The Prophecy of Jonas — Prophetia Jonæ
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Chapter 4
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1 2 3 4
Vulgate><Douay-Rheims><Knox Bible
1
Et afflictus est Jonas afflictione magna, et iratus est:
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And Jonas was exceedingly troubled, and was angry:
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As for Jonas, he took it sore amiss, and was an angry man that day.
2
et oravit ad Dominum, et dixit: Obsecro, Domine, numquid non hoc est verbum meum cum adhuc essem in terra mea? propter hoc præoccupavi ut fugerem in Tharsis: scio enim quia tu Deus clemens et misericors es, patiens et multæ miserationis, et ignoscens super malitia.
2
And he prayed to the Lord, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord, is not this what I said, when I was yet in my own country? therefore I went before to flee into Tharsis: for I know that thou art a gracious and merciful God, patient, and of much compassion, and easy to forgive evil.
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And thus he made his prayer to the Lord: See if this be not the very thought I had, far away in my own country! Good cause had I to seek refuge at Tharsis from such an errand as this. I knew from the first what manner of God thou art, how kind and merciful, how slow to punish, how rich in pardon, vengeance ever ready to forgo.
3
Et nunc, Domine, tolle, quæso, animam meam a me, quia melior est mihi mors quam vita.
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And now, O Lord, I beseech thee take my life from me: for it is better for me to die than to live.
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A boon of thee, Lord! Take away this life of mine; I had rather die than live.
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Et dixit Dominus: Putasne bene irasceris tu?
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And the Lord said: Dost thou think thou hast reason to be angry?
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Why, the Lord said, what anger is this?
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Et egressus est Jonas de civitate, et sedit contra orientem civitatis: et fecit sibimet umbraculum ibi, et sedebat subter illud in umbra, donec videret quid accideret civitati.
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Then Jonas went out of the city, and sat toward the east side of the city: and he made himself a booth there, and he sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would befall the city.
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Jonas had left the city, and sat now under a little arbour he had made for himself on the east of it, waiting there in the shade to see what doom would fall on Nineve.
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Et præparavit Dominus Deus hederam, et ascendit super caput Jonæ, ut esset umbra super caput ejus, et protegeret eum (laboraverat enim): et lætatus est Jonas super hedera lætitia magna.
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And the Lord God prepared an ivy, and it came up over the head of Jonas, to be a shadow over his head, and to cover him (for he was fatigued): and Jonas was exceeding glad of the ivy.
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And now, at the Lord God’s bidding, an ivy-plant grew up over Jonas’ head, to give him shade and shelter after his toiling; and great joy he had of his ivy-plant.
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Et paravit Deus vermen ascensu diluculi in crastinum: et percussit hederam, et exaruit.
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But God prepared a worm, when the morning arose on the following day: and it struck the ivy and it withered.
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But when the morrow dawned, came at God’s bidding a worm, that struck at the plant’s root and killed it.
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Et cum ortus fuisset sol, præcepit Dominus vento calido et urenti: et percussit sol super caput Jonæ, et æstuabat: et petivit animæ suæ ut moreretur, et dixit: Melius est mihi mori quam vivere.
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And when the sun was risen, the Lord commanded a hot and burning wind: and the sun beat upon the head of Jonas, and he broiled with the heat: and he desired for his soul that he might die, and said: It is better for me to die than to live.
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Up rose the sun, and at the Lord’s bidding the sirocco came; here was Jonas with the sun’s rays beating on his head, and all of a sweat. Now indeed his heart’s prayer was, he might die; Better death than life, said he.
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Et dixit Dominus ad Jonam: Putasne bene irasceris tu super hedera? Et dixit: Bene irascor ego usque ad mortem.
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And the Lord said to Jonas: Dost thou think thou hast reason to be angry, for the ivy? And he said: I am angry with reason even unto death.
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Why, said the Lord, what anger is this over an ivy-plant? Deadly angry am I, Jonas answered, and no marvel either.
10
Et dixit Dominus: Tu doles super hederam in qua non laborasti, neque fecisti ut cresceret; quæ sub una nocte nata est, et sub una nocte periit:
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And the Lord said: Thou art grieved for the ivy, for which thou hast not laboured, nor made it to grow, which in one night came up, and in one night perished.
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Great pity thou hast, the Lord said, for yonder ivy-plant, that was not of thy growing, and no toil cost thee; a plant that springs in a night, and in a night must wither!
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et ego non parcam Ninive, civitati magnæ, in qua sunt plus quam centum viginti millia hominum qui nesciunt quid sit inter dexteram et sinistram suam, et jumenta multa?
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And shall I not spare Ninive, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons that know not how to distinguish between their right hand and their left, and many beasts?
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And what of Nineve? Here is a great city, with a hundred and twenty thousand folk in it, and none of them can tell right from left, all these cattle, too; and may I not spare Nineve?