and he answered me;

from the belly of Sheol^[b] I cried for help—

you heard my voice.

³ And you threw me into the deep,

into the heart of the seas,

and the sea currents surrounded me;

all your breakers and your surging waves

passed over me.

⁴ And I said, ‘I am banished^[c]

from your sight;

how^[d] will I continue to look^[e]

on your holy temple?’^[f]

⁵ The waters encompassed me up to my neck;

the deep surrounded me;

seaweed was wrapped around my head.

⁶ I went down to the foundations of the mountains;

the Underworld—its bars were around me forever.

But you brought up my life from the pit,

Yahweh my God.

⁷ When my life was ebbing away from me,

I remembered Yahweh,

and my prayer came to you,

to your holy temple.^[g]

⁸ Those who worship vain idols

forsake their loyal love.^[h]

⁹ But I, with a voice of thanksgiving,

will sacrifice to you;

I will fulfill what I have vowed.

Deliverance^[i] belongs to Yahweh!”

¹⁰ And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out on the dry land.

Footnotes

1. Jonah 2:2 Literally “from distress for me”
2. Jonah 2:2 “Sheol” is a Hebrew term for the place where the dead reside (i.e. the Underworld)
3. Jonah 2:4 Or “expelled,” or “driven away”
4. Jonah 2:4 Or “however, I will continue to look on your holy temple”
5. Jonah 2:4 Literally “will I do again to look,” meaning “will I continue to look”
6. Jonah 2:4 Literally “on the temple of your holiness”
7. Jonah 2:7 Literally “to the temple of your holiness”
8. Jonah 2:8 This could mean (1) they forsake the loyal love they should show to God or (2) they forfeit forsake the loyal love that God would have shown to them
9. Jonah 2:9 Or “salvation”