Lamentations 3

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¹I am the man who has seen trouble by the rod of his wrath.

²By him I have been made to go in the dark where there is no light.

³Truly against me his hand has been turned again and again all the day.

⁴My flesh and my skin have been used up by him and my bones broken.

⁵He has put up a wall against me, shutting me in with bitter sorrow.

⁶He has kept me in dark places, like those who have been long dead.

⁷He has put a wall round me, so that I am not able to go out; he has made great the weight of my chain.

⁸Even when I send up a cry for help, he keeps my prayer shut out.

⁹He has put up a wall of cut stones about my ways, he has made my roads twisted.

¹⁰He is like a bear waiting for me, like a lion in secret places.

¹¹By him my ways have been turned on one side and I have been pulled in bits; he has made me waste.

¹²With his bow bent, he has made me the mark for his arrows.

¹³He has let loose his arrows into the inmost parts of my body.

¹⁴I have become the sport of all the peoples; I am their song all the day.

¹⁵He has made my life nothing but pain, he has given me the bitter root in full measure.

¹⁶By him my teeth have been broken with crushed stones, and I am bent low in the dust.

¹⁷My soul is sent far away from peace, I have no more memory of good.

¹⁸And I said, My strength is cut off, and my hope from the Lord.

¹⁹Keep in mind my trouble and my wandering, the bitter root and the poison.

²⁰My soul still keeps the memory of them; and is bent down in me.

²¹This I keep in mind, and because of this I have hope.

²²It is through the Lord's love that we have not come to destruction, because his mercies have no limit.

²³They are new every morning; great is your good faith.

²⁴I said to myself, The Lord is my heritage; and because of this I will have hope in him.

²⁵The Lord is good to those who are waiting for him, to the soul which is looking for him.

²⁶It is good to go on hoping and quietly waiting for the salvation of the Lord.

²⁷It is good for a man to undergo the yoke when he is young.

²⁸Let him be seated by himself, saying nothing, because he has put it on him.

²⁹Let him put his mouth in the dust, if by chance there may be hope.

³⁰Let his face be turned to him who gives him blows; let him be full of shame.

³¹For the Lord does not give a man up for ever.

³²For though he sends grief, still he will have pity in the full measure of his love.

³³For he has no pleasure in troubling and causing grief to the children of men.

³⁴In a man's crushing under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,

³⁵In his turning away the right of a man before the face of the Most High.

³⁶In his doing wrong to a man in his cause, the Lord has no pleasure.

³⁷Who is able to say a thing, and give effect to it, if it has not been ordered by the Lord?

³⁸Do not evil and good come from the mouth of the Most High?

³⁹What protest may a living man make, even a man about the punishment of his sin?

⁴⁰Let us make search and put our ways to the test, turning again to the Lord;

⁴¹Lifting up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens.

⁴²We have done wrong and gone against your law; we have not had your forgiveness.

⁴³Covering yourself with wrath you have gone after us, cutting us off without pity;

⁴⁴Covering yourself with a cloud, so that prayer may not get through.

⁴⁵You have made us like waste and that for which there is no use, among the peoples.

⁴⁶The mouths of all our haters are open wide against us.

⁴⁷Fear and deep waters have come on us, wasting and destruction.

⁴⁸Rivers of water are running down from my eyes, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹My eyes are streaming without stopping, they have no rest,

⁵⁰Till the Lord's eye is turned on me, till he sees my trouble from heaven.

⁵¹The Lord is unkind to my soul, more than all the daughters of my town.

⁵²They who are against me without cause have gone hard after me as if I was a bird;

⁵³They have put an end to my life in the prison, stoning me with stones.

⁵⁴Waters were flowing over my head; I said, I am cut off.

⁵⁵I was making prayer to your name, O Lord, out of the lowest prison.

⁵⁶My voice came to you; let not your ear be shut to my breathing, to my cry.

⁵⁷You came near in the day when I made my prayer to you: you said, Have no fear.

