Jonah 2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Jonah’s Prayer
2 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside[a] the fish:(A)
2 I called to the Lord in my distress,(B)
and He answered me.
I cried out for help in the belly of Sheol;(C)
You heard my voice.(D)
3 You threw me into the depths,(E)
into the heart of the seas,(F)
and the current[b] overcame me.
All Your breakers and Your billows swept over me.(G)
4 But I said: I have been banished(H)
from Your sight,(I)
yet I will look once more[c]
toward Your holy temple.(J)
5 The waters engulfed me up to the neck;[d](K)
the watery depths overcame me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.(L)
6 I sank to the foundations of the mountains;(M)
the earth with its prison bars closed behind me forever!(N)
But You raised my life(O) from the Pit, Lord my God!(P)
7 As my life was fading away,(Q)
I remembered Yahweh.(R)
My prayer came to You,(S)
to Your holy temple.(T)
8 Those who cling to worthless idols(U)
forsake faithful love,(V)
9 but as for me, I will sacrifice(W) to You
with a voice of thanksgiving.(X)
I will fulfill(Y) what I have vowed.
Salvation[e] is from the Lord!(Z)
10 Then the Lord commanded the fish,(AA) and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
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Jonah 2
International Standard Version
Jonah’s Prayer for Deliverance
2 [a]Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the sea creature. 2 He said:
“I called out to the Lord from the midst of affliction directed at me,[b]
and he answered me.
From the depths[c] of death[d] I cried out for help;
and you heard my cry.[e]
3 You cast me into the deep—
into the heart of the sea.
Flood waters engulfed me.
All your breakers and your waves swirled over me.
4 So I told myself,[f] ‘I have been driven away from you.[g]
How[h] will I again gaze on your holy Temple?’
5 Flood waters encompassed me,
the deep surrounded me
while seaweed wrapped around my head.
6 I sank to the roots of the mountains;
the earth’s prison[i] bars closed[j] around me forever.
Yet you resurrect the dead[k] from the Pit,[l] Lord my God!
7 “As my life was fading away,
I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer came to you in your holy Temple.
8 Those who cling to vain idols
leave behind the gracious love that could have been theirs.[m]
9 But as for me, with a voice of thanksgiving I will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Deliverance[n] is the Lord’s!”
10 Then the Lord spoke to the sea creature, and it spewed Jonah onto the dry land.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Jonah 2:1 2:1 is 2:2 in MT, 2:2 is 2:3 in MT, and so through vs. 10
- Jonah 2:2 Lit. affliction to me
- Jonah 2:2 Lit. belly
- Jonah 2:2 Heb. Sheol; i.e. the realm of the dead
- Jonah 2:2 Or voice
- Jonah 2:4 Or I thought
- Jonah 2:4 Lit. from your attention
- Jonah 2:4 Lit. Indeed, surely
- Jonah 2:6 The Heb. lacks prison
- Jonah 2:6 The Heb. lacks closed
- Jonah 2:6 Lit. you bring life up
- Jonah 2:6 I.e. the place of punishment in the afterlife
- Jonah 2:8 Or leave behind their gracious love
- Jonah 2:9 Or Salvation
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