Lamentations 3
1 I am the man who has experienced suffering under the rod of God's anger.
ALEPH. I am a man watching my own poverty by the rod of his indignation.
2 He has driven me away, forcing me to walk in darkness instead of the light.
ALEPH. He has driven me and led me into darkness, and not into light.
3 In fact he hits me again and again all day long.
ALEPH. Against me only, he has turned and turned again his hand, all day long.
4 He has worn me out; he has broken me in pieces.
BETH. My skin and my flesh, he has made old; he has crushed my bones.
5 He has besieged me, surrounding me with bitterness and misery.
BETH. He has built all around me, and he has encircled me with gall and hardship.
6 He has forced me to live in darkness like those long dead.
BETH. He has gathered me into darkness, like those who are forever dead.
7 He has built a wall around me so I can't escape; he has bound me with heavy chains.
GHIMEL. He has built against me all around, so that I may not depart. He has increased the burden of my confinement.
8 Even when I keep on crying out for help, he refuses to listen to my prayer.
GHIMEL. Yet even when I cry out and beg, he excludes my prayer.
9 He has put stone blocks in my way and sends me down crooked paths.
GHIMEL. He has enclosed my ways with square stones; he has subverted my paths.
10 He is a bear that lies in wait for me, a lion in hiding ready to attack,
DALETH. He has become to me like a bear lying in ambush, like a lion in hiding.
11 He dragged me from my path and ripped me to pieces, leaving me helpless.
DALETH. He has subverted my paths, and he has broken me. He has placed me in desolation.
12 He loaded his bow with an arrow and used me as his target,
DALETH. He has bent his bow, and he has positioned me like a target for his arrows.
13 He shot me in my kidneys with his arrows.
HE. He has shot into my kidneys the daughters of his quiver.
14 Now everyone laughs at me, singing songs that mock me all day long.
HE. I have become a derision to all my people, their song throughout the day.
15 He has filled me with bitterness; he has filled me up with bitter wormwood.
HE. He has filled me with bitterness; he has inebriated me with wormwood.
16 He has broken my teeth with grit; he has trampled me in the dust.
VAU. And he has broken each one of my teeth; he has fed me with ashes.
17 Peace has been torn away from me; I've forgotten all that's good in life.
VAU. And my soul has been driven away from peace; I have forgotten what is good.
18 That's why I say, “My expectation of a long life is gone, along with all that I hoped for from Lord.
VAU. And I said, “My end and my hope from the Lord has perished.”
19 Don't forget everything I've suffered in my wandering, as bitters as wormwood and poison.
ZAIN. Remember my poverty and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall.
20 I certainly haven't forgotten. I remember it all too well, so I sink into depression.
ZAIN. I will call to mind the past, and my soul shall languish within me.
21 But I still hope when I think about this:
ZAIN. These recollections are in my heart; therefore, I shall hope.
22 It's because of the Lord's trustworthy love that our lives are not finished, for through his merciful actions he never lets us down.
HETH. By the mercies of the Lord, we are not consumed. For his compassion has not passed away.
23 He renews them every morning. How wonderfully trustworthy you are, Lord!
HETH. I know it at first light; great is your faithfulness.
24 The Lord is all I need,” I tell myself, “so I will put my hope in him.”
HETH. “The Lord is my portion,” said my soul. Because of this, I will wait for him.
25 The Lord is good to those who trust in him, to anyone who seeks to follow him.
TETH. The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.
26 It is good to wait quietly for the Lord's salvation.
TETH. It is good to stand ready in silence for the salvation of God.
27 It is good for people to learn to patiently bear discipline while they're still young.
TETH. It is good for a man, when he has carried the yoke from his youth.
28 They should sit by themselves in silence, because it's God who has disciplined them.
JOD. He shall sit solitary and silent. For he has lifted it upon himself.
29 They should bow low with their faces to the ground, for there may still be hope.
JOD. He shall place his mouth in the dirt, if perhaps there may be hope.
30 They should turn a cheek to someone who wants to slap them; they should take the insults of others.
JOD. He shall give his cheek to those who strike him; he shall be saturated with reproaches.
31 For the Lord won't abandon us forever.
CAPH. For the Lord will not rebuke forever.
32 Even though he may bring sadness, he shows us mercy because his trustworthy love is so great.
CAPH. For, if he has cast down, he will also have compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies.
