Jonah 2

Good News Translation

Jonah's Prayer

2 From deep inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God:

²“In my distress, O Lord, I called to you,
    and you answered me.
From deep in the world of the dead
    I cried for help, and you heard me.
³You threw me down into the depths,
    to the very bottom of the sea,
    where the waters were all around me,
    and all your mighty waves rolled over me.
⁴I thought I had been banished from your presence
    and would never see your holy Temple again.
⁵The water came over me and choked me;
    the sea covered me completely,
    and seaweed wrapped around my head.
⁶I went down to the very roots of the mountains,
    into the land whose gates lock shut forever.^[a]
But you, O Lord my God,
    brought me back from the depths alive.
⁷When I felt my life slipping away,
    then, O Lord, I prayed to you,
    and in your holy Temple you heard me.
⁸Those who worship worthless idols
    have abandoned their loyalty to you.
⁹But I will sing praises to you;
    I will offer you a sacrifice
    and do what I have promised.
Salvation comes from the Lord!”

¹⁰Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah up on the beach, and it did.

Footnotes

Jonah 2:6 A reference to the world of the dead (see 2.2).

Jonah 2

Complete Jewish Bible

2 ^(1:17)Adonai prepared a huge fish to swallow Yonah; and Yonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. ²⁽¹⁾From the belly of the fish Yonah prayed to Adonai his God; ³⁽²⁾he said,

“Out of my distress I called to Adonai,
and he answered me;
from the belly of Sh’ol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
⁴⁽³⁾For you threw me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas;
and the flood enveloped me;
all your surging waves passed over me.
⁵⁽⁴⁾I thought, ‘I have been banished from your sight.’
But I will again look at your holy temple.
⁶⁽⁵⁾The water surrounded me, threatened my life;
the deep closed over me, seaweed twined around my head.
⁷⁽⁶⁾I was going down to the bottoms of the mountains,
to a land whose bars would close me in forever;
but you brought me up alive from the pit,
Adonai, my God!
⁸⁽⁷⁾As my life was ebbing away,
I remembered Adonai;
and my prayer came in to you,
into your holy temple.

⁹⁽⁸⁾“Those who worship vain idols
give up their source of mercy;
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾but I, speaking my thanks aloud,
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed, I will pay.
Salvation comes from Adonai!”

¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾Then Adonai spoke to the fish, and it vomited Yonah out onto dry land.

Jonah 2

The Message

At the Bottom of the Sea

2 ^1-9Then Jonah prayed to his God from the belly of the fish.

He prayed:

“In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to God.
    He answered me.
From the belly of the grave I cried, ‘Help!’
    You heard my cry.
You threw me into ocean’s depths,
    into a watery grave,
With ocean waves, ocean breakers
    crashing over me.
I said, ‘I’ve been thrown away,
    thrown out, out of your sight.
I’ll never again lay eyes
    on your Holy Temple.’
Ocean gripped me by the throat.
    The ancient Abyss grabbed me and held tight.
My head was all tangled in seaweed
    at the bottom of the sea where the mountains take root.
I was as far down as a body can go,
    and the gates were slamming shut behind me forever—
Yet you pulled me up from that grave alive,
    O God, my God!
When my life was slipping away,
    I remembered God,
And my prayer got through to you,
    made it all the way to your Holy Temple.
Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds,
    walk away from their only true love.
But I’m worshiping you, God,
    calling out in thanksgiving!
And I’ll do what I promised I’d do!
    Salvation belongs to God!”

¹⁰Then God spoke to the fish, and it vomited up Jonah on the seashore.

Good News Translation (GNT)

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

The Message (MSG)

Jonah 2 Good News Translation