Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect

Jonah 4

Jonah’s anger

But to Jonah this seemed a great wrong, and he burned with anger. He prayed to the LORD: “Please, LORD, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love, who relents from bringing disaster. Now, LORD, please take my life from me. I would be better off dead than alive.” The LORD asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

The plant and the question

Jonah went out of the city and sat to its east. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city. The LORD God appointed a plant, which grew up over Jonah to shade his head and relieve his distress. Jonah was greatly delighted with the plant. At dawn the next day, God appointed a worm. It attacked the plant, and the plant withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head until he grew faint. He asked to die, saying, “I would be better off dead than alive.” God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” He answered, “It is right for me to be angry—angry enough to die!” The LORD said, “You have compassion for the plant, though you did not labor over it or make it grow. It came into being in a night and perished in a night. Should I not have compassion for Nineveh, the great city, with more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left—and many animals?”