Jonah 3-4

New International Version

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah^(A) a second time: ² “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

³ Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. ⁴ Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming,^(B) “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” ⁵ The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.^(C)

⁶ When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.^{(D) 7} This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

¹⁰ When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented^(N) and did not bring on them the destruction^(O) he had threatened.^(P)

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

4 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.^{(Q) 2} He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew^(R) that you are a gracious^(S) and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love,^(T) a God who relents^(U) from sending calamity.^{(V) 3} Now, Lord, take away my life,^(W) for it is better for me to die^(X) than to live.”^(Y)

⁴ But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”^(Z)

⁵ Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. ⁶ Then the Lord God provided^(AA) a leafy plant^[a] and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. ⁷ But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.^{(AB) 8} When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die,^(AC) 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?”^(AD)

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

¹⁰ But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹ And should I not have concern^(AE) for the great city of Nineveh,^(AF) in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”