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[a]Out of my distress I called to the Lord,
    and he answered me;
From the womb of Sheol[b] I cried for help,
    and you heard my voice.(A)
You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea,
    and the flood enveloped me;
All your breakers and your billows
    passed over me.(B)
Then I said, “I am banished from your sight!
    How will I again look upon your holy temple?”(C)
The waters surged around me up to my neck;
    the deep enveloped me;
    seaweed wrapped around my head.(D)
I went down to the roots of the mountains;
    to the land whose bars closed behind me forever,
But you brought my life up from the pit,
    O Lord, my God.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:3–10 These verses, which may have originally been an independent composition, are a typical example of a song of thanksgiving, a common psalm genre (e.g., Ps 116; Is 38:9–20). Such a song is relevant here, since Jonah has not drowned, and the imagery of vv. 4, 6 is appropriate.
  2. 2:3 Sheol: cf. note on Ps 6:6.