Jonah's Anger and the Lord's Compassion

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[a] and (A)he was angry. 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. (E)Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, (F)for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, (G)“Do you do well to be angry?”

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Footnotes

  1. Jonah 4:1 Hebrew it was exceedingly evil to Jonah

Jonah balks at God’s mercy

But Jonah thought this was utterly wrong, and he became angry. 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. 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.”

The Lord responded, “Is your anger a good thing?”

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