Jonah's Prayer from the Depths
A prayer of distress and deliverance.
From the depths, Jonah cries out and recalls God's mercy, moving from despair to trust and thanksgiving.
Scripture
1 Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish's belly.
2 He said, "I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.
3 For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me.
4 I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.'
5 The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head.
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God.
7 "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.
8 Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh."