Jonah 4:1-10 ▼

1 And it was evil to Jonah—a great evil—and he became hot at it.

2 And he prayed to YHWH and said, “Ah, YHWH, was not this my word while I was in my own land? Upon thus, I acted beforehand to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving devotion, and one who relents from disaster.

3 And now, O YHWH, take, please, my soul from me, for better is my death than my life.”

4 And YHWH said, “Is it right for you to be hot?”

5 And Jonah went out from the city, and sat on the east of the city; and he made for himself there a shelter, and he sat under it in the shade, until that he might see what would become of the city.

6 And YHWH God appointed a qiqayon, and He made it come up above Jonah to be shade over his head to deliver him from his trouble. And Jonah was glad about the plant with great joy.

7 And God appointed a worm at the rising of the dawn on the next day, and it struck the qiqayon, and it withered.

8 And it came to pass at the rising of the sun that God appointed a scorching wind from the east, and the sun beat on the head of Jonah. And he became faint, and he asked for his soul to die, and said, “Better is my death than my life!”

9 And God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be hot about the qiqayon?” And he said, “It is right; it burns in me, even to death!”

10 And YHWH said, “You have concern over the qiqayon, for which you have not toiled, and you have not made it grow; as a son of a night came to be, and as a son of a night it perished.