Jonah 4
New American Standard Bible
Jonah’s Displeasure Rebuked
4 But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became (A)angry. 2 Then he (B)prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was this not [a]what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore in anticipation of this I (C)fled to Tarshish, since I knew that You are a (D)gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in mercy, and One who relents of disaster. 3 So now, Lord, please (E)take my [b]life from me, for death is (F)better to me than life.” 4 But the Lord said, “Do you have a good reason to be angry?”
5 Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of [c]it. There he made a shelter for himself and (G)sat under it in the shade, until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the Lord God designated a [d]plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to [e]relieve him of his discomfort. And Jonah [f]was overjoyed about the plant. 7 But God designated a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it (H)withered. 8 And when the sun came up God designated a scorching (I)east wind, and the (J)sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint, and he begged with all his soul to die, saying, “(K)Death is better to me than life!”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to the point of death!” 10 Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant, for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which [g]came up overnight and perished [h]overnight. 11 Should I not also (L)have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people, who do not (M)know the difference between their right hand and their left, as well as many (N)animals?”
Footnotes
- Jonah 4:2 Lit my word
- Jonah 4:3 Lit soul
- Jonah 4:5 Lit the city
- Jonah 4:6 Prob. a castor oil plant, and so throughout the ch
- Jonah 4:6 Lit save him from
- Jonah 4:6 Lit rejoiced with great joy
- Jonah 4:10 Lit was a son of a night
- Jonah 4:10 Lit a son of a night
Jonah 4
The Message
“I Knew This Was Going to Happen!”
4 1-2 Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it—when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!
3 “So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”
4 God said, “What do you have to be angry about?”
5 But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city.
6 God arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up.
7-8 But then God sent a worm. By dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun came up and God sent a hot, blistering wind from the east. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: “I’m better off dead!”
9 Then God said to Jonah, “What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?”
Jonah said, “Plenty of right. It’s made me angry enough to die!”
10-11 God said, “What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?”
Jonah 4
King James Version
4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?
5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson