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Jonah’s Prayer

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, and said,

“I called out of my trouble and distress to the Lord,
And He answered me;
Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help,
And You heard my voice.(A)

“For You cast me into the deep,
Into the [deep] heart of the seas,
And the currents surrounded and engulfed me;
All Your breakers and billowing waves passed over me.(B)

“Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’(C)

“The waters surrounded me, to the point of death.
The great deep engulfed me,
Seaweed was wrapped around my head.(D)

“I descended to the [very] roots of the mountains.
The earth with its bars closed behind me [bolting me in] forever,
Yet You have brought up my life from the pit (death), O Lord my God.

“When my soul was fainting within me,
I remembered the Lord,
And my prayer came to You,
Into Your holy temple.

“Those who regard and follow worthless idols
[a]Turn away from their [living source of] mercy and lovingkindness.

“But [as for me], I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;
I shall pay that which I have vowed.
Salvation is from the Lord!”

10 So the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

Footnotes

  1. Jonah 2:8 Lit Forsake.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,

“I called to the Lord, out of my distress,
    and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
    and thou didst hear my voice.
For thou didst cast me into the deep,
    into the heart of the seas,
    and the flood was round about me;
all thy waves and thy billows
    passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I am cast out
    from thy presence;
how shall I again look
    upon thy holy temple?’
The waters closed in over me,
    the deep was round about me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
    at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
    whose bars closed upon me for ever;
yet thou didst bring up my life from the Pit,
    O Lord my God.
When my soul fainted within me,
    I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer came to thee,
    into thy holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
    forsake their true loyalty.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
    will sacrifice to thee;
what I have vowed I will pay.
    Deliverance belongs to the Lord!”

10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.