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Mkwiyo wa Yona ndi Chifundo cha Yehova

Koma Yona anakhumudwa kwambiri ndipo anakwiya. Iye anapemphera kwa Yehova kuti, “Inu Yehova, kodi izi si zimene ndinanena ndikanali kwathu? Nʼchifukwa chaketu ine ndinafulumira kuthawa kupita ku Tarisisi. Ine ndinadziwa kuti ndinu Mulungu wokoma mtima ndi wachifundo, wosakwiya msanga ndi wa chikondi chopanda malire, Mulungu amene mumaleka kubweretsa tsoka. Ndipo tsopano, Inu Yehova, ingondiphani basi, pakuti ndi bwino kuti ndife kupambana nʼkukhala ndi moyo.”

Koma Yehova anayankha kuti, “Kodi nʼkoyenera kuti iwe ukwiye?”

Yona anatuluka mu mzindamo nakakhala pansi cha kummawa kwa mzindawo. Kumeneko anadzimangira chithando nakhala mʼmenemo mu mthunzi, kudikira kuti aone zimene zichitikire mzindawo. Tsono Yehova Mulungu anameretsa msatsi ndi kuyikulitsa kuti ipereke mthunzi kwa Yona kuchotsa mavuto ake; ndipo Yona anasangalala kwambiri chifukwa cha msatsiyo. Koma tsiku linalo mmawa, Mulungu anabweretsa mbozi imene inadya msatsiyo ndipo inafota. Dzuwa litatuluka, Yehova anabweretsa mphepo yotentha yochokera kummawa, ndipo dzuwa linatentha pamutu pa Yona kotero analenguka nalo. Iye anangofuna atafa, ndipo anati, “Ndi bwino kuti ndife kupambana nʼkukhala ndi moyo.”

Koma Mulungu anati kwa Yona, “Kodi nʼkoyenera kuti iwe ukwiye chifukwa cha msatsi?”

Iye anayankha kuti, “Inde nʼkoyenera. Kukwiya kwanga nʼkofuna kufa nako.”

10 Koma Yehova anati, “Iwe ukumvera chisoni msatsiwo, ngakhale kuti sunawugwirire ntchito kapena kuwukulitsa. Inamera pa usiku umodzi ndipo inafanso pa usiku umodzi. 11 Koma mu Ninive muli anthu opitirira 120,000 amene sadziwa kusiyanitsa kuti chabwino nʼchiti ndipo choyipa nʼchiti, mulinso ziweto zochuluka. Kodi sindiyenera kumvera chisoni mzinda waukulu ngati uwu?”

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.(A) He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew(B) that you are a gracious(C) and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love,(D) a God who relents(E) from sending calamity.(F) Now, Lord, take away my life,(G) for it is better for me to die(H) than to live.”(I)

But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”(J)

Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided(K) a leafy plant[a] and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.(L) When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die,(M) and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”(N)

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern(O) for the great city of Nineveh,(P) in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

Footnotes

  1. Jonah 4:6 The precise identification of this plant is uncertain; also in verses 7, 9 and 10.