Free Bible Version
Jonah 2
Then Jonah prayed1 to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish. He began, “In my agony I cried out to the Lord and he answered me; from the depths of Sheol2 I pleaded for help and you answered me. You threw me into the deep, all the way down to the bottom of the sea.3 Water flooded all around me; your crashing waves rolled over me. I said to myself, ‘The Lord has banished me from his sight. Will I ever see your holy Temple again?’4 The water swirled over me so I couldn't breathe; the deep sucked me down; seaweed wrapped itself around my head. I sank down to the base of the mountains; the earth barred me in forever. But you, my Lord, my God, brought me back up from the abyss.
As my life ebbed away, I remembered the Lord; my prayer came to you in your holy Temple. Those who worship worthless idols give up their trust in God's goodness. But I will offer you sacrifices, shouting out my thanks. I will keep my promises to you, for salvation comes from the Lord.”
Then the Lord told the fish to spit out Jonah onto the shore.
Source notes (4)
- Footnote It is significant that Jonah is not recorded as praying until this point in the story.
- Footnote Sheol: the place of the dead.
- Footnote Literally, “the heart of the sea.”
- Footnote Or “but even so I will see your holy Temple again.”
Free Bible Version. Copyright © 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: eBible.org. Typeset from the source files; no intended changes to scripture wording. BibleKenya is not endorsed by the rights holder.
Full source notice & licence · CC BY-SA 4.0 · SourceEdition imported 2026-10-25.