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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Jonah 4: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Jonah 4
4
God’s Mercy Makes Jonah Angry
1Jonah was not happy that God saved the city. Jonah became angry. 2He complained to the Lord and said, “Lord, I knew this would happen! I was in my own country, and you told me to come here. At that time I knew that you would forgive the people of this evil city, so I decided to run away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a kind God. I knew that you show mercy and don’t want to punish people. I knew that you are kind, and if these people stopped sinning, you would change your plans to destroy them. 3So now, Lord, just 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 of the city to a place near the city on the east side. He made a shelter for himself and sat there in the shade, waiting to see what would happen to the city.
The Gourd Plant and the Worm
6The Lord made a gourd plant grow quickly over Jonah. This made a cool place for Jonah to sit and helped him to be more comfortable. He was very happy because of this plant.
7The next morning, God sent a worm to eat part of the plant. The worm began eating the plant, and the plant died.
8After the sun was high in the sky, God caused a hot east wind to blow. The sun became very hot on Jonah’s head, and he became very weak. He asked God to let him die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9But God said to Jonah, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry just because this plant died?”
Jonah answered, “Yes, it is right for me to be angry! I am angry enough to die!”
10And the Lord said, “You did nothing for that plant. You did not make it grow. It grew up in the night, and the next day it died. And now you are sad about it. 11If you can get upset over a plant, surely I can feel sorry for a big city like Nineveh. There are many people and animals in that city. There are more than 120,000 people there who did not know they were doing wrong.”#4:11 people … wrong Literally, “people who do not know their right from their left.” This might mean “innocent children.”
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