Jonah 4

1 Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.

1 這事約拿大大不悅，且甚發怒，

2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.

2 就禱告耶和華說：「耶和華啊，我在本國的時候豈不是這樣說嗎？我知道你是有恩典、有憐憫的上帝，不輕易發怒，有豐盛的慈愛，並且後悔不降所說的災，所以我急速逃往他施去。

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

3 耶和華啊，現在求你取我的命吧！因為我死了比活着還好。」

4 But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”

4 耶和華說：「你這樣發怒合乎理嗎？」

5 Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.

5 於是約拿出城，坐在城的東邊，在那裏為自己搭了一座棚，坐在棚的蔭下，要看看那城究竟如何。

6 So the LORD God appointed a vine, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.

6 耶和華上帝安排一棵蓖麻，使其發生高過約拿，影兒遮蓋他的頭，救他脫離苦楚；約拿因這棵蓖麻大大喜樂。

7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.

7 次日黎明，上帝卻安排一條蟲子咬這蓖麻，以致枯槁。

8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

8 日頭出來的時候，上帝安排炎熱的東風，日頭曝曬約拿的頭，使他發昏，他就為自己求死，說：「我死了比活着還好！」

9 Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”

9 上帝對約拿說：「你因這棵蓖麻發怒合乎理嗎？」他說：「我發怒以至於死，都合乎理！」

10 But the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you neither tended nor made grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night.

10 耶和華說：「這蓖麻不是你栽種的，也不是你培養的；一夜發生，一夜乾死，你尚且愛惜；

11 So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”

11 何況這尼尼微大城，其中不能分辨左手右手的有十二萬多人，並有許多牲畜，我豈能不愛惜呢？」