Jonah’s Prayer

¹Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish,

²and said,

“I called out of my trouble and distress to the Lord ,

And He answered me;

Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help,

And You heard my voice. [Ps 120:1; 130:1; 142:1; Lam 3:55-58]

³“For You cast me into the deep,

Into the [deep] heart of the seas,

And the currents surrounded and engulfed me;

All Your breakers and billowing waves passed over me. [Ps 42:7]

⁴“Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight.

Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ [Ps 31:22]

⁵“The waters surrounded me, to the point of death.

The great deep engulfed me,

Seaweed was wrapped around my head. [Ps 69:1; Lam 3:54]

⁶“I descended to the [very] roots of the mountains.

The earth with its bars closed behind me [bolting me in] forever,

Yet You have brought up my life from the pit (death), O Lord my God.

⁷“When my soul was fainting within me,

I remembered the Lord ,

And my prayer came to You,

Into Your holy temple.

⁸“Those who regard and follow worthless idols

Turn away from their [living source of] mercy and lovingkindness.

⁹“But [as for me], I will sacrifice to You

With the voice of thanksgiving;

I shall pay that which I have vowed.

Salvation is from the Lord !”

¹⁰So the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.