Jonah’s Prayer

1 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the fish’s belly for three days and three nights. 2 And Jonah prayed before the LORD his God from the fish’s belly.

3 And he said, “In my distress I prayed before the LORD, and He received my prayer. From the lowest depths I pleaded, You acted on my plea. 4 And You threw me into the depths, into the heart of the sea, and the flood surrounded me. All the⁠a sea’s storms and waves passed over me. 5 And I had said, ‘I have been driven out from before Your Word. Yet I will look again at the holy temple.’

6 The waters surrounded me, threatening death. The depths surrounded me. The⁠b Red Sea hung above my head. 7 I went down to the roots of the mountains. The earth closed over me with its strength forever. And You are near. It is in Your power to bring my life up from destruction, LORD my God.

8 When my soul grew faint within me, I remembered worshiping the LORD, and my prayer came before You, to Your holy temple. 9 I am not like the nations that worship idols. They do not know the source of their well-being. 10 And I, with thankful praise, will offer my sacrifices before You. I will fulfill what I pledged. My life is rescued⁠c through prayer before the LORD!”

11 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it spat out Jonah onto dry land.