Jon 2 | EE | STEP | From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.

Jonah 2

Jonah’s prayer

1 From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.

2 He said,

‘I was really afraid.
So I spoke to the LORD about my trouble.
And he answered me.
From the deep hole, I shouted for help.
And you listened when I cried.
3 You threw me into the deep water.
I fell into the middle of the sea.
The water moved all round me.
It carried me along.
The high water came down over me.
The white water covered my head.
4 I said,
“You have sent me away so that you can no longer see me.
But I will look again towards the place where I can worship you.”
5 The water all round me made me afraid.
The deep water caused me to think that my life was in danger.
Plants in the sea covered very near round my head.
6 I went far down in the water.
I went down to the ground.
I could not go any deeper.
I did not know how I would ever come up again.
But you brought me up from the deep hole.
You are my LORD, my God.
7 While I was dying, I remembered you, LORD.
I prayed. And you heard me in the place where I can worship you.
8 Some people want to keep things that have no value.
They worship them.
So they do not receive God’s love that could be for them.
9 But I will give sacrifices to you.
I will sing and I will thank you.
I will do what I have promised to do.
The LORD has saved me.’ ^{▼▼2:9 Jonah went down far under the water. He was nearly dead. He felt like someone who was going into a deep hole. That is how he described it. This may mean a place far from God. Or it is the place that Jews call Sheol, the place of dead people.} ^{▼▼2:9 God had saved him from the water so Jonah thanked him. These words may have been his own words. But they are also like some songs that are in the Old Testament. So Jonah may have known a song like this and he may have used it.} ^{▼▼2:9 The words that Jonah spoke showed that his mind was working well. So he was not very sick.}

10 And the LORD spoke to the fish. The fish caused Jonah to leave its stomach and to come back out of its mouth. Jonah landed on to the dry ground.