4 But Yonah was very upset and the situation made him angry. 2 [ref]And he said to Yahweh, “Please Yahweh, wasn’t this what I said would happen when I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled to Tarshish the first time, because I knew that you are a caring forgiving god, who doesn’t get angry quickly; full of kindness and not wanting to cause distress. 3 [ref]So therefore Yahweh, please kill me because I’d rather die than live like this.”

4 But Yahweh said, “Do you think it’s right to be angry like that?”

5 And Yonah went outside the city to the east and made himself a shelter and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city. 6 And Yahweh God commanded a plant and it grew up over Yonah to shade his head and to relieve him from his distress. Yonah was very pleased about the plant. 7 Then at dawn the next day God commanded a grub and it attacked the plant which then shrivelled up. 8 And when the sun came up, God sent a hot east wind and the sun beat on Yonah’s head. He became faint and asked for his life to end and said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”

9 And God said to Yonah, “Do you think it’s right to be angry about the plant?”

And Yonah replied, “Yes, I’m angry enough to die!”

10 Then Yahweh said, “You felt sorry for the plant which you didn’t even plant or work for. It came up in a day and died again in a day 11 so shouldn’t I feel sorry for the huge city of Nineveh which has so many people in it who don’t know right from wrong—over 120,000 people, not to mention all the livestock!”