Font Size
Jonah 4
Common English Bible
Jonah 4
Common English Bible
Jonah balks at God’s mercy
4 But Jonah thought this was utterly wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Come on, Lord! Wasn’t this precisely my point when I was back in my own land? This is why I fled to Tarshish earlier! I know that you are a merciful and compassionate God, very patient, full of faithful love, and willing not to destroy. 3 At this point, Lord, you may as well take my life from me, because it would be better for me to die than to live.”
4 The Lord responded, “Is your anger a good thing?” 5 But Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city. There he made himself a hut and sat under it, in the shade, to see what would happen to the city.
6 Then the Lord God provided a shrub,[a] and it grew up over Jonah, providing shade for his head and saving him from his misery. Jonah was very happy about the shrub. 7 But God provided a worm the next day at dawn, and it attacked the shrub so that it died. 8 Then as the sun rose God provided a dry east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint. He begged that he might die, saying, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”
9 God said to Jonah, “Is your anger about the shrub a good thing?”
Jonah said, “Yes, my anger is good—even to the point of death!”
10 But the Lord said, “You ‘pitied’ the shrub, for which you didn’t work and which you didn’t raise; it grew in a night and perished in a night. 11 Yet for my part, can’t I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who can’t tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”
Footnotes
- Jonah 4:6 Botanists disagree about whether Heb qiqayon refers to a climbing gourd plant, a castor bean plant, or some other shrub.
Jonah 4
Legacy Standard Bible
Jonah 4
Legacy Standard Bible
Jonah’s Anger
4 But this was a great evil to Jonah, and he became (A)angry. 2 And he (B)prayed to Yahweh and said, “Ah! O Yahweh, was not this my word to myself while I was still in my own land? Therefore I went ahead to (C)flee 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 evil. 3 So now, O Yahweh, please (E)take my [a]life from me, for death is (F)better to me than life.” 4 And Yahweh said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”
5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of the city. And there he made a booth for himself and (G)sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So Yahweh God appointed a [b]plant, and it came up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his miserable evil. And Jonah was [c]extremely glad about the plant. 7 But God appointed a worm at the [d]breaking of dawn the next day, and it struck the plant, and [e]it (H)dried up. 8 Then it happened that as the sun rose up, God appointed a scorching (I)east wind, and the (J)sun struck down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and asked with all his soul to die and said, “(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 Yahweh said, “You had pity on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which [f]came to be overnight and perished [g]overnight. 11 So should I not (L)have pity 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 [h](N)animals?”
Footnotes
- Jonah 4:3 Lit soul
- Jonah 4:6 Probably a castor oil plant, so through v 10
- Jonah 4:6 Lit greatly
- Jonah 4:7 Lit rising
- Jonah 4:7 The plant
- Jonah 4:10 Lit was a son of a night
- Jonah 4:10 Lit a son of a night
- Jonah 4:11 Lit beasts, cattle; cf. 3:7-8
Jonah 4
New King James Version
Jonah 4
New King James Version
Jonah’s Anger and God’s Kindness
4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I (A)fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a (B)gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3 (C)Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for (D)it is better for me to die than to live!”
4 Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God prepared a [a]plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah [b]was very grateful for the plant. 7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. 8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, (E)“It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
10 But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which [c]came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, (F)that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons (G)who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
Footnotes
- Jonah 4:6 Heb. kikayon, exact identity unknown
- Jonah 4:6 Lit. rejoiced with great joy
- Jonah 4:10 Lit. was a son of a night
Jonah 4
New International Version
Jonah 4
New International Version
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?”
Footnotes
- Jonah 4:6 The precise identification of this plant is uncertain; also in verses 7, 9 and 10.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.