Jonah 4 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Jonah’s Anger and the Lord’s Compassion

Jon 4:1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[fn] and he was angry.

Jon 4:2And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

Jon 4:3

Jon 4:3Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Jon 4:4

Jon 4:4And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

Jon 4:5

Jon 4:5Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

Jon 4:6

Jon 4:6Now the LORD God appointed a plant[fn] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.[fn] So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.

Jon 4:7

Jon 4:7But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.

Jon 4:8

Jon 4:8When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

Jon 4:9

Jon 4:9But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”

Jon 4:10

Jon 4:10And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.

Jon 4:11

Jon 4:11And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(4:1)

Hebrew it was exceedingly evil to Jonah

(4:6)

Hebrew qiqayon, probably the castor oil plant; also verses 7, 9, 10

(4:6)

Or his evil

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

Jonah Chapter 4 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Jonah 4 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Jonah’s Anger and the Lord’s Compassion

ESV Footnotes

Jonah Chapter 4 — Additional Translations:

Did You Know BLB Is User Supported?