He prayed to Yahweh, and said, "Please, Yahweh, 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 repent of the evil.
"Gracious ... merciful ... slow to anger ... etc." How terrible is the thought that Jonah made these very attributes of the loving God the basis of rejecting his will!