1 But it seemed to Jonah a great evil{raah: distressing outcome}, and he burned with anger{vayikhar: blazing fury}.
2 And he prayed to the LORD {YHWH, Mercy-Giver} and said, “Please, LORD, is this not my word while I was still on my land? Therefore I went ahead {kiddamti: acted beforehand} to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious God and compassionate, slow to anger, great in steadfast love, and relenting concerning the calamity.”
3 And now, LORD {YHWH, Prayer Hearer}, please take my life {nafshi: personal vitality} from me, for my death is better than my life.
4 And the LORD {YHWH, Questioner} said, “Is it right for you to be angry {charah: intense displeasure}?”
5 Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of it. There he made a booth {sukkah: temporary shelter} for himself, and he sat under it in the shade {tzel: cooling cover}, until he could see what would happen in the city.
6 And the LORD God {YHWH-Elohim, Sovereign Provider} appointed a qiqayon {qiqayon: protective plant} to come up from above over Jonah, to be shade over his head, to deliver for him from his distress. And Jonah rejoiced over the qiqayon with great joy.
7 But God {haElohim, Sovereign Orchestrator} appointed a worm {tolaat: small consuming creature} at dawn on the next day, and it struck the plant so that it withered.
8 And it happened, when the sun rose, that God {Elohim, Purposeful Appointer} appointed a scorching wind {ruach: hot wind} from the east, and the sun struck Jonah on the head so that he fainted. Then he asked for his life {nafsho: inner self} to die and said, “My death is better than my life.”
9 And God {Elohim, Sovereign Questioner} said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant {qiqayon: shade plant}?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even unto death."
10 And the LORD {YHWH, Merciful Corrector} said, “You pitied the plant {qiqayon: fast-growing plant} that you did not toil over, and you did not make it grow. In one night it came to be, and in one night it perished.”
11 And should I {YHWH, Compassionate Judge} not spare Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than twelve myriads {ribbo: ten-thousand unit} of people who do not know between their right and their left, and also much cattle?