| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. | 1This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. |
| 2And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. | 2So he complained to the LORD about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. |
| 3Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. | 3Just kill me now, LORD! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” |
| 4Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? | 4The LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” |
| 5So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. | 5Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. |
| 6And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. | 6And the LORD God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. |
| 7But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. | 7But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. |
| 8And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. | 8And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed. |
| 9And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. | 9Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!” |
| 10Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: | 10Then the LORD said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. |
| 11And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? | 11But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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