Jonah 4
Christian Standard Bible
Jonah’s Anger
4 Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.(A) 2 He prayed to the Lord,(B) “Please, Lord, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place.(C) I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God,(D) slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster.(E) 3 And now, Lord, take my life from me,(F) for it is better for me to die than to live.”(G)
4 The Lord asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 Jonah left the city and found a place east of it.(H) He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God appointed a plant, and it grew over Jonah to provide shade for his head to rescue him from his trouble.[a] Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant. 7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.(I)
8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind.(J) The sun beat down on Jonah’s head(K) so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”(L)
9 Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“Yes, it’s right!” he replied. “I’m angry enough to die!”
10 And the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. 11 So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh,(M) which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left,(N) as well as many animals?”(O)
Footnotes
- 4:6 Or disaster, or evil
Jonah 4
English Standard Version
Jonah's Anger and the Lord's Compassion
4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[a] and (A)he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? (B)That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a (C)gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and (D)relenting from disaster. 3 (E)Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, (F)for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, (G)“Do you do well to be angry?”
5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and (H)made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant[b] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.[c] So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching (I)east wind, (J)and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he (K)was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, (L)“It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, (M)“Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity (N)Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much (O)cattle?”
Jonah 4
New American Standard Bible 1995
Jonah’s Displeasure Rebuked
4 But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became (A)angry. 2 He (B)prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this [a]what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore [b]in order to forestall this I (C)fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a (D)gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please (E)take my [c]life from me, for death is (F)better to me than life.” 4 The Lord said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”
5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of [d]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 appointed a [e]plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was [f]extremely happy about the [g]plant. 7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it (H)withered. 8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching (I)east wind, and the (J)sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “(K)Death is better to me than life.”
9 Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to 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 [h]came up overnight and perished [i]overnight. 11 Should I not (L)have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not (M)know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many (N)animals?”
Footnotes
- Jonah 4:2 Lit my word
- Jonah 4:2 Lit I was beforehand in fleeing
- Jonah 4:3 Lit soul
- Jonah 4:5 Lit the city
- Jonah 4:6 Probably a castor oil plant, and so in vv 7, 9 and 10
- Jonah 4:6 Lit greatly
- Jonah 4:6 Probably a castor oil plant, and so in vv 7, 9 and 10
- Jonah 4:10 Lit was a son of a night
- Jonah 4:10 Lit a son of a night
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
