Jonah’s Prayer

1aThen Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish. 2He 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,b

and LORD, you heard me!

3You 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.

4Then 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.

6I 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!

7As my life was slipping away,

I remembered the LORD.

And my earnest prayer went out to you

in your holy Temple.

8Those who worship false gods

turn their backs on all God’s mercies.

9But 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.”

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