1But to Jonah this was a great evil, and he burned with anger.
2And he prayed to Yahweh and said, “Please, Yahweh, was this not what I said while I was still in my own land? That is why I fled beforehand to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, and relenting from disaster.
3And now, Yahweh, take my life from me, please, for my death is better than my life.”
4And Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would happen in the city.
6And Yahweh God appointed a plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to rescue him from his discomfort. And Jonah rejoiced over the plant with great joy.
7But God appointed a worm at the break of dawn the next day, and it struck the plant, and it withered.
8And when the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. He asked that he might die, and said, “My death is better than my life.”
9But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry over the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry — enough to die!”
10And Yahweh said, “You had pity on the plant, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow — which came up in a night and perished in a night.
11And should I not have pity on Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left — and much livestock as well?”
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