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this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish in the first place. I knew that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and One who relents from sending disaster. 3 Now, O Lord, please take my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 But the Lord asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 Jonah went out of the city and sat down at a place to the east of it. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade, waiting to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord appointed a plant and made it grow up over Jonah to provide shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But when dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. Then he wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
And he said, “Yes, it is right. I am angry enough to die.”
10 But the Lord said, “You are concerned about the plant, for which you did not labour over or made it grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not care about Ninevah, that great city, which has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many animals as well?”