Lamentations 3 Comparison: King James Version vs Bible in Basic English

Lamentations 3

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

²He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

³Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.

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

⁵He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

⁶He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.

⁷He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

⁸Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

⁹He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

¹⁰He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

¹¹He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.

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

¹³He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

¹⁴I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.

¹⁵He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.

¹⁶He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.

¹⁷And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.

¹⁸And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord:

¹⁹Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

²⁰My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

²¹This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

²²It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

²³They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

²⁴The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

²⁵The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

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

²⁷It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

²⁸He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.

²⁹He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.

³⁰He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.

³¹For the Lord will not cast off for ever:

³²But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

³³For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

³⁴To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,

³⁵To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,

³⁶To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.

³⁷Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

³⁸Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?

³⁹Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.

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

⁴²We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.

⁴³Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.

⁴⁴Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.

⁴⁵Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.

⁴⁶All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

⁴⁷Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.

⁴⁸Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,

⁵⁰Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven.

⁵¹Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.

⁵²Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.

⁵³They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.

⁵⁴Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.

⁵⁵I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.

⁵⁶Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.

⁵⁷Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.

⁵⁸O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.

⁵⁹O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.

⁶⁰Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.

⁶¹Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginations against me;

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

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

⁶⁴Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.

⁶⁵Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.

⁶⁶Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord.

Lamentations 3

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.