Jonah 4

4 ¹ But this upset Jonah deeply, and he burned with anger. ² He prayed to our Father and said, "Please, O Father, is this not what I said while I was still in my own land? That is why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place; for I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate Father, slow to anger and abounding in covenant love, one who relents from sending disaster." ³ And now, our Father, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.

⁴ And our Father said, "Is it right for you to be so angry?"

⁵ Then 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, waiting to see what would happen to the city. ⁶ And our Father appointed a plant and made it grow up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head and to ease his discomfort. So Jonah was overjoyed because of the plant. ⁷ But at dawn the next day our Father appointed a worm, and it attacked the plant so that it withered. ⁸ When the sun rose, our Father appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He begged to die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."

⁹ But our Father said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be so angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, angry enough to die."

¹⁰ And our Father said, "You cared about the plant, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow, which sprouted in a single night and died in a single night." ¹¹ And should I not care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many animals as well? ^a a v11 The book closes with our Father's compassion-question — his heart for the nations beyond Israel. Jesus cites Jonah's three-days-and-three-nights as the sign of his own resurrection (Matthew 12:38-41), and the Ninevites' repentance as judgment against unrepentant Israel.