Jonah 4

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

这事约拿大大不悦，且甚发怒，

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.

就祷告耶和华说：“耶和华啊，我在本国的时候岂不是这样说吗？我知道你是有恩典、有怜悯的 神，不轻易发怒，有丰盛的慈爱，并且后悔不降所说的灾，所以我急速逃往他施去。

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

耶和华啊，现在求你取我的命吧！因为我死了比活着还好。”

4 But the Lord said, ‘Are you doing right in being angry?’

耶和华说：“你这样发怒合乎理吗？”

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.

于是约拿出城，坐在城的东边，在那里为自己搭了一座棚，坐在棚的荫下，要看看那城究竟如何。

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;

耶和华 神安排一棵蓖麻，使其发生高过约拿，影儿遮盖他的头，救他脱离苦楚；约拿因这棵蓖麻大大喜乐。

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

次日黎明， 神却安排一条虫子咬这蓖麻，以致枯槁。

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.’

日头出来的时候， 神安排炎热的东风，日头曝晒约拿的头，使他发昏，他就为自己求死，说：“我死了比活着还好！”

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!’

神对约拿说：“你因这棵蓖麻发怒合乎理吗？”他说：“我发怒以至于死，都合乎理！”

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.

耶和华说：“这蓖麻不是你栽种的，也不是你培养的；一夜发生，一夜干死，你尚且爱惜；

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?’

何况这尼尼微大城，其中不能分辨左手右手的有十二万多人，并有许多牲畜，我岂能不爱惜呢？”