Lamentations 3
1 I am the man who hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
I am a man who has seen misery under the rod of Yahweh's fury.
2 Me hath he driven out, and led into darkness, but not into light.
He drove me away and caused me to walk in darkness rather than light.
3 Surely against me doth he turn again and again his hand all the day.
Surely he turned his hand against me again and again, the whole day long.
4 He hath caused my flesh and my skin to wear out, he hath broken my bones.
He made my flesh and my skin waste away; he broke my bones.
5 He hath built around me, and encompassed me with poison and hardship.
He built up siege works against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6 In dark places hath he set me to dwell, like the dead of olden times.
He made me live in dark places, like those who died long ago.
7 He hath placed a fence round about me, that I cannot get out; he hath made heavy my chain.
He built a wall around me and I cannot escape. He made my chains heavy
8 Also when I cry aloud and make entreaty, he shutteth out my prayer.
and though I call out and cry for help, he shut out my prayer.
9 He hath fenced up my ways with hewn stone, my paths hath he made crooked.
He blocked my path with a wall of hewn stone; he made my paths crooked.
10 A bear lying in wait is he to me, a lion in secret places.
He is like a bear waiting to ambush me, a lion in hiding;
11 On my ways hath he placed thorns, and torn me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.
he turned aside my paths, he has made me desolate.
12 He hath bent his bow, and placed me as a mark for the arrow.
He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.
13 He hath caused to enter into my reins the children of his quiver.
He pierced my kidneys with the arrows of his quiver.
14 I am become a laughing-stock to all my people, their [jeering] song all the day.
I became a laughingstock to all my people, the object of their taunting all day long.
15 He hath sated me with bitter things, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
He filled me with bitterness and forced me to drink wormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel-stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
He has made my teeth grind with gravel, and he made me cower in the ashes.
17 And my soul hath given up all thoughts of peace: I forget happiness.
My soul is deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.
18 And I said, Lost is my strength, my expectation also from the Lord.
So I say, “My endurance has perished and so has my hope in Yahweh.”
19 Remembering my affliction and [the cause of] my complaint, wormwood and poison.
Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and bitterness.
20 Remembering [this] continually my soul is bowed down deeply within me.
I continually remember it and I am bowed down within me.
21 [Yet] this answer will I give to my heart: therefore will I wait [in confidence].
But I call this to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 It is through the Lord's kindness that we are not consumed, because his mercies have no end;
The steadfast love of Yahweh never ceases and his compassions never end,
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
they are new every morning; your faithfulness is great.
24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I wait for him.
“Yahweh is my inheritance,” I said, therefore I will hope in him.
25 The Lord is good unto those that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.
Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the one who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait and this in silence for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good to wait silently for the salvation of Yahweh.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth;
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 That he sit in solitude and be silent; because He hath laid it upon him;
Let him sit alone in silence, when it is laid upon him.
29 That he put his mouth in the dust; perhaps there still is hope;
Let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope.
30 That he offer his cheek to him that smiteth him; that he be satisfied with reproach.
Let him offer his cheek to the one who strikes him, and let him be filled to the full with reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever;
For the Lord will not reject us forever,
32 But though he have caused grief, yet will he have mercy according to the abundance of his kindnesses.
but though he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
33 For he doth not afflict of his own will, and aggrieve the children of men.
For he does not afflict from his heart or torment the children of mankind.
34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 To pervert the justice [due to man] before the face of the Most High.
to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High,
36 To subvert a man in his contest—should the Lord not see this?
to deny justice to a person—the Lord would not approve such things!
37 Who is he that saith aught, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord hath not ordained it?
Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord decreed it?
38 Do not out of the mouth of the Most High come both the evil things and the good?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and the good come?
39 Wherefore should a living man complain? let every man complain because of his sins.
How can any person alive complain? How can a person complain about the punishment for his sins?
40 Let us search through and investigate our ways, and let us return to the Lord.
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to Yahweh.
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in the heavens:
42 We have indeed transgressed and rebelled: thou hast truly not pardoned.
“We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
43 Thou hast covered [us] with thy anger, and made pursuit after us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us, you have killed and you have not spared.
44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that no prayer should pass through.
You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.
45 As something loathsome and rejected hast thou rendered us in the midst of the people.
You have made us like filthy scum and refuse among the nations.
46 Wide have all our enemies opened against us their mouth.
All our enemies curse us,
47 Terror and a snare are come upon us, [with] desolation and breaches.
panic and pitfall have come upon us, ruin and destruction.
48 With streams of water runneth my eye down, because of the breach of the daughter of my people.
My eyes flow with streams of tears because my people are destroyed.
49 My eye trickleth down, and resteth not, without any intermission,
My eyes will shed tears without ceasing, without relief,
50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven.
until Yahweh from heaven looks down and sees.
51 My eye affecteth my soul because of all the daughters of my city.
My eyes cause me grief because of all the daughters of my city.
52 Those who are my enemies, without a cause, have chased me about like a bird.
I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies; they hunted me without a reason.
53 They have shut up in the dungeon my life, and have cast stones upon me.
They cast me into a pit and they threw a stone on me,
54 Waters streamed over my head: I said, I am cut off.
and they caused waters to overflow, covering my head. I said, 'I have been cut off!'
55 I called on thy name, O Lord, out of the dungeon of the lowest depth.
I called on your name, Yahweh, from the depths of the pit.
56 Thou didst hear my voice: hide not thy ear to give me enlargement at my cry.
You heard my voice when I said, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help.'
57 Thou wast ever near on the day that I called on thee: thou saidst, Fear not.
You came near on the day I called on you; you said, 'Do not fear.'
58 Thou didst plead, O Lord, the causes of my soul: thou didst [before this] redeem my life.
Lord, you defended my case, you saved my life!
59 Thou hast [now] seen, O Lord, the wrong I suffer: judge thou my cause.
Yahweh, you have seen the wrong they have done to me; judge my case.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance, all their plans against me.
You have seen their insults, all their plots against me—
61 Thou hast heard their reviling, O Lord, all their plans against me,
You have heard their scorn, Yahweh, and all their plans regarding me.
62 The speeches of these that rise up against me, and their device against me all the day.
The lips and the accusations of my enemies come against me all the day.
63 Oh look upon their sitting down, and their rising up: I am their [jeering] song.
Look at how they sit and then rise up; they mock me with their songs.
64 Render unto them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.
Pay back to them, Yahweh, according to what they have done.
65 Give them confusion of heart, thy curse he upon them.
You will let their hearts be shameless! May your condemnation be upon them!
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy from under the heavens of the Lord.
You pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens, Yahweh!”
