Jonah 4
1 And it was vexing unto Jonah, with a great vexation, —and it angered him.
And Jonah was afflicted with a great affliction, and he was angry.
2 So he prayed unto Yahweh, and said—Ah now! Yahweh! Was not, this, my word, while I was yet upon mine own soil? For this cause, did I hasten to flee unto Tarshish, —because I knew that, thou, art a GOD of favour and compassion, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and art grieved over calamity.
And he prayed to the Lord, and he said, “I beg you, Lord, was this not my word, when I was still in my own land? Because of this, I knew beforehand to flee into Tarshish. For I know that you are a lenient and merciful God, patient and great in compassion, and forgiving despite ill will.
3 Now, therefore, O Yahweh, take, I pray thee, my life from me, —for it were better for me, to die, than, to live.
And now, Lord, I ask you to take my life from me. For it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 Then said Yahweh, Art thou rightly angry?
And the Lord said, “Do you really think you are right to be angry?”
5 But Jonah, went forth, out of the city, and abode on the east side of the city; and made for himself there, a hut, and sat under it, in the shade, until he should see what would become of the city.
And Jonah went out of the city, and he sat opposite the east of the city. And he made himself a shelter there, and he was sitting under it in the shadow, until he might see what would befall the city.
6 Now Yahweh God appointed a gourd, and caused it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his vexation, —and Jonah rejoiced over the gourd, with great rejoicing.
And the Lord God prepared an ivy, and it ascended over the head of Jonah so as to be a shadow over his head, and to protect him (for he had labored hard). And Jonah rejoiced because of the ivy, with great rejoicing.
7 But God appointed a worm, at the uprisings of the dawn, the next day, —and it smote the gourd, that it withered.
And God prepared a worm, when dawn approached on the next day, and it struck the ivy, and it dried up.
8 And it came to pass, at the breaking forth of the sun, that God appointed a sultry east wind, and the sun smote upon the head of Jonah, that he became faint, —and asked his life, that he might die, and said, It were better for me, to die, than, to live.
And when the sun had risen, the Lord ordered a hot and burning wind. And the sun beat down on the head of Jonah, and he burned. And he petitioned for his soul that he might die, and he said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 Then said God unto Jonah, Art thou rightly angry over the gourd? And he said, I am rightly angry, unto death.
And the Lord said to Jonah, “Do you really think that you are right to be angry because of the ivy?” And he said, “I am right to be angry even unto death.”
10 Then said Yahweh, Thou, wouldest have spared the gourd, for which thou hadst not toiled, neither hadst thou made it grow, —which, as the off-spring of a night, came up, and, as the offspring of a night, perished;
And the Lord said, “You grieve for the ivy, for which you have not labored and which you did not cause to grow, though it had been born during one night, and during one night perished.
11 And was not, I, to spare Nineveh, the great city, —wherein are more than twelve times ten thousand human beings, who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, besides much cattle?
And shall I not spare Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand men, who do not know the difference between their right and their left, and many beasts?”
