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To his God, the Eternal, Jonah prayed from inside this great fish.

Jonah reveals in his prayer a change of heart: he thanks God for saving him from the angry sea.

Jonah: With desperate cries
        I beckoned the Eternal to hear, and He answered me.
    From the belly, the place of death, I cried out to You,
        and You have responded to my voice.
    You threw me into the watery depths
        and cast me into the middle of the chaotic seas.
    The waters closed in around me;
        Your waves broke over me;
        Your surf swelled as I sank into the depths.
    But then I said to You,
        “I have been driven out from before Your very eyes.
        Still, I know I will gaze again on Your holy temple.”
    The waters swallowed me;
        the deep abyss was covering over me.
    Seaweeds were wrapped around my head, trapping me
        as I sank down to where the mountains are rooted to the earth.
    I went down to the place where death’s gate would lock me in forever.

    Yet You lifted me up from the pit.
        Eternal One, You are my God!
    Only as my life was fading way
        did I remember the Eternal;
    To Your sacred dwelling, Your holy temple,
        my cries did rise to You.
    Those who worship worthless idols
        turn their backs on God and renounce their loyal love.
    But I will sing to You and sacrifice to You
        with a voice filled with thanksgiving;
    Whatever I promised, I will certainly pay it
        because deliverance is from the Eternal alone.

10 Then the Eternal One directed the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto the shore.

[a]From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said:

“In my distress I called(A) to the Lord,(B)
    and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead(C) I called for help,
    and you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the depths,(D)
    into the very heart of the seas,
    and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves(E) and breakers
    swept over me.(F)
I said, ‘I have been banished
    from your sight;(G)
yet I will look again
    toward your holy temple.’(H)
The engulfing waters threatened me,[b]
    the deep surrounded me;
    seaweed was wrapped around my head.(I)
To the roots of the mountains(J) I sank down;
    the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
    brought my life up from the pit.(K)

“When my life was ebbing away,
    I remembered(L) you, Lord,
and my prayer(M) rose to you,
    to your holy temple.(N)

“Those who cling to worthless idols(O)
    turn away from God’s love for them.
But I, with shouts of grateful praise,(P)
    will sacrifice(Q) to you.
What I have vowed(R) I will make good.
    I will say, ‘Salvation(S) comes from the Lord.’”

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

Footnotes

  1. Jonah 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1 is numbered 1:17, and 2:1-10 is numbered 2:2-11.
  2. Jonah 2:5 Or waters were at my throat

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly,

And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

10 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.