¹Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.[#2:1. It is significant that Jonah is not recorded as praying until this point in the story.]

²He began, “In my agony I cried out to the Lord and he answered me; from the depths of Sheol I pleaded for help and you answered me.[#2:2. Sheol: the place of the dead.]

³You threw me into the deep, all the way down to the bottom of the sea. Water flooded all around me; your crashing waves rolled over me.[#2:3. Literally, “the heart of the sea.”]

⁴I said to myself, ‘The Lord has banished me from his sight. Will I ever see your holy Temple again?’[#2:4. Or “but even so I will see your holy Temple again.”]

⁵The water swirled over me so I couldn't breathe; the deep sucked me down; seaweed wrapped itself around my head.

⁶I sank down to the base of the mountains; the earth barred me in forever. But you, my Lord, my God, brought me back up from the abyss.

⁷As my life ebbed away, I remembered the Lord; my prayer came to you in your holy Temple.

⁸Those who worship worthless idols give up their trust in God's goodness.

⁹But I will offer you sacrifices, shouting out my thanks. I will keep my promises to you, for salvation comes from the Lord.”

¹⁰Then the Lord told the fish to spit out Jonah onto the shore.