Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion
1 But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “Please, Lord, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I quickly to fled to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent from doing harm. 3 Therefore now, Lord, I beg you, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 The Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 Then Jonah left the city and sat on the east side of the city, and there he made himself a shelter and sat under its shade until he might see what would become of the city. 6 The Lord God prepared a vine and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was very happy because of the vine.
7 But at dawn the next day, the Lord prepared a worm, and it chewed on the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, the Lord prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat on Jonah’s head so that he fainted and requested for himself that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 The Lord said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?”
He said, “I am right to be angry–angry enough to die!”
10 The Lord said, “You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, nor have you made it grow. It came up in one night and perished in one night. 11 Should I not be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 people who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also as many livestock?”