Jonah’s Anger

4 Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.^{(A) 2} He prayed to the Lord,^(B) “Please, Lord, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place.^(C) I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God,^(D) slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster.^{(E) 3} And now, Lord, take my life from me,^(F) for it is better for me to die than to live.”^(G)

⁴ The Lord asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

⁵ Jonah left the city and found a place east of it.^(H) He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city. ⁶ Then the Lord God appointed a plant, and it grew over Jonah to provide shade for his head to rescue him from his trouble.^[a] Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant. ⁷ When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.^(I)

⁸ As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind.^(J) The sun beat down on Jonah’s head^(K) so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”^(L)

⁹ Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“Yes, it’s right!” he replied. “I’m angry enough to die!”

¹⁰ And the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh,^(M) which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left,^(N) as well as many animals?”^(O)