Jonah 2:1-10

Jonah's prayer

1 From inside the fish's stomach, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.

2 He said,

‘When I was in trouble, I called out to the Lord,

and he answered my prayer.

Yes, I called out to you for help from the deep hole of death,

and you heard my prayer.

2:2The stomach of the great fish seemed as if it was Jonah's grave. He calls it the deep hole of death, the place where people go when they die.

3 You threw me into the deep water,

and I fell into the middle of the sea.

The deep water covered me.

You sent big waves to roll over me.

4 I said to myself,

“You have sent me far away from you.

Now I will never see your holy temple again.”

2:4Or possibly: ‘But I know that I will see your holy temple again.’

5 The deep water of the sea covered me,

so that my life was in danger.

The plants in the sea were all around my head.

6 I went very deep in the water,

as far as the bottom of the mountains.

Deep in the earth, I was in a prison,

and its gates had shut for ever.

But, Lord, my God,

you brought me up from that deep hole.

7 When my life was nearly gone, I prayed to you, Lord.

In your holy temple, you heard my prayer for help.

8 Idols cannot help.

People who worship them have turned away from a faithful God.

9 But as for me, I will sing to thank you.

I will offer a sacrifice to you.

I will do everything that I have promised to do.

The Lord is the one who saves people!’

10 Then the Lord told the great fish to spit Jonah out from its stomach. So it dropped Jonah onto the shore.