Christ referred to the story of Jonah when He prophesied His own death and Resurrection: Just as Jonah spent three days in the belly of the great fish and then returned to the living, Jesus would spend three days in the belly of the earth and then rise from the dead. The story of Jonah also figures prominently in Orthodox hymnody, where we implore God to save us from the tempest of our sins as He saved Jonah from the watery deep.