1Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish
2and said,“I called out to the LORD from my distress, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried out for help, and you heard my prayer.
3You threw me into the deep waters, into the middle of the sea; the ocean current engulfed me; all the mighty waves you sent swept over me.
4I thought I had been banished from your sight, that I would never again see your holy temple!
5Water engulfed me up to my neck; the deep ocean surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6I went down to the very bottoms of the mountains; the gates of the netherworld barred me in forever; but you brought me up from the Pit, O LORD, my God.
7When my life was ebbing away, I called out to the LORD. And my prayer came to you, to your holy temple.
8Those who worship worthless idols forfeit the mercy that could be theirs.
9But as for me, I promise to offer a sacrifice to you with a public declaration of praise; I will surely do what I have promised. Salvation belongs to the LORD!”
10Then the LORD commanded the fish and it disgorged Jonah on dry land.
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jonah 2
We left Jonah in the belly of the fish, and had reason to think we should hear no more of him, that if he were not destroyed by the waters of the sea he would be consumed in the bowels of that leviathan, "out of whose mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire, and whose breath kindles coals," Job xli. 19, 21. But God…
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