Lamentations 3
1 I am the man who hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
I [, the one who am writing this, ] am a man who has been afflicted/punished [MTY] by Yahweh because he was angry.
2 Me hath he driven out, and led into darkness, but not into light.
[It was as though] he caused me to walk in a very dark place without any light [at all].
3 Surely against me doth he turn again and again his hand all the day.
He has punished [IDM] me many times, all day, [every] day.
4 He hath caused my flesh and my skin to wear out, he hath broken my bones.
He has caused my skin and my flesh to become old. He has broken my bones.
5 He hath built around me, and encompassed me with poison and hardship.
He has surrounded me [DOU] with bitterness and suffering.
6 In dark places hath he set me to dwell, like the dead of olden times.
[It is as though] he has buried me in a dark place like [SIM] [the graves of] those who have been dead for a long time.
7 He hath placed a fence round about me, that I cannot get out; he hath made heavy my chain.
[It is as though] [MET] he has built a wall around me, and fastened/tied me with heavy chains, and I cannot escape.
8 Also when I cry aloud and make entreaty, he shutteth out my prayer.
Although I call out and cry out for him to help me, he does not pay attention to my prayers.
9 He hath fenced up my ways with hewn stone, my paths hath he made crooked.
[It is as though] he has blocked my path with a [high] stone [wall] and has caused my path to become crooked.
10 A bear lying in wait is he to me, a lion in secret places.
He has waited to attack me like [SIM] a bear or a lion hides and waits [to attack other animals].
11 On my ways hath he placed thorns, and torn me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.
[It is as though] he has dragged me off the path and (mauled me/torn me into pieces), and left me without help.
12 He hath bent his bow, and placed me as a mark for the arrow.
[It is as though] [MET] he bent his bow and caused me to become the target [at which he shot] his arrows.
13 He hath caused to enter into my reins the children of his quiver.
[It is as though] he shot his arrows deep into my body.
14 I am become a laughing-stock to all my people, their [jeering] song all the day.
All my relatives laugh at me; all day, [every] day they sing songs that make fun of me.
15 He hath sated me with bitter things, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
He has filled me with (bitterness/great suffering), [like] [MET] someone who drinks a very bitter liquid suffers.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel-stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
[It is as though] he has caused me to chew gravel that broke my teeth, and he has trampled me in the dirt.
17 And my soul hath given up all thoughts of peace: I forget happiness.
Things no longer go well for me; I no longer remember being prosperous.
18 And I said, Lost is my strength, my expectation also from the Lord.
I [continued to] say [to myself], “I no longer expect to live much longer; I no longer confidently expect [to receive good things] from Yahweh!”
19 Remembering my affliction and [the cause of] my complaint, wormwood and poison.
When I think about my suffering and my wandering [away from home], [it is like drinking] a very bitter [DOU] liquid.
20 Remembering [this] continually my soul is bowed down deeply within me.
I will never forget this time when I feel very depressed/discouraged [IDM].
21 [Yet] this answer will I give to my heart: therefore will I wait [in confidence].
However, I confidently expect [Yahweh to do good things for me again] when I think about this:
22 It is through the Lord's kindness that we are not consumed, because his mercies have no end;
Yahweh never stops faithfully loving [us], and he never stops being kind to us.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
[He is the one whom we can] always trust/lean on. Every morning he is merciful [to us again].
24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I wait for him.
[So] I say to myself, “Yahweh is all that I need; so I will confidently wait for him [to do good things for me].”
25 The Lord is good unto those that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.
Yahweh is good to [all] those who depend on him, to those who seek his [help].
26 It is good that one should wait and this in silence for the salvation of the Lord.
[So] it is good for us to wait quietly for Yahweh to save/rescue [us].
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth;
And it is good for us to [patiently] endure [suffering] while we are young.
28 That he sit in solitude and be silent; because He hath laid it upon him;
Those [who seek his help] should sit by themselves, silently, [knowing that] it is Yahweh who has allowed/caused them to suffer.
29 That he put his mouth in the dust; perhaps there still is hope;
They should lie in the dirt, with their faces on the ground, [because] they can still hope [that Yahweh will help them].
30 That he offer his cheek to him that smiteth him; that he be satisfied with reproach.
If someone strikes us on one cheek, we should turn the other cheek toward that person [in order that he may strike it, too], and accept/endure it when we are insulted.
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever;
Yahweh does not abandon [us his people] forever.
32 But though he have caused grief, yet will he have mercy according to the abundance of his kindnesses.
Sometimes he causes us to suffer, but sometimes he is kind [to us] because he continually and faithfully loves [us].
