Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

4 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.^{(A) 2} He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew^(B) that you are a gracious^(C) and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love,^(D) a God who relents^(E) from sending calamity.^{(F) 3} Now, Lord, take away my life,^(G) for it is better for me to die^(H) than to live.”^(I)

⁴ But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”^(J)

⁵ Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. ⁶ Then the Lord God provided^(K) a leafy plant^[a] and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. ⁷ But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.^{(L) 8} When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die,^(M) and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

⁹ But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”^(N)

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

¹⁰ But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹ And should I not have concern^(O) for the great city of Nineveh,^(P) in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

³² So they went away by themselves in a boat^(A) to a solitary place. ³³ But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.^(B) So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵ By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. ³⁶ Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷ But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”^(C)

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages^[a]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

³⁸ “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”^(D)

³⁹ Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.^(E) Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³ and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴ The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Jesus Walks on the Water^(F)(G)

⁴⁵ Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat^(H) and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida,^(I) while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.^(J)

⁴⁷ Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. ⁴⁸ He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost.^(K) They cried out, ⁵⁰ because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”^{(L) 51} Then he climbed into the boat^(M) with them, and the wind died down.^(N) They were completely amazed, ⁵² for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.^(O)

⁵³ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.^{(P) 54} As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵ They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak,^(Q) and all who touched it were healed.