 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.

¹⁰And YHWH said, “You have concern over the qiqayon, for which you have not toiled, and you have not made it grow; as a son of a night came to be, and as a son of a night it perished.

¹¹So 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?”

¹¹And I, should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city, in which are more than twelve myriad people who do not know between their right hand to their left hand, and many animals?”