Jonás 4
Nueva Biblia de las Américas
Queja de Jonás y respuesta de Dios
4 Pero esto desagradó a Jonás en gran manera, y se enojó(A). 2 Y oró al Señor(B): «¡Ah Señor! ¿No era esto lo que yo decía cuando aún estaba en mi tierra? Por eso me anticipé a huir a Tarsis(C). Porque yo sabía que Tú eres un Dios clemente y compasivo, lento para la ira y rico en misericordia, y que te arrepientes del mal anunciado(D). 3 Y ahora, oh Señor, te ruego que me quites la vida(E), porque mejor me es la muerte que la vida(F)». 4 Y el Señor dijo: «¿Tienes acaso razón para enojarte?».
5 Entonces salió Jonás de la ciudad y se sentó al oriente de la misma. Allí se hizo un cobertizo y se sentó bajo la sombra de él, hasta ver qué sucedería en la ciudad(G). 6 Y el Señor Dios dispuso que una planta creciera sobre Jonás para que hiciera sombra sobre su cabeza y lo librara de su incomodidad. Y Jonás se alegró grandemente por la planta. 7 Pero al rayar el alba del día siguiente Dios dispuso que un gusano atacara la planta, y esta se secó(H). 8 Y sucedió que al salir el sol, Dios dispuso un sofocante viento del este(I), y el sol hirió la cabeza de Jonás, así que él desfallecía(J), y con toda su alma deseaba morir, y decía: «Mejor me es la muerte que la vida(K)».
9 Entonces Dios le preguntó a Jonás: «¿Tienes acaso razón para enojarte por causa de la planta?». «Tengo mucha razón para enojarme hasta la muerte», le respondió. 10 Entonces el Señor le dijo: «Tú te apiadaste de la planta por la que no trabajaste ni hiciste crecer, que nació en una noche y en una noche pereció, 11 ¿y no he de apiadarme Yo de Nínive(L), la gran ciudad, en la que hay más de 120,000 personas que no saben distinguir entre su derecha y su izquierda(M), y también muchos animales(N)?».
Jonah 4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 4
Jonah’s Anger and God’s Reproof. 1 But this greatly displeased Jonah, and he became angry.[a] 2 He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first toward Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, repenting of punishment.[b](A) 3 So now, Lord, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”(B) 4 But the Lord asked, “Are you right to be angry?”[c]
5 Jonah then left the city for a place to the east of it, where he built himself a hut and waited[d] under it in the shade, to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a gourd plant.[e] And when it grew up over Jonah’s head, giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort, Jonah was greatly delighted with the plant. 7 But the next morning at dawn God provided a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 And when the sun arose, God provided a scorching east wind; and the sun beat upon Jonah’s head till he became faint. Then he wished for death, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry over the gourd plant?” Jonah answered, “I have a right to be angry—angry enough to die.” 10 Then the Lord said, “You are concerned[f] over the gourd plant which cost you no effort and which you did not grow; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. 11 And should I not be concerned over the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot know their right hand from their left, not to mention all the animals?”[g]
Footnotes
- 4:1 He became angry: because of his narrow vindictiveness, Jonah did not wish the Lord to forgive the Ninevites.
- 4:2 Punishment: lit., “evil”; see 1:2, 7, 8; 3:8, 10; 4:1.
- 4:4 The Lord’s question is as unexpected as it is pithy. It is also a mysterious reply to Jonah’s wish to die; perhaps it serves to invite Jonah to think over his situation. However, it goes unanswered, and the request and reply will be repeated in vv. 8–9.
- 4:5 Waited: Jonah still hopes his threat of doom will be fulfilled.
- 4:6 Gourd plant: the Hebrew word, qiqayon, means here a wide-leafed plant of the cucumber or castor-bean variety.
- 4:10 Concerned: the meaning of the Hebrew verb suggests “pity, care for,” and this appears in the Lord’s attitude to Nineveh in v. 11. Jonah has shown only a selfish concern over the plant in contrast to the Lord’s true “concern” for his creatures.
- 4:11 A selfish Jonah bemoans his personal loss of a gourd plant for shade without any concern over the threat of loss of life to the Ninevites through the destruction of their city. If a solicitous God provided the plant for a prophet without the latter’s effort or merit, how much more is God disposed to show love and mercy toward all people, Jew and Gentile, when they repent of their sins and implore divine pardon. God’s care goes beyond human beings to all creation, as in Job 38.
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?
Jonah 4
EasyEnglish Bible
Jonah is angry
4 But Jonah was not happy when God decided not to destroy Nineveh. He became very angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord. He said, ‘Lord, this is what I thought would happen when I was still at home. So I decided to run away to Tarshish, so that you could not be kind to the people of Nineveh. I know that you are a God who is very kind and you forgive people. You do not become angry quickly. You always show your faithful love for people. Even when you have said that you will punish people, you decide that you will not do it. 3 Lord, please kill me now! I would rather die than continue to live.’
4 The Lord replied to Jonah, ‘You are not right to be so angry.’
5 Jonah went out of Nineveh. He built a little hut on the east side of the city. He sat in the shade of the hut. He waited to see what would happen to the city.[a]
6 The Lord God made a little plant grow there. He caused it to grow up over Jonah's head to give him shade from the hot sun. This comforted Jonah in his trouble. Jonah was very happy about the plant.
7 But at dawn the next day, God sent a worm to attack the plant. So then the plant died. 8 When the sun rose, God caused a hot wind to blow from the east. The hot sun shone on Jonah's head so that he became very weak. He wanted to die. He said, ‘I would rather die than continue to live.’
9 But God said to Jonah, ‘You are not right to be so angry about the plant.’
Jonah said, ‘I am right to be angry! I am so angry that I want to die.’
10 But the Lord said to Jonah, ‘You are upset about what happened to this little plant. But you did not plant it. You did not help it to grow. It grew up quickly during one night and by the next night it had died. You are sorry about such a little thing! 11 So it is right for me to be sorry about Nineveh. It is a great city. More than 120,000 people live in it. They cannot understand the difference between what is right and what is wrong. They also have many farm animals.’
Footnotes
- 4:5 Jonah probably used sticks and leaves to build the hut, so that the sun would not burn him.
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