Jonah 2

The Voice

² Jonah: With desperate cries
        I beckoned the Eternal to hear, and He answered me.
    From the belly, the place of death, I cried out to You,
        and You have responded to my voice.
³     You threw me into the watery depths
        and cast me into the middle of the chaotic seas.
    The waters closed in around me;
        Your waves broke over me;
        Your surf swelled as I sank into the depths.
⁴     But then I said to You,
        “I have been driven out from before Your very eyes.
        Still, I know I will gaze again on Your holy temple.”
⁵     The waters swallowed me;
        the deep abyss was covering over me.
    Seaweeds were wrapped around my head, trapping me
⁶         as I sank down to where the mountains are rooted to the earth.
    I went down to the place where death’s gate would lock me in forever.

    Yet You lifted me up from the pit.
        Eternal One, You are my God!
⁷     Only as my life was fading way
        did I remember the Eternal;
    To Your sacred dwelling, Your holy temple,
        my cries did rise to You.
⁸     Those who worship worthless idols
        turn their backs on God and renounce their loyal love.
⁹     But I will sing to You and sacrifice to You
        with a voice filled with thanksgiving;
    Whatever I promised, I will certainly pay it
        because deliverance is from the Eternal alone.