Jonah 4

Jonah’s Anger

1 Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.  * 4:1 Jnh 4:9; Mt 20:15; Lk 15:282 He prayed to the Lord,  * 4:2 Jr 20:7 "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.  * 4:2 Jnh 1:3 I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God,  * 4:2 Ex 34:6; Nm 14:18; Ps 86:5,15; Jl 2:13 slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster.  * 4:2 Neh 9:173 And now, Lord, take my life from me,  * 4:3 1Kg 19:4; Jb 6:8–9 for it is better for me to die than to live."  * 4:3 Jb 7:15–16; Ec 7:1

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

5 Jonah left the city and found a place east of it.  * 4:5 1Kg 19:9,13 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.  * 4:6 Or disaster, or evil 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.  * 4:7 Jl 1:12

8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind.  * 4:8 Ezk 19:12; Hs 13:15 The sun beat down on Jonah’s head  * 4:8 Ps 121:6; Is 49:10 so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, "It’s better for me to die than to live."  * 4:8 Jnh 4:3

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,  * 4:11 Jnh 3:10 which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left,  * 4:11 Dt 1:39; Is 7:16 as well as many animals? "  * 4:11 Ps 36:6