1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, andy[ver. 4, 9] he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country?zch. 1:3 That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are aaSee Joel 2:13 gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, andaSee Joel 2:13 relenting from disaster. 3 b[1 Kgs. 19:4] Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me,c[Eccles. 7:1] for it is better for me to die than to live. ” 4 And the Lord said,d[ver. 1, 9] “Do you do well to be angry? ”
5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city ande[Neh. 8:15] made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.2Or his evil So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorchingfJer. 18:17 east wind,g[Ps. 121:6] and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that heh[Amos 8:13] was faint. And he asked that he might die and said,c[See ver. 3 above] “It is better for me to die than to live. ” 9 But God said to Jonah,i[ver. 1, 4] “Do you do well to be angry for the plant? ” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. ” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pityjSee ch. 1:2 Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also muchk[ch. 3:7] cattle? ”