Lamentations 3
1 I am the man who has experienced suffering under the rod of God's anger.
I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
2 He has driven me away, forcing me to walk in darkness instead of the light.
He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.
3 In fact he hits me again and again all day long.
Surely he turns his hand against me again and again all day long.
4 He has worn me out; he has broken me in pieces.
He has made my flesh and my skin old. He has broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me, surrounding me with bitterness and misery.
He has built against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has forced me to live in darkness like those long dead.
He has made me dwell in dark places, as those who have been long dead.
7 He has built a wall around me so I can't escape; he has bound me with heavy chains.
He has walled me about, so that I can’t go out. He has made my chain heavy.
8 Even when I keep on crying out for help, he refuses to listen to my prayer.
Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has put stone blocks in my way and sends me down crooked paths.
He has walled up my ways with cut stone. He has made my paths crooked.
10 He is a bear that lies in wait for me, a lion in hiding ready to attack,
He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in hiding.
11 He dragged me from my path and ripped me to pieces, leaving me helpless.
He has turned away my path, and pulled me in pieces. He has made me desolate.
12 He loaded his bow with an arrow and used me as his target,
He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He shot me in my kidneys with his arrows.
He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys.
14 Now everyone laughs at me, singing songs that mock me all day long.
I have become a derision to all my people, and their song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness; he has filled me up with bitter wormwood.
He has filled me with bitterness. He has stuffed me with wormwood.
16 He has broken my teeth with grit; he has trampled me in the dust.
He has also broken my teeth with gravel. He has covered me with ashes.
17 Peace has been torn away from me; I've forgotten all that's good in life.
You have removed my soul far away from peace. I forgot prosperity.
18 That's why I say, “My expectation of a long life is gone, along with all that I hoped for from Lord.
I said, “My strength has perished, along with my expectation from the LORD.”
19 Don't forget everything I've suffered in my wandering, as bitters as wormwood and poison.
Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the bitterness.
20 I certainly haven't forgotten. I remember it all too well, so I sink into depression.
My soul still remembers them, and is bowed down within me.
21 But I still hope when I think about this:
This I recall to my mind; therefore I have 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.
It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail.
23 He renews them every morning. How wonderfully trustworthy you are, Lord!
They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
24 The Lord is all I need,” I tell myself, “so I will put my hope in him.”
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who trust in him, to anyone who seeks to follow him.
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good to wait quietly for the Lord's salvation.
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for people to learn to patiently bear discipline while they're still young.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 They should sit by themselves in silence, because it's God who has disciplined them.
Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he has laid it on him.
29 They should bow low with their faces to the ground, for there may still be hope.
Let him put his mouth in the dust, if it is so that there may be hope.
30 They should turn a cheek to someone who wants to slap them; they should take the insults of others.
Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him. Let him be filled full of reproach.
31 For the Lord won't abandon us forever.
For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 Even though he may bring sadness, he shows us mercy because his trustworthy love is so great.
For though he causes grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
33 For he doesn't willingly hurt people, or cause them grief.
For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
34 Whether it's mistreating all the prisoners of the land,
To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 Or denying someone their rights as the Most High watches,
to turn away the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36 Or cheating someone in their legal case—these things the Lord doesn't approve of.
to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord doesn’t approve.
37 Who spoke and it came into existence? Wasn't it the Lord who commanded it?
Who is he who says, and it comes to pass, when the Lord doesn’t command it?
38 When the Most High speaks it can be a disaster or a blessing.
Doesn’t evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?
39 Why should any human being complain about the results of their sins?
Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 We should look at ourselves, examine what we're doing, and return to the Lord.
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
41 Let's not just hold up our hands to God in heaven, but our minds as well, saying,
Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.
42 “We are the ones who sinned; we are the ones who rebelled; and you haven't forgiven us!”
“We have transgressed and have rebelled. You have not pardoned.
43 You have wrapped yourself in anger and chased us down, killing without mercy. You have killed without pity.
“You have covered us with anger and pursued us. You have killed. You have not pitied.
44 You have wrapped yourself with a cloud that no prayer can penetrate.
You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us waste and refuse to the nations around.
You have made us an off-scouring and refuse in the middle of the peoples.
46 All our enemies open their mouths to criticize us.
“All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
47 We're terrified and trapped, devastated and destroyed.
Terror and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction.”
48 Tears stream from my eyes over the death of my people.
My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes overflow with tears all the time. They won't stop
My eye pours down and doesn’t cease, without any intermission,
50 Until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees what's going on.
until the LORD looks down, and sees from heaven.
51 What I've seen torments me because of what's happened to all the women in my city.
My eye affects my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.
52 For no reason my enemies trapped me like a bird.
They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.
53 They tried to kill me by tossing me into a pit and throwing stones at me.
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone on me.
54 Water flooded over my head, and I thought I was going to die.
Waters flowed over my head. I said, “I am cut off.”
55 I called out for you, Lord, from deep inside the pit.
I called on your name, LORD, out of the lowest dungeon.
56 You heard me when I prayed, “Please don't ignore my cry for help.”
You heard my voice: “Don’t hide your ear from my sighing, and my cry.”
57 You came to me when I called you, and you told me, “Don't be afraid!”
You came near in the day that I called on you. You said, “Don’t be afraid.”
58 You have taken my case and defended me; you have saved my life!
Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul. You have redeemed my life.
59 Lord, you have seen the injustices done to me; please vindicate me!
LORD, you have seen my wrong. Judge my cause.
60 You have observed how vengeful they are and how often they've plotted against me.
You have seen all their vengeance and all their plans against me.
61 Lord, you have heard how they've insulted me, and what they've plotted against me,
You have heard their reproach, LORD, and all their plans against me,
62 How my enemies talk against me and complain about me all the time!
the lips of those that rose up against me, and their plots 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.
You see their sitting down and their rising up. I am their song.
64 Pay them back as they deserve, Lord, for all they've done!
You will pay them back, LORD, according to the work of their hands.
65 Give them a covering for their minds! May your curse be on them!
You will give them hardness of heart, your curse to them.
66 Chase them down in your anger, Lord, and get rid of them from the earth!
You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.
