2
Then Jonah prayed*It is significant that Jonah is not recorded as praying until this point in the story. 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 SheolSheol: the place of the dead. I pleaded for help and you answered me. You threw me into the deep, all the way down to the bottom of the sea.Literally, “the heart of the sea.” 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?’§Or “but even so I will see your holy Temple again.” 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.”
10 Then the Lord told the fish to spit out Jonah onto the shore.

*2:1 It is significant that Jonah is not recorded as praying until this point in the story.

2:2 Sheol: the place of the dead.

2:3 Literally, “the heart of the sea.”

§2:4 Or “but even so I will see your holy Temple again.”