Jonas 4

Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel

Jonas 4

1But Jonas was very deeply grieved, and he was confounded.Καὶ ἐλυπήθη Ἰωνᾶς λύπην μεγάλην· καὶ συνεχύθη,

2And he prayed to the Lord, and said, O Lord, were not these my words when I was yet in my land? therefore I * made haste to flee to Tharsis; because I knew that you are merciful and compassionate, longsuffering, and abundant in kindness, and repent of evil.καὶ προσεύξατο πρὸς Κύριον, καὶ εἶπεν, Κύριε, οὐχ οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι μου, ἔτι ὄντος μου ἐν τῇ γῇ μου; διατοῦτο προέφθασα τοῦ φυγεῖν εἰς Θαρσὶς, διότι ἔγνων ὅτι σὺ ἐλεήμων καὶ οἰκτίρμων, μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος, καὶ μετανοῶν ἐπὶ ταῖς κακίαις.

3And now, † Lord God, take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.Καὶ νῦν, δέσποτα Κύριε, λάβε τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι καλὸν τὸ ἀποθανεῖν με ἢ ζῇν με.

4And the Lord said to Jonas, Are you very much grieved?Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Ἰωνᾶν, εἰ σφόδρα λελύπησαι σύ;

5And Jonas went out from the city, and sat over against the city; and he made for himself there a booth, and he sat under it, until he should perceive what would become of the city.Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Ἰωνᾶς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἀπέναντι τῆς πόλεως· καὶ ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ ἐκεῖ σκηνὴν, καὶ ἐκάθητο ὑποκάτω αὐτῆς, ἕως οὗ ἀπίδῃ τί ἔσται τῇ πόλει.

6And the Lord God commanded a gourd, and it came up over the head of Jonas, to be a shadow over his head, to shade him from his calamities: and Jonas rejoiced with great joy for the gourd.Καὶ προσέταξε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς κολοκύνθῃ, καὶ ἀνέβη ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς τοῦ Ἰωνᾶ, τοῦ εἶναι σκιὰν ὑπεράνω τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, τοῦ σκιάζειν αὐτῷ ἀπὸ τῶν κακῶν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐχάρη Ἰωνᾶς ἐπὶ τῇ κολοκύνθῃ χαρὰν μεγάλην.

7And God commanded a worm the next morning, and it struck the gourd, and it withered away.Καὶ προσέταξεν ὁ Θεὸς σκώληκι ἑωθινῇ τῇ ἐπαυρίον, καὶ ἐπάταξε τὴν κολόκυνθαν, καὶ ἀπεξηράνθη.

8And it came to pass at the rising of the sun, that God commanded a burning east wind; and the sun struck on the head of Jonas, and he fainted, and despaired of his life, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.Καὶ ἐγένετο ἅμα τῷ ἀνατεῖλαι τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ προσέταξεν ὁ Θεὸς πνεύματι καύσωνι συγκαίοντι, καὶ ἐπάταξεν ὁ ἥλιος ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ Ἰωνᾶ· καὶ ὠλιγοψύχησε, καὶ ἀπελέγετο τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἶπε, καλόν μοι ἀποθανεῖν με ἢ ζῇν.

9And God said to Jonas, Are you very much grieved for the gourd? And he said, I am very much grieved, even to death.Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς πρὸς Ἰωνᾶν, εἰ σφόδρα λελύπησαι σὺ ἐπὶ τῇ κολοκύνθῃ; καὶ εἶπε, σφόδρα λελύπημαι ἐγὼ ἕως θανάτου.

10And the Lord said, You had pity on the gourd, for which you have not suffered, neither did you rear it; which came up ‡ before night, and perished before another night:Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος, σὺ ἐφείσω ὑπὲρ τῆς κολοκύνθης, ὑπὲρ ἧς οὐκ ἐκακοπάθησας ἐπʼ αὐτὴν, καὶ οὐδὲ ἐξέθρεψας αὐτὴν, ἣ ἐγενήθη ὑπὸ νύκτα, καὶ ὑπὸ νύκτα ἀπώλετο·

11and shall not I spare Nineve, the great city, in which dwell more than twelve myriads of human beings, who do not know their right hand or their left hand; and also much cattle?ἐγὼ δὲ οὐ φείσομαι ὑπὲρ Νινευὴ τῆς πόλεως τῆς μεγάλης, ἐν ᾗ κατοικοῦσι πλείους ἢ δώδεκα μυριάδες ἀνθρώπων, οἵτινες οὐκ ἔγνωσαν δεξιὰν αὐτῶν ἢ ἀριστερὰν αὐτῶν, καὶ κτήνη πολλά;

Translator's Notes

These notes come from the printed edition of Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), and record where the Greek differs from the English rendering or admits more than one reading.

• v. 2*Gr. anticipate.
• v. 3†Gr. sovereign Lord.
• v. 10‡Or, little before.