Lamentations 3
1 [ALEPH-BET] I [am] the man [who] has seen affliction By the rod of His wrath.
I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath.
2 He has led me, and causes to go [in] darkness, and without light.
He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light.
3 Surely against me He turns back, He turns His hand all the day.
Indeed, He keeps turning His hand against me all day long.
4 He has worn out my flesh and my skin. He has broken my bones.
He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones.
5 He has built up against me, And sets around poverty and weariness.
He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6 In dark places He has caused me to dwell, As the dead of old.
He has made me dwell in darkness like those dead for ages.
7 He has hedged me in, and I do not go out, He has made heavy my chain.
He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains.
8 Also when I call and cry out, He has shut out my prayer.
Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer.
9 He has hedged my ways with hewn work, My paths He has made crooked.
He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked.
10 A bear lying in wait He [is] to me, A lion in secret hiding places.
He is a bear lying in wait, a lion hiding in ambush.
11 My ways He is turning aside, and He pulls me in pieces, He has made me a desolation.
He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces; He left me without help.
12 He has bent His bow, And sets me up as a mark for an arrow.
He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.
13 He has caused to enter into my reins The sons of His quiver.
He pierced my kidneys with His arrows.
14 I have been a derision to all my people, Their song all the day.
I am a laughingstock to all my people; they mock me in song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter things, He has filled me [with] wormwood.
He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.
16 And He breaks with gravel my teeth, He has covered me with ashes.
He has ground my teeth with gravel and trampled me in the dust.
17 And You cast off my soul from peace, I have forgotten prosperity.
My soul has been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 And I say, My strength and my hope have perished from YHWH.
So I say, “My strength has perished, along with my hope from the LORD.”
19 Remember my affliction and my mourning, Wormwood and gall!
Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall.
20 Remember well, and my soul bows down in me.
Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me.
21 This I turn to my heart—therefore I hope.
Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope:
22 The kindnesses of YHWH! For we have not been consumed, For His mercies have not ended.
Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
23 New every morning, abundant [is] Your faithfulness.
They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!
24 My portion [is] YHWH, my soul has said, Therefore I hope for Him.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
25 YHWH [is] good to those waiting for Him, To the soul [that] seeks Him.
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
26 [It is] good when one stays and stands still For the salvation of YHWH.
It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
27 [It is] good for a man that he bears a yoke in his youth.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.
28 He sits alone, and is silent, For He has laid [it] on him.
Let him sit alone in silence, for God has disciplined him.
29 He puts his mouth in the dust, if so be, there is hope.
Let him bury his face in the dust— perhaps there is still hope.
30 He gives to his striker the cheek, He is filled with reproach.
Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach.
31 For the Lord does not cast off for all time.
For the Lord will not cast us off forever.
32 For though He afflicted, yet He has pitied, According to the abundance of His kindness.
Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.
33 For He has not afflicted with His heart, Nor does He grieve the sons of men.
For He does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men.
34 To bruise under one’s feet any bound ones of earth,
To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,
35 To turn aside the judgment of a man, Before the face of the Most High,
to deny a man justice before the Most High,
36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord has not approved.
to subvert a man in his lawsuit— of these the Lord does not approve.
37 Who [is] this—he has spoken, and it is, [And] the Lord has not commanded [it]?
Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?
38 From the mouth of the Most High does not go forth the evils and the good.
Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
39 Why does a living man sigh habitually, A man for his sin?
Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins?
40 We search our ways, and investigate, And turn back to YHWH.
Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.
41 We lift up our heart on the hands to God in the heavens.
Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:
42 We have transgressed and been rebellious, You have not forgiven.
“We have sinned and rebelled; You have not forgiven.”
43 You have covered Yourself with anger, And pursue us; You have slain—You have not pitied.
You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us; You have killed without pity.
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud, So that prayer does not pass through.
You have covered Yourself with a cloud that no prayer can pass through.
45 Outcast and refuse You make us In the midst of the peoples.
You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.
46 Opened against us their mouth have all our enemies.
All our enemies open their mouths against us.
47 Fear and a snare has been for us, Desolation and destruction.
Panic and pitfall have come upon us— devastation and destruction.
48 Streams of water go down my eye, For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Streams of tears flow from my eyes over the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eye is poured out, And does not cease without intermission,
My eyes overflow unceasingly, without relief,
50 Until YHWH looks and sees from the heavens,
until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.
51 My eye affects my soul, Because of all the daughters of my city.
My eyes bring grief to my soul because of all the daughters of my city.
52 Hunting—my enemies have hunted me without cause like the bird.
Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird.
53 They have cut off my life in a pit, And they cast a stone against me.
They dropped me alive into a pit and cast stones upon me.
54 Waters have flowed over my head, I have said, I have been cut off.
The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die.
55 I called Your Name, O YHWH, from the lower pit.
I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the depths of the Pit.
56 You have heard my voice, do not hide Your ear at my breathing—at my cry.
You heard my plea: “Do not ignore my cry for relief.”
57 You have drawn near in the day I call You, You have said, Do not fear.
You drew near when I called on You; You said, “Do not be afraid.”
58 You have pleaded, O Lord, the pleadings of my soul, You have redeemed my life.
You defend my cause, O Lord; You redeem my life.
59 You have seen, O YHWH, my overthrow, Judge my cause.
You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me; vindicate my cause!
60 You have seen all their vengeance, All their thoughts of me.
You have seen all their malice, all their plots against me.
61 You have heard their reproach, O YHWH, All their thoughts against me,
O LORD, You have heard their insults, all their plots against me—
62 The lips of my withstanders, Even their meditation against me all the day.
the slander and murmuring of my assailants against me all day long.
63 Their sitting down, and their rising up, Behold attentively, I [am] their song.
When they sit and when they rise, see how they mock me in song.
64 You return to them the deed, O YHWH, According to the work of their hands.
You will pay them back what they deserve, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.
65 You give to them a covered heart, Your curse to them.
Put a veil of anguish over their hearts; may Your curse be upon them!
66 You pursue in anger, and destroy them, From under the heavens of YHWH!
You will pursue them in anger and exterminate them from under Your heavens, O LORD.