33 For he doth not afflict of his own will, and aggrieve the children of men.
And he is not happy about causing human beings to suffer or to be sad.
34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
If people (mistreat all the prisoners/crush all the prisoners under their feet)
35 To pervert the justice [due to man] before the face of the Most High.
or if they rebel against God by refusing to give to people the things that it is right for them [to receive],
36 To subvert a man in his contest—should the Lord not see this?
or if they cause judges to decide matters unjustly, (does Yahweh not see all those things?/Yahweh certainly sees all those things!) [RHQ]
37 Who is he that saith aught, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord hath not ordained it?
No one can [RHQ] command something to happen [and then cause it to happen] if Yahweh has not already decided that it should happen.
38 Do not out of the mouth of the Most High come both the evil things and the good?
God in heaven [MTY] is [RHQ] the one who causes disasters to happen, and he [also] causes good things to happen.
39 Wherefore should a living man complain? let every man complain because of his sins.
[So] it is certainly not [RHQ] right for us, who are only humans, to complain when he punishes us for the sins that we have committed.
40 Let us search through and investigate our ways, and let us return to the Lord.
Instead, we should (examine/think carefully about) our behavior; we should turn back to Yahweh.
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
We should pray [IDM] sincerely and lift up our arms toward God in heaven, [and say, ]
42 We have indeed transgressed and rebelled: thou hast truly not pardoned.
“We have sinned and rebelled [against you], and you have not forgiven [us].
43 Thou hast covered [us] with thy anger, and made pursuit after us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
You have surrounded us with your anger and pursued us; you have slaughtered [us] without pitying us.
44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that no prayer should pass through.
You have hidden yourself in a cloud, with the result that you do not hear [us] when we pray.
45 As something loathsome and rejected hast thou rendered us in the midst of the people.
You have caused [the people of other] nations to consider us to be only garbage [DOU].
46 Wide have all our enemies opened against us their mouth.
All our enemies have insulted us.
47 Terror and a snare are come upon us, [with] desolation and breaches.
We are constantly afraid [DOU], [because] we have experienced disasters and ruin [DOU].”
48 With streams of water runneth my eye down, because of the breach of the daughter of my people.
I cry a lot because my people have been destroyed.
49 My eye trickleth down, and resteth not, without any intermission,
My tears continually flow; they will not stop
50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven.
until Yahweh looks down from heaven and sees [us].
51 My eye affecteth my soul because of all the daughters of my city.
I am very grieved because of [what has happened to] the women of my city.
52 Those who are my enemies, without a cause, have chased me about like a bird.
Those who are my enemies hunted for me like [SIM] [people hunt for] a bird [to kill it] [even though] there was no reason [for them to do that].
53 They have shut up in the dungeon my life, and have cast stones upon me.
They threw me into a pit to kill me, and they threw stones on top of me.
54 Waters streamed over my head: I said, I am cut off.
The water [in the pit] rose above my head, and I said [to myself], “I am about to die/drown!”
55 I called on thy name, O Lord, out of the dungeon of the lowest depth.
But from the bottom of the pit I cried out to you [MTY], “Yahweh, [help me]!”
56 Thou didst hear my voice: hide not thy ear to give me enlargement at my cry.
I pleaded with you, “Do not refuse to heed [MTY] me while I cry out to you!”
57 Thou wast ever near on the day that I called on thee: thou saidst, Fear not.
Then you answered me and said, “Do not be afraid!”
58 Thou didst plead, O Lord, the causes of my soul: thou didst [before this] redeem my life.
Yahweh, you defended me; you did not allow me to die.
59 Thou hast [now] seen, O Lord, the wrong I suffer: judge thou my cause.
[Now], Yahweh, you have seen the evil things that my enemies have done to me, [so] decide my case [and show that I am right]!
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance, all their plans against me.
You know the evil things that they have planned to do to me.
61 Thou hast heard their reviling, O Lord, all their plans against me,
Yahweh, you have heard them insult [me] and what they have planned to do to me.
62 The speeches of these that rise up against me, and their device against me all the day.
Every day they whisper and mutter things about me, all day long.
63 Oh look upon their sitting down, and their rising up: I am their [jeering] song.
Look at them! Whether they are standing or sitting they make fun of me with the songs that they sing.
64 Render unto them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.
Yahweh, cause them to suffer in return for their causing [me] to suffer!
65 Give them confusion of heart, thy curse he upon them.
Curse them [IDM] [for] their being very stubborn [IDM].
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy from under the heavens of the Lord.
Because you are angry with them, pursue them and get rid of them, [until none of them remain] on the earth.
