Jonah and the Plant

1 And Jonah was deeply displeased by this, and he became angry. 2 And he prayed before the LORD and said: “Hear my plea, LORD! Isn’t this what I said would happen while I was still in my own land? This is why I hurried to flee to the sea, since I know that You, God, are merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in doing good, and You⁠a draw back Your Word from bringing about evil. 3 And now, LORD, please take my life from me, because I would rather die than live.”

4 And the LORD said, “Are you so angry?”

5 And Jonah went out from the city and sat east of the city and built a hut there and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would⁠b finally happen to the city. 6 And the LORD God appointed a castor oil plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be shade over his head, to shelter him from his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the castor oil plant.

7 And the LORD appointed a worm at dawn on the next day, and it struck the castor oil plant and it wilted. 8 And when the sun rose, the LORD provided a gentle east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint and asked to die, saying, “I would rather die than live.”

9 And the LORD said to Jonah, “Are you so angry about that castor oil plant?” And he said, “Yes, I’m so angry I want to die!”

10 And the LORD said, “You pitied the castor oil plant which you didn’t work for and you didn’t grow. One night it was there and the next it was gone.

11 “And shouldn’t I have mercy on Nineveh, the great city which has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who don’t know the difference between their right hand and their left, and many animals too?”