Jonah 4
4
God’s Mercy Makes Jonah Angry
1But Jonah was very unhappy that God did not destroy the city. He was angry. 2He complained to the Lord and said, “I knew this would happen. I knew it when I was still in my own country. It is why I quickly ran away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a God who is kind and shows mercy. You don’t become angry quickly. You have great love. I knew you would rather forgive than punish them. 3So now I ask you, Lord, please kill me. It is better for me to die than to live.”
4Then the Lord said, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry?”
5Jonah went out and sat down east of the city. There he made a shelter for himself. And he sat there in the shade. He was waiting to see what would happen to the city. 6The Lord made a plant grow quickly up over Jonah. This made a cool place for him to sit. And it helped him to be more comfortable. Jonah was very pleased to have the plant for shade. 7The next day the sun rose. And God sent a worm to attack the plant. Then the plant died.
8When the sun was high in the sky, God sent a hot east wind to blow. The sun became very hot on Jonah’s head. And he became very weak. He wished he were dead. Jonah said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9But God said this to Jonah: “Do you think it is right for you to be angry because of the plant?”
Jonah answered, “It is right for me to be angry! I will stay angry until I die!”
10And the Lord said, “You showed concern for that plant. But you did not plant it or make it grow. It appeared in the night, and the next day it died. 11Then surely I can show concern for the great city Nineveh. There are many animals in that city. And there are more than 120,000 people living there. Those people simply do not know right from wrong!”
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Jonah 4: ICB
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Jonah 4
4
Jonah’s Displeasure at God’s Mercy
1But it greatly displeased Jonah and he resented it.
2So he prayed to Adonai and said, “Please, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my own country? That’s what I anticipated, fleeing to Tarshish—for I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and full of kindness, and relenting over calamity.
3So please, Adonai, take my soul from me—because better is my death than my life.”
4Yet Adonai said, “Is it good for you to be so angry?”
5So Jonah went out from the city and sat east of the city. There He made a sukkah and he sat under it, in the shade, until he saw what would happen in the city.
6Then Adonai God prepared a plant and it grew up over Jonah, to give shade over his head to spare him from his discomfort. So Jonah was very happy about the plant.
7But God at dawn the next day prepared a worm that crippled the plant and it withered away.
8When the sun rose, God prepared a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint. So he implored that his soul would die, saying, “My death would be better than my life!”
9Then God said to Jonah, “Is it good for you to be so angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said, “I am angry enough to die!”
10But Adonai said, “You have pity on the plant for which you did no labor or make it grow, that appeared overnight and perished overnight. So shouldn’t I have pity on Nineveh— the great city that has in it more than 120,000 people who don’t know their right hand from their left—as well as many animals?”
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