Jonah’s Prayer

1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 2 He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!

3 You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.

4 Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’

5 “I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.

6 I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!

7 As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.

8 Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.

9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.