Jonah 4:6-11

New Catholic Bible

The Last Lesson

⁶ The Lord God then ordained that a gourd plant should grow up above Jonah to cast shade over his head and relieve his discomfort. Jonah was very happy about this plant.

⁷ But at dawn the next day, God ordained that a worm should infest the gourd plant, and it withered. ⁸ Then, when the sun rose, God ordained that a scorching wind should blow from the east. The sun beat down on the head of Jonah to such an extent that he grew faint. Then he begged that he might die, saying, “I would be better off dead than alive.”

⁹ God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” Jonah replied, “I have every reason to be angry, angry enough to die.”

¹⁰ The Lord then said, “You are concerned about the plant, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow. It came into being in one night, and it perished in one night. ¹¹ Therefore, why should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot tell their right hand from their left, as well as innumerable cattle?”