Jonah Is Angry at Yahweh’s Compassion

4 And this[fn] was greatly displeasing[fn] to Jonah, and he became furious.[fn] 2 And he prayed to Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh, was this not what I said[fn] while I was in my homeland? Therefore I originally fled[fn] to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and having great steadfast love,[fn] and one who relents concerning calamity.[fn] 3 And so then, Yahweh, please take my life from me, because for me death is better than life!” 4 And Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”[fn]

5 And Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city, and he made for himself a shelter there. And he sat under it in the shade, waiting to see[fn] what would happen with the city. 6 And Yahweh God appointed a plant,[fn] and he made it grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. And Jonah was very glad[fn] about the plant. 7 So God appointed a worm at daybreak[fn] the next day, and it attacked the plant, and it withered. 8 And when the sun rose,[fn] God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he grew faint. And he asked that he could die[fn] and said, “My death is better than my life!” 9 So God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry[fn] about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry enough to die!”[fn]

10 But Yahweh said, “You are troubled about the plant, for which you did not labor nor cause it to grow. It grew up in a night and it perished in a night![fn] 11 And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, the great city, in which there are[fn] more than one hundred and twenty thousand[fn] people who do not know right from left,[fn] plus many animals?”