Jonah 4

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

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly; and he was wroth.

2 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.

And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my word, while I was yet in my own country? Therefore made I haste to fly unto Tharshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, and repentant of the evil.

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

And now, O Lord, take, I pray thee, my soul from me; because it is better for me to die, than to live.

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

And the Lord said, Art thou very wroth?

5 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.

Now Jonah was gone out of the city, and dwelt on the east side of the city; and he had made himself there a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

6 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.

And the Lord God made ready a gourd, and it grew up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head, to relieve him from his affliction. And Jonah rejoiced because of the gourd exceedingly.

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

But God made ready a worm when the morning dawned on the morrow, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

8 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.

And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God made ready a hot east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he became faint; and he wished for himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

9 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.

And God said unto Jonah, Art thou very wroth for the gourd? And he said, I am very wroth, even unto death.

10 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;

And the Lord said, Thou wouldst have spared the gourd, for which thou hadst not labored, neither hadst thou made it grow; which came up in one night, and perished in one night;

11 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?

And shall I not spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than twelve times ten thousand persons, who know not how to discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?