Water engulfed me up to my neck; ¹  the deep ocean ²  surrounded me; seaweed ³  was wrapped around my head.

When my life ¹  was ebbing away, ²  I called out to ³  the Lord, and my prayer came to your holy temple. ⁴ 

(2:1) ¹ The Lord sent ²  a huge ³  fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

So Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, as the Lord had said. (Now Nineveh was an enormous city ¹  – it required three days to walk through it!) ² 

Because the storm was growing worse and worse, ¹  they said to him, “What should we do to you to make ²  the sea calm down ³  for us?”

The Lord God appointed ¹  a little plant ²  and caused it to grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to rescue ³  him from his misery. ⁴  Now Jonah was very delighted ⁵  about the little plant.

Hearing this, ¹  the men became even more afraid ²  and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escape ³  from the Lord, ⁴  because he had previously told them. ⁵ )

He prayed to the Lord and said, “Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought ¹  would happen ²  when I was in my own country. ³  This is what I tried to prevent ⁴  by attempting to escape to Tarshish! ⁵  – because I knew ⁶  that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger ⁷  and abounding ⁸  in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment. ⁹ 

The sailors were so afraid that each cried out ¹  to his own god ²  and they flung ³  the ship’s cargo ⁴  overboard ⁵  to make the ship lighter. ⁶  Jonah, meanwhile, ⁷  had gone down ⁸  into the hold ⁹  below deck, had lain down, and was sound asleep.

The sailors said to one another, ¹  “Come on, let’s cast lots ²  to find out ³  whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us. ⁴ ” So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out. ⁵ 

This displeased Jonah terribly ¹  and he became very angry. ² 

But ¹  the Lord hurled ²  a powerful ³  wind on the sea. Such a violent ⁴  tempest arose on the sea that ⁵  the ship threatened to break up! ⁶ 

Instead, they tried to row ¹  back to land, ²  but they were not able to do so ³  because the storm kept growing worse and worse. ⁴ 

I went down ¹  to the very bottoms ²  of the mountains; ³  the gates ⁴  of the netherworld ⁵  barred me in ⁶  forever; ⁷  but you brought me ⁸  up from the Pit, ⁹  O Lord, my God.

When the sun began to shine, God sent ¹  a hot ²  east wind. So the sun beat down ³  on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life, ⁴  and said, “I would rather die than live!” ⁵ 

You threw me ¹  into the deep waters, ²  into the middle ³  of the sea; ⁴  the ocean current ⁵  engulfed ⁶  me; all the mighty waves ⁷  you sent ⁸  swept ⁹  over me.

When God saw their actions – they turned ¹  from their evil way of living! ²  – God relented concerning the judgment ³  he had threatened them with ⁴  and he did not destroy them. ⁵ 

So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging.

The men feared the Lord ¹  greatly, ²  and earnestly vowed ³  to offer lavish sacrifices ⁴  to the Lord. ⁵ 

and said, “I ¹  called out to the Lord from my distress, and he answered me; ²  from the belly of Sheol ³  I cried out for help, and you heard my prayer. ⁴