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Jonah’s Prayer

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish. He said the following:

    In my distress I called to the Lord,
    and he answered me.
    From the belly of the grave I cried out,
    and you heard my voice.
You threw me into the depths,
    into the heart of the seas.
    The currents swept around[a] me.
    All your breakers and your waves swept over me.
I said, “I have been driven away from your sight.
    Nevertheless, I will once again look toward your holy temple.”
Waters engulfed me so that I was near death.
    The deep surrounded me.
    Seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down.
    The earth locked me behind its bars forever.
    But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord, my God.
When my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord.
    My prayer came to you, to your holy temple.
Those who cling to worthless idols forsake the mercy that is theirs.
But I, with a shout of thanksgiving, will indeed sacrifice to you.
    What I have vowed, I will certainly pay in full.
    Salvation belongs to the Lord!

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

Footnotes

  1. Jonah 2:3 The Hebrew word can mean surround with protection, but the context seems to refer to something threatenin g.