But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became ^aangry. 2 He ^aprayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this ¹what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore ²in order to forestall this I ^bfled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a ^cgracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, please ^atake my ¹life from me, for death is ^bbetter to me than life.” 4 The LORD said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”

5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of ¹it. There he made a shelter for himself and ^asat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the LORD God appointed a ¹plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was ²extremely happy about the ³plant. 7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it ^awithered. 8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching ^aeast wind, and the ^bsun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “^cDeath is better to me than life.”

9 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 the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which ¹came up overnight and perished ²overnight. 11 Should I not ^ahave compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not ^bknow the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many ^canimals?”

But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became ^aangry. 2 He ^aprayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I ^bran to Tarshish, because I knew that You are a ^cgracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness, and when sinners turn to You You revoke the sentence of disaster against them. Ex 34:6 3 Therefore now, O LORD, just ^atake my life from me, for it is ^bbetter for me to die than to live.” 4 Then the LORD said, “Do you have a good reason to be angry?”

5 Then Jonah went out of the city and sat east of it. There he made himself a shelter and ^asat under its shade so that he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the LORD God prepared a ¹plant and it grew up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head to spare him from discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the protection of the plant. 7 But God prepared a worm when morning dawned the next day, and it attacked the plant and it ^awithered. 8 When the sun came up God prepared a scorching ^aeast wind, and the ^bsun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he fainted and he wished to die, and said, “^cIt is better for me to die than to live.”

9 Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the loss of the plant?” And he said, “I have a very good reason to be angry, angry enough to die!” 10 Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. 11 Should I not ^ahave compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 innocent persons, who do not ^bknow the difference between their right and left hand and are not yet accountable for sin, as well as many blameless ^canimals?”