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Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of the city. And there he made a booth for himself and (A)sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. So Yahweh God appointed a [a]plant, and it came up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his miserable evil. And Jonah was [b]extremely glad about the plant. But God appointed a worm at the [c]breaking of dawn the next day, and it struck the plant, and [d]it (B)dried up. Then it happened that as the sun rose up, God appointed a scorching (C)east wind, and the (D)sun struck down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and asked with all his soul to die and said, “(E)Death is better to me than life.”

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 [e]came to be overnight and perished [f]overnight. 11 So should I not (F)have pity on Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not (G)know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many [g](H)animals?”

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Footnotes

  1. Jonah 4:6 Probably a castor oil plant, so through v 10
  2. Jonah 4:6 Lit greatly
  3. Jonah 4:7 Lit rising
  4. Jonah 4:7 The plant
  5. Jonah 4:10 Lit was a son of a night
  6. Jonah 4:10 Lit a son of a night
  7. Jonah 4:11 Lit beasts, cattle; cf. 3:7-8

Jonah left the city and found a place east of it.(A) He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city. 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. When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.(B)

As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind.(C) The sun beat down on Jonah’s head(D) so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”(E)

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,(F) which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left,(G) as well as many animals?”(H)

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Footnotes

  1. 4:6 Or disaster, or evil