Jonah 4:2-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first toward Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, repenting of punishment.[a](A) 3 So now, Lord, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”(B) 4 But the Lord asked, “Are you right to be angry?”[b]
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- 4:2 Punishment: lit., “evil”; see 1:2, 7, 8; 3:8, 10; 4:1.
- 4:4 The Lord’s question is as unexpected as it is pithy. It is also a mysterious reply to Jonah’s wish to die; perhaps it serves to invite Jonah to think over his situation. However, it goes unanswered, and the request and reply will be repeated in vv. 8–9.
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