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Cela déplut fort à Jonas, et il fut irrité.

Il implora l'Éternel, et il dit: Ah! Éternel, n'est-ce pas ce que je disais quand j'étais encore dans mon pays? C'est ce que je voulais prévenir en fuyant à Tarsis. Car je savais que tu es un Dieu compatissant et miséricordieux, lent à la colère et riche en bonté, et qui te repens du mal.

Maintenant, Éternel, prends-moi donc la vie, car la mort m'est préférable à la vie.

L'Éternel répondit: Fais-tu bien de t'irriter?

Et Jonas sortit de la ville, et s'assit à l'orient de la ville, Là il se fit une cabane, et s'y tint à l'ombre, jusqu'à ce qu'il vît ce qui arriverait dans la ville.

L'Éternel Dieu fit croître un ricin, qui s'éleva au-dessus de Jonas, pour donner de l'ombre sur sa tête et pour lui ôter son irritation. Jonas éprouva une grande joie à cause de ce ricin.

Mais le lendemain, à l'aurore, Dieu fit venir un ver qui piqua le ricin, et le ricin sécha.

Au lever du soleil, Dieu fit souffler un vent chaud d'orient, et le soleil frappa la tête de Jonas, au point qu'il tomba en défaillance. Il demanda la mort, et dit: La mort m'est préférable à la vie.

Dieu dit à Jonas: Fais-tu bien de t'irriter à cause du ricin? Il répondit: Je fais bien de m'irriter jusqu'à la mort.

10 Et l'Éternel dit: Tu as pitié du ricin qui ne t'a coûté aucune peine et que tu n'as pas fait croître, qui est né dans une nuit et qui a péri dans une nuit.

11 Et moi, je n'aurais pas pitié de Ninive, la grande ville, dans laquelle se trouvent plus de cent vingt mille hommes qui ne savent pas distinguer leur droite de leur gauche, et des animaux en grand nombre!

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?” 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.

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. But God provided a worm the next day at dawn, and it attacked the shrub so that it died. 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.”

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

  1. Jonah 4:6 Botanists disagree about whether Heb qiqayon refers to a climbing gourd plant, a castor bean plant, or some other shrub.

Jonah is angry

But Jonah was not happy when God decided not to destroy Nineveh. He became very angry. He prayed to the Lord. He said, ‘Lord, this is what I thought would happen when I was still at home. So I decided to run away to Tarshish, so that you could not be kind to the people of Nineveh. I know that you are a God who is very kind and you forgive people. You do not become angry quickly. You always show your faithful love for people. Even when you have said that you will punish people, you decide that you will not do it. Lord, please kill me now! I would rather die than continue to live.’

The Lord replied to Jonah, ‘You are not right to be so angry.’

Jonah went out of Nineveh. He built a little hut on the east side of the city. He sat in the shade of the hut. He waited to see what would happen to the city.[a]

The Lord God made a little plant grow there. He caused it to grow up over Jonah's head to give him shade from the hot sun. This comforted Jonah in his trouble. Jonah was very happy about the plant.

But at dawn the next day, God sent a worm to attack the plant. So then the plant died. When the sun rose, God caused a hot wind to blow from the east. The hot sun shone on Jonah's head so that he became very weak. He wanted to die. He said, ‘I would rather die than continue to live.’

But God said to Jonah, ‘You are not right to be so angry about the plant.’

Jonah said, ‘I am right to be angry! I am so angry that I want to die.’

10 But the Lord said to Jonah, ‘You are upset about what happened to this little plant. But you did not plant it. You did not help it to grow. It grew up quickly during one night and by the next night it had died. You are sorry about such a little thing! 11 So it is right for me to be sorry about Nineveh. It is a great city. More than 120,000 people live in it. They cannot understand the difference between what is right and what is wrong. They also have many farm animals.’

Footnotes

  1. 4:5 Jonah probably used sticks and leaves to build the hut, so that the sun would not burn him.

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.(A) 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) Now, Lord, take away my life,(G) for it is better for me to die(H) than to live.”(I)

But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”(J)

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. 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. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.(L) 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.”

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

  1. Jonah 4:6 The precise identification of this plant is uncertain; also in verses 7, 9 and 10.