Jonah

In the Belly of the Great Fish

The Lord sent a big fish to swallow Jonah. He stayed in the fish’s belly for three days and three nights.

From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God:

“In my distress, I cried out to the Lord,and he answered me;from the depths of the grave, you heard my voice when I called.

You threw me into the deep,to the very heart of the sea,and the currents swirled around me;all your wavesand breakers swept over me.

Then I thought:I have been cast out from your presence,but I keep on looking to your holy temple.

The waters engulfed me up to my throat;all around me was the abyss;wrapped about my head were seaweeds.

I went down to the roots of the mountains,the bars of the netherworld closed upon me,but you brought my life up from the pit, the Lord, my God.

When my soul was faint within me, I remembered the Lord, and before you, I lifted my prayer up to your holy temple.

Those who worship worthless idols lose your grace;

but I, with songs of praise, will offer you sacrifices.What I have vowed, I will fulfill—deliverance comes from the Lord, my God.”

Then the Lord gave his command to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.