Jonah 2

2ND CHAPTER^a

Jonah’s Prayer inside the Fish

¹From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 

²Jonah prayed: 

“I called to the Lord in my distress, 

and he answered me. 

From the depths of my ⸤watery⸥ grave I cried for help, 

and you heard my cry. 

³You threw me into the deep, into the depths of the sea, 

and water surrounded me. 

All the whitecaps on your waves have swept over me. 

⁴“Then I thought, 

‘I have been banished from your sight. 

Will I ever see your holy temple again?’ 

⁵“Water surrounded me, threatening my life. 

The deep ⸤sea⸥ covered me completely. 

Seaweed was wrapped around my head. 

⁶I sank to the foot of the mountains. 

I sank to the bottom, 

where bars held me forever. 

But you brought me back from the pit, O Lord, my God. 

⁷“As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. 

My prayer came to you in your holy temple. 

⁸Those who hold on to worthless idols abandon their loyalty ⸤to you⸥. 

⁹But I will sacrifice to you with songs of thanksgiving. 

I will keep my vow. 

Victory belongs to the Lord!” 

¹⁰Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spit Jonah out onto the shore.