Jonah Chapter 2 – Jonah's Prayer in the Deep
From inside the fish, Jonah turns his despair into a prayer of thanksgiving.
Continuing directly from the storm of Jonah 1, this chapter is entirely Jonah's prayer from "the fish's belly," describing being cast into the deep with weeds "wrapped about my head" and the earth's bars closing around him.
And the Lord made redi a greet fisch, that he shulde swolowe Jonas; and Jonas was in the wombe of the fisch thre daies and thre niytis.
And Jonas preiede to the Lord his God fro the fischis wombe,
and seide, Y criede to God of my tribulacioun, and he herde me; fro the wombe of helle Y criede, and thou herdist my vois.
Thou castidist me doun in to depnesse, in the herte of the see, and the flood cumpasside me; alle thi swolowis and thi wawis passiden on me.
And Y seide, Y am cast awei fro siyt of thin iyen; netheles eftsoone Y schal see thin hooli temple.
Watris cumpassiden me `til to my soule, depnesse enuyrownede me, the see hilide myn heed.
Y wente doun to the vtmeste places of hillis, the barris of erthe closiden me togidere, in to withouten ende; and thou, my Lord God, schalt reise vp my lijf fro corrupcioun.
Whanne my soule was angwisched in me, Y bithouyte on the Lord, that my preier come to thee, to thin hooli temple.
Thei that kepen vanytees, forsaken his merci idili.
But Y in vois of heriyng schal offre to thee; what euer thingis Y vowide, Y schal yelde to the Lord, for myn helthe.
And the Lord seide to the fisch, and it castide out Jonas `in to the drie lond.