Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁰ God saw what the people did. He saw that they stopped doing evil. So God changed his mind and did not do what he planned. He did not punish the people.

God’s Mercy Makes Jonah Angry

4 Jonah was not happy that God saved the city. Jonah became angry. ² He complained to the Lord and said, “Lord, I knew this would happen! I was in my own country, and you told me to come here. At that time I knew that you would forgive the people of this evil city, so I decided to run away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a kind God. I knew that you show mercy and don’t want to punish people. I knew that you are kind, and if these people stopped sinning, you would change your plans to destroy them. ³ So now, Lord, just kill me. It is better for me to die than to live.”

⁴ Then the Lord said, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry?”

⁵ Jonah went out of the city to a place near the city on the east side. He made a shelter for himself and sat there in the shade, waiting to see what would happen to the city.

The Gourd Plant and the Worm

⁶ The Lord made a gourd plant grow quickly over Jonah. This made a cool place for Jonah to sit and helped him to be more comfortable. He was very happy because of this plant.

⁷ The next morning, God sent a worm to eat part of the plant. The worm began eating the plant, and the plant died.

⁸ After the sun was high in the sky, God caused a hot east wind to blow. The sun became very hot on Jonah’s head, and he became very weak. He asked God to let him die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

⁹ But God said to Jonah, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry just because this plant died?”

Jonah answered, “Yes, it is right for me to be angry! I am angry enough to die!”

¹⁰ And the Lord said, “You did nothing for that plant. You did not make it grow. It grew up in the night, and the next day it died. And now you are sad about it. ¹¹ If you can get upset over a plant, surely I can feel sorry for a big city like Nineveh. There are many people and animals in that city. There are more than 120,000 people there who did not know they were doing wrong.”^[a]

A song of David.

²¹ To me, the only important thing about living is Christ. And even death would be for my benefit.^{[a] 22} If I continue living here on earth, I will be able to work for the Lord. But what would I choose—to live or to die? I don’t know. ²³ It would be a hard choice. Sometimes I want to leave this life and be with Christ. That would be much better for me; ²⁴ however, you people need me here alive. ²⁵ I am sure of this, so I know that I will stay here and be with you to help you grow and have joy in your faith. ²⁶ When I am there with you again, you will be bursting with pride over what Christ Jesus did to help me.

²⁷ Just be sure you live as God’s people in a way that honors the Good News of Christ. Then if I come and visit you or if I am away from you, I will hear good things about you. I will know that you stand together with the same purpose and that you work together like a team to help others believe the Good News. ²⁸ And you will not be afraid of those who are against you. All of this is proof from God that you are being saved and that your enemies will be lost. ²⁹ God has blessed you in ways that serve Christ. He allowed you to believe in Christ. But that is not all. He has also given you the honor of suffering for Christ. Both of these bring glory to Christ. ³⁰ You saw the difficulties I had to face, and you hear that I am still having troubles. Now you must face them too.

Jesus Uses a Story About Farm Workers

20 “God’s kingdom is like a man who owned some land. One morning, the man went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. ² He agreed to pay the workers one silver coin for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work.

³ “About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there. They were doing nothing. ⁴ So he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my field, I will pay you what your work is worth.’ ⁵ So they went to work in the vineyard.

“The man went out again about twelve o’clock and again at three o’clock. Both times he hired some others to work in his vineyard. ⁶ About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again. He saw some other people standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’

⁷ “They said, ‘No one gave us a job.’

“The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’

⁸ “At the end of the day, the owner of the field said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them all. Start by paying the last people I hired. Then pay all of them, ending with the ones I hired first.’

⁹ “The workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay. Each worker got one silver coin. ¹⁰ Then the workers who were hired first came to get their pay. They thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one silver coin. ¹¹ When they got their silver coin, they complained to the man who owned the land. ¹² They said, ‘Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as us. And we worked hard all day in the hot sun.’

¹³ “But the man who owned the field said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am being fair with you. You agreed to work for one silver coin. Right? ¹⁴ So take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same pay I gave you. ¹⁵ I can do what I want with my own money. Why would you be jealous because I am generous?’

¹⁶ “So those who are last now will be first in the future. And those who are first now will be last in the future.”