القراءة بلغتين

فساءَ الأَمرُ يونانَ مَساءَةً شَديدَةً وغَضِب

وصَلَّى إِلى الرَّبِّ وقال: «أَيُّها الرَّبّ، أَلَم يَكُنْ هٰذا كَلامي وأَنا في أَرْضي؟ ولِذٰلك بادَرتُ إِلى الهَرَبِ إِلى تَرْشيش، فإِنِّي عَلِمتُ أَنَّكَ إِلٰهٌ رَؤُوفٌ رَحيمٌ طَويلُ الأَناةِ كَثيرُ الرَّحمَةِ ونادِمٌ على الشَّرّ

فالآن، أَيُّها الرَّبّ، خُذْ نَفْسي مِنِّي، فإِنَّه خَيرٌ لي أَن أَموتَ مِن أَن أَحْيا»

فقالَ الرَّبّ: «أَبِحَقٍّ غَضَبُكَ؟»

وخَرَجَ يونانُ مِنَ المَدينَةِ وجَلَسَ شَرقِيَّ المَدينَة، وصَنَعَ لَه هُناكَ كوخًا وجَلَسَ تَحتَه في الظِّلّ، رَيثَما يَرى ماذا يُصيبُ المَدينَة

فأَعَدَّ الرَّبُّ الإِلٰهُ خِروَعَةً فٱرتَفَعَت فوقَ يونان، لِيَكونَ على رَأسِه ظِلٌّ فيُنقِذَه مِنَ الضَّرر، ففَرِحَ يونانُ بِالخِروَعَةِ فَرَحًا عَظيمًا

ثُمَّ أَعَدَّ اللهُ دودَةً عِندَ طُلوعِ الفَجرِ في الغَد، ولَسَعَتِ الخِروَعَةَ فيَبِسَت

فلَمَّا أَشرَقَتِ الشَّمسُ أَعَدَّ اللهُ ريحًا شَرقِيَّةً حارَّة، فضَرَبَتِ الشَّمسُ على رَأسِ يونان، فأُغمِيَ علَيه، فتَمَنَّى المَوتَ لِنَفسِه وقال: «خَيرٌ لي أَن أَموتَ مِن أَن أَحْيا»

فقالَ اللهُ لِيونان: «أَبِحَقٍّ غَضَبُكَ بِسَبَبِ الخِروَعَة؟» فقال: «بِحَقٍّ غَضَبي حتَّى المَوت»

فقالَ الرَّبّ: «لقَد أَشفَقتَ أَنتَ على الخِروَعَةِ الَّتي لم تَتعَبْ فيها ولم تُرَبِّها، والَّتي نَبَتَت بِنتَ لَيلَة، ثُمَّ هَلَكَت بِنتَ لَيلَة

أَفَلا أُشفِقُ أَنا على نينَوى المَدينَةِ العَظيمةِ الَّتي فيها أَكثَرُ مِنِ ٱثنَتَي عَشرَةَ رِبْوَةً مِن أُناسٍ لا يَعرِفونَ يَمينَهم مِن شِمَالِهم، ما عدا بَهائِمَ كَثيرة؟»

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

He prayed to the LORD, and said, “Please, LORD, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.

Therefore now, LORD, take, I beg you, my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

The LORD said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Then Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.

The LORD God prepared a vine and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine.

But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine so that it withered.

When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he was faint and requested for himself that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.”

The LORD said, “You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night and perished in a night.

Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also many animals?”