Jonah 4:5-11
Holman Christian Standard Bible
5 Jonah left the city and sat down east of it.(A) 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,[a] and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort.[b] 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.(B)
8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind.(C) The sun beat down so much on Jonah’s head(D) that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”(E)
9 Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“Yes,” he replied. “It is right. I’m angry enough to die!”
10 So 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 Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh,(F) which has more than 120,000 people[c] who cannot distinguish between their right and their left,(G) as well as many animals?”(H)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Jonah 4:6 A castor-oil plant or a climbing gourd
- Jonah 4:6 Lit to deliver him from his evil
- Jonah 4:11 Or men
Jonah 4:5-11
International Standard Version
Jonah’s Discouragement
5 Then Jonah left the city and sat down on the eastern side.[a] There he made a shelter for himself and sat down under its shade to see what would happen to the city. 6 The Lord God prepared a vine plant,[b] and it grew over Jonah to shade his head and provide relief from his misery. Jonah was happy—indeed, he was ecstatic—about the vine plant. 7 But at dawn the next day, God provided a worm that attacked the vine plant so that it withered away. 8 When the sun rose, God prepared a harsh east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head, he became faint, and he begged to die. “It is better for me to die than to live!” he said.
9 Then God asked Jonah, “Is your anger about the vine plant justified?”
And he answered, “Absolutely! I’m so angry I could die!”
10 But the Lord asked, “You cared about a vine plant that you neither worked on nor cultivated? A vine plant that grew up overnight and died overnight? 11 So why shouldn’t I be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 human beings who do not know their right hand from their left,[c] as well as a lot of livestock?
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Jonah 4:5 Lit. down east of the city
- Jonah 4:6 Or castor bean plant; or gourd; and so throughout the chapter
- Jonah 4:11 I.e. young children or infants
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