Jonah 4:1-10 ▼

1 Jonah, however (dove), was greatly displeased, and he became angry.

2 So he prayed to the LORD {YHWH}, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish (yellow jasper). I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.

3 And now, O LORD {YHWH}, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 But the LORD {YHWH} replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”

5 Then Jonah (dove) left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.

6 So the LORD God {YHWH Elohim} appointed a vine {qiqayon}, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s (dove) head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.

7 When dawn came the next day, God {Elohim} appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.

8 As the sun was rising, God {Elohim} appointed a scorching east wind {ruach}, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s (dove) head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

9 Then God {Elohim} asked Jonah (dove), “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”

10 But the LORD {YHWH} said, “You cared about the plant, which you neither tended nor made grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night.