⁵⁸O Lord, you have taken up the cause of my soul, you have made my life safe.

⁵⁹O Lord, you have seen my wrong; be judge in my cause.

⁶⁰You have seen all the evil rewards they have sent on me, and all their designs against me.

⁶¹Their bitter words have come to your ears, O Lord, and all their designs against me;

⁶²The lips of those who came up against me, and their thoughts against me all the day.

⁶³Take note of them when they are seated, and when they get up; I am their song.

⁶⁴You will give them their reward, O Lord, answering to the work of their hands.

⁶⁵You will let their hearts be covered over with your curse on them.

⁶⁶You will go after them in wrath, and put an end to them from under the heavens of the Lord.

Lamentations 3

¹ALEPH I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

²He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.

³Surely against me he turns his hand again and again all the day.

⁴My flesh and my skin he has made old; he has broken my bones.

⁵He has built against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

⁶He has made me to dwell in dark places, like those that have been long dead.

⁷He has walled me in, so I can't escape; he has made my chains heavy.

⁸Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.

⁹He has walled up my ways with cut stone; he has made my paths crooked.

¹⁰He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in hiding.

¹¹He has obstructed my path, and torn me in pieces; he has made me desolate.

¹²He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

¹³He has caused the arrows of his quiver to pierce my inward parts.

¹⁴I have become a laughingstock to all my people, and their song all the day.

¹⁵He has filled me with bitterness, he has given me in full measure wormwood.

¹⁶He has also broken my teeth with gravel; he has pressed me down in the dust.

¹⁷You have removed my soul far away from peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.

¹⁸And I said, "My strength and my hope has perished from the Lord."

¹⁹Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

²⁰My soul considers them, and is depressed.

²¹But this I call to my mind; therefore I have hope:

²²The Lord's faithful love does not cease; his compassion does not fail.

²³They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

²⁴"The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore will I hope in him."

²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

²⁶It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

²⁷It is good for a man that he bear the yoke while he is young.

²⁸Let him sit alone and keep silence when he is disciplining him.

²⁹Let him put his mouth to the dust, there may yet be hope.

³⁰Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him; let him be filled with insults.

³¹For the Lord will not reject forever.

³²For though he may cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the abundance of his loving kindness.

³³For he is not predisposed to bring affliction or suffering to the children of men.

³⁴To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth;

³⁵to deprive a man of justice before the face of the Most High,

³⁶to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord does not approve.

³⁷Who can speak a thing and have it come to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?

³⁸Doesn't both calamity and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?

³⁹Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰Let us examine and search our ways, and return to the Lord.

⁴¹Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.

⁴²We have transgressed and have rebelled, and you have not forgiven.

⁴³You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you killed without sparing.

⁴⁴You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.

⁴⁵You have made us rubbish and refuse in the midst of the peoples.

⁴⁶All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.

⁴⁷Fear and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction.

⁴⁸Streams of tears run down from my eyes because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹My tears flow and do not cease, without respite,

⁵⁰until the Lord looks down and sees from heaven.

⁵¹My eyes bring my soul grief, because of all the daughters of my city.

⁵²They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.

⁵³They have cut off my life in a pit, and have cast a stone on me.

⁵⁴Waters flowed over my head; I said, 'I am finished.'

⁵⁵I called on your name, Lord, out of the depths of the pit.

⁵⁶You heard my voice; do not hide your ear at my sighs, to my cry.

⁵⁷You drew near in the day that I called on you; you said, "Do not be afraid."

⁵⁸Lord, you have taken up the case for my soul; you have redeemed my life.

⁵⁹Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me; judge my case.

⁶⁰You have seen all their vengeance and all their plots against me.

⁶¹You have heard their insults, Lord, and all their plots against me.

⁶²The lips of those that rose up against me, and their plots against me all day long.

⁶³Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their mocking song.

⁶⁴You will render to them what they deserve, Lord, according to the work of their hands.

⁶⁵You will give them hardness of heart as your curse to them.

⁶⁶You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.