33 For he doesn't willingly hurt people, or cause them grief.
CAPH. For he has not humiliated from his heart, nor has he thrown aside the sons of men,
34 Whether it's mistreating all the prisoners of the land,
LAMED. as if to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,
35 Or denying someone their rights as the Most High watches,
LAMED. as if to turn aside the judgment of a man in the sight of the presence of the Most High,
36 Or cheating someone in their legal case—these things the Lord doesn't approve of.
LAMED. as if to pervert a man in his judgment: the Lord does not do this.
37 Who spoke and it came into existence? Wasn't it the Lord who commanded it?
MEM. Who is this, who said to do what the Lord did not command?
38 When the Most High speaks it can be a disaster or a blessing.
MEM. Does not both misfortune and good proceed from the mouth of the Most High?
39 Why should any human being complain about the results of their sins?
MEM. Why has a living man murmured, a man suffering for his sins?
40 We should look at ourselves, examine what we're doing, and return to the Lord.
NUN. Let us examine our ways, and seek out, and return to the Lord.
41 Let's not just hold up our hands to God in heaven, but our minds as well, saying,
NUN. Let us lift up our hearts, with our hands, toward the Lord in the heavens.
42 “We are the ones who sinned; we are the ones who rebelled; and you haven't forgiven us!”
NUN. We have acted sinfully, and we have provoked to wrath. About this, you are relentless.
43 You have wrapped yourself in anger and chased us down, killing without mercy. You have killed without pity.
SAMECH. You have covered us in your fury, and you have struck us. You have killed, and have not spared.
44 You have wrapped yourself with a cloud that no prayer can penetrate.
SAMECH. You have set a cloud opposite you, lest our prayer pass through.
45 You have made us waste and refuse to the nations around.
SAMECH. In the midst of the peoples, you have uprooted me and cast me out.
46 All our enemies open their mouths to criticize us.
PHE. All our enemies have opened their mouths over us.
47 We're terrified and trapped, devastated and destroyed.
PHE. Prediction has become for us a dread, and a snare, and a grief.
48 Tears stream from my eyes over the death of my people.
PHE. My eye has brought forth streams of water at the contrition of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes overflow with tears all the time. They won't stop
AIN. My eye has been afflicted, and it has not been quieted, because there would be no rest
50 Until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees what's going on.
AIN. until the Lord looked down and saw from the heavens.
51 What I've seen torments me because of what's happened to all the women in my city.
AIN. My eye has exhausted my soul over every one of the daughters of my city.
52 For no reason my enemies trapped me like a bird.
SADE. My enemies have chased me, and they have caught me like a bird, without reason.
53 They tried to kill me by tossing me into a pit and throwing stones at me.
SADE. My life has fallen into a pit, and they have placed a stone over me.
54 Water flooded over my head, and I thought I was going to die.
SADE. The waters have flooded over my head. I said, “I am lost.”
55 I called out for you, Lord, from deep inside the pit.
COPH. I called upon your name, O Lord, from the furthest pit.
56 You heard me when I prayed, “Please don't ignore my cry for help.”
COPH. You have heard my voice. Do not turn away your ear from my sobbing and my cries.
57 You came to me when I called you, and you told me, “Don't be afraid!”
COPH. You drew near in the daytime, when I called upon you. You said, “Fear not.”
58 You have taken my case and defended me; you have saved my life!
RES. You have judged, O Lord, the case of my soul. You are the Redeemer of my life.
59 Lord, you have seen the injustices done to me; please vindicate me!
RES. You have seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me. Judge my case.
60 You have observed how vengeful they are and how often they've plotted against me.
RES. You have seen all their fury, every one of their thoughts is against me.
61 Lord, you have heard how they've insulted me, and what they've plotted against me,
SIN. You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their thoughts are against me.
62 How my enemies talk against me and complain about me all the time!
SIN. The lips of those who rise up against me, and their meditations, are against me all day long.
63 Just look! Whether they're sitting down and or standing up, they go on making fun of me in their songs.
SIN. Watch their sitting down and their rising up: I am their psalm.
64 Pay them back as they deserve, Lord, for all they've done!
THAU. You shall pay a recompense to them, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.
65 Give them a covering for their minds! May your curse be on them!
THAU. You shall give them a heavy shield of the heart: your hardship.
66 Chase them down in your anger, Lord, and get rid of them from the earth!
THAU. You shall pursue them in fury, and you shall destroy them under the heavens, O Lord.
