Jonah 4

₁Jonah was very angry and upset. ₂He said to the Lord: ‘Lord, before I went away from my home, I knew that You would do this. I knew that You would forgive these people and You would not think of all the bad things that they had done. That is why I went away to the city of Tarshish. I knew that You are a good and patient God. I knew that You are full of love and You do not want to punish people. I knew that You would be ready to change your plans and that You would not punish these people. ₃Now, Lord, You must let me die. It is better for me to be dead than to live. I do not want to live anymore.’

₄But God said to Jonah: ‘Do you think it is right for you to be angry? No, you are wrong.’

₅Jonah went out of the city. He sat down east of the city. He made a shelter of branches for himself. He sat in the shade of the shelter and he waited to see what would happen to the city. ₆God made a plant grow up near Jonah. This plant made better shade and Jonah did not have to sit in the hot sun. Jonah was very happy that the plant came to give him some shade. ₇But the next morning when the sun came up and started to shine, God sent a worm that started to eat the plant and the plant died. ₈When the sun started to get hot, God sent a hot eastern wind. The hot wind and sun on Jonah's head made him feel very sick. Jonah felt he wanted to die. He was not happy and he said: ‘It is better for me to be dead than to live.’

₉But God said to Jonah: ‘Do you think it is right to be angry about the plant that died?’

Jonah answered and said: ‘Yes, I am very angry. I am so angry that I want to die.’

₁₀Then God said: ‘You did not work to make that plant grow. The plant started to grow up in the night and it died in the night and now you say you feel sorry that the plant has died. ₁₁But you say I must not feel sorry for all the people of Nineveh. You are wrong. It is a very big city. More than 120 000 people live here and they do not know what is right and what is wrong. There are also a lot of animals that live here and I feel sorry for them all.’