Jonah 4:1-9 ▼

1 But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry.

2 He prayed to the LORD and said, |Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my [own] country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

3 |Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.|

4 The LORD said, |Do you have good reason to be angry?|

5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city.

6 So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.

7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered.

8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with [all] his soul to die, saying, |Death is better to me than life.|

9 Then God said to Jonah, |Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?| And he said, |I have good reason to be angry, even to death.|