Jonah 4
4
Jonah's Anger and God's Mercy
1Jonah was very unhappy about this and became angry. 2#Ex 34.6So he prayed, “LORD, didn't I say before I left home that this is just what you would do? That's why I did my best to run away to Spain! I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always patient, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish. 3#1 Kgs 19.4Now, LORD, let me die. I am better off dead than alive.”
4The LORD answered, “What right have you to be angry?”
5Jonah went out east of the city and sat down. He made a shelter for himself and sat in its shade, waiting to see what would happen to Nineveh. 6Then the LORD God made a plant grow up over Jonah to give him some shade, so that he would be more comfortable. Jonah was extremely pleased with the plant. 7But at dawn the next day, at God's command, a worm attacked the plant, and it died. 8After the sun had risen, God sent a hot east wind, and Jonah was about to faint from the heat of the sun beating down on his head. So he wished he were dead.#4.8 wished he were dead; or prayed that he would die. “I am better off dead than alive,” he said.
9But God said to him, “What right have you to be angry about the plant?”
Jonah replied, “I have every right to be angry — angry enough to die!”
10The LORD said to him, “This plant grew up in one night and disappeared the next; you didn't do anything for it, and you didn't make it grow — yet you feel sorry for it! 11How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city. After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals!”
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jonah 4
4
God’s Mercy Makes Jonah Angry
1But this made Jonah very unhappy, and he became angry. 2He prayed to the Lord, “When I was still in my own country this is what I said would happen, and that 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, and you have great love. I knew you would choose not to cause harm. 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 sat in the shade, waiting to see what would happen to the city. 6The Lord made a plant grow quickly up over Jonah, which gave him shade and helped him to be more comfortable. Jonah was very pleased to have the plant. 7But the next day when the sun rose, God sent a worm to attack the plant so that it died.
8As the sun rose higher in the sky, God sent a very hot east wind to blow, and the sun became so hot on Jonah’s head that he became very weak and wished he were dead. 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 about the plant?”
Jonah answered, “It is right for me to be angry! I am so angry I could die!”
10And the Lord said, “You are so concerned for that plant even though you did nothing to make it grow. It appeared one day, and the next day it died. 11Then shouldn’t I show concern for the great city Nineveh, which has more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know right from wrong, and many animals, too?”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.