Jonah’s Anger at the LORD’s Compassion 1 UDB But Jonah felt that it was very bad that God had not destroyed Nineveh. He became very angry. BSB BSB: Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.
2 UDB He prayed to Yahweh, "Oh, Yahweh, what you have done is just what I thought that you would do even before I left home. The reason I ran away to go to Tarshish was to stop this very thing from happening because I knew that you act very kindly and compassionately toward all people. You do not quickly become angry with people who do evil. You love people very much, and you change your mind about punishing people who sin. BSB BSB: So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
3 UDB So now, Oh Yahweh, since you will not destroy Nineveh as you said you would, please allow me to die because now it would be better for me to die than to continue to live." BSB BSB: And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 UDB Yahweh replied, "Is it right for you to be angry that I did not destroy the city?" BSB BSB: But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”
5 UDB Jonah did not reply. He went out of the city to the east side of it. He made a small shelter so that he could sit under it and be protected from the sun. He sat under the shelter and waited to see what would happen to the city. BSB BSB: Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.
7 UDB But before dawn the next day, God sent a worm that chewed the vine, with the result that the vine withered. BSB BSB: When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.
8 UDB Then, when the sun rose high in the sky, God sent a very hot wind from the east, and the sun shone very strongly on Jonah's head, with the result that he felt faint. He wanted to die, and he said, "It would be better for me to die than to continue to live!" BSB BSB: As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 UDB But God asked Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about what happened to the vine?" Jonah replied, "Yes, it is right! Now I am angry enough to die!" BSB BSB: Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”