Jonah 2 (ASV)

Chapter Text

2:1 Then Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God out of the fish`s belly.

2:2 And he said, I called by reason of mine affliction unto Jehovah, And he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, [And] thou heardest my voice.

2:3 For thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, And the flood was round about me; All thy waves and thy billows passed over me.

2:4 And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

2:5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; The deep was round about me; The weeds were wrapped about my head.

2:6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; The earth with its bars [closed] upon me for ever: Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah my God.

2:7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah; And my prayer came in unto thee, into thy holy temple.

2:8 They that regard lying vanities Forsake their own mercy.

2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of Jehovah.

2:10 And Jehovah spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "called", "mercy", "jonah", "prayed", "jehovah", "fish", "belly", and "said". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "called" and "mercy", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local ASV text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "called" and "mercy" carries the first interpretive weight. In Jonah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "called" and "mercy" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.