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Jonah got angry with God
1 But Jonah wanted God to punish the Nineveh people. Jonah saw that God changed his mind and that God didn’t finish up the Nineveh people. So Jonah got really upset and was very angry.
2 Jonah prayed to God. He said, “God, that first time you talked to me, when I was still at home in Israel country, you told me to go and talk to the Nineveh people. But I knew that if I told the Nineveh people your message, they might stop doing bad things, and you might not finish them up. But God, I want you to finish up those Nineveh people. That is the reason why I didn’t want to go to Nineveh and tell them your message, and why I ran away to Tarshish. I knew that you feel sorry for people, and you are always kind. You don’t get angry quickly, and you are really good to people. You don’t do payback to people that stop doing bad things.
3 So, God, please finish me up. I want to die, I don’t want to live and watch you be good to the Nineveh people.”
4 Then God said, “You are very angry. Are you thinking the right way?”
5 Then Jonah went out of the city, to the east side. And he made a shelter for himself, and he sat under it in the shade. And he waited there to see what will happen to Nineveh.
God used a plant to help Jonah understand
6 Then God made a plant grow up near Jonah, to give him shade over his head, so that he will not be so hot. And Jonah was really happy about that plant.
7 But early the next day, just before the sun came up, God sent a worm to eat that plant, and that plant died.
8 Then the sun came up, and God sent a really hot wind that came from the east. And the sun was really hot on Jonah’s head, so he felt sick.
Then Jonah got angry, and he wanted to die. He said, “I don’t want to live any more. I want to die.”
9 Then God said to Jonah, “You are very angry about that plant. Are you thinking the right way?”
Then Jonah said, “Yes, I am thinking the right way. I am so angry that I want to die.”
10 Then God said to Jonah, “You really care about that plant. But you didn’t look after it or make it grow. It grew in one night, and it died in one night.
11 But you think it’s wrong that I care about Nineveh. Nineveh is a big city, and it has lots and lots of people. It has more than 120,000 people, and those people don’t know what is right and what is wrong. And there are lots of animals there too.”