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 trouble by the rod of his wrath.
2 He has led me, and causes to go [in] darkness, and without light.
By him I have been made to go in the dark where there is no light.
3 Surely against me He turns back, He turns His hand all the day.
Truly against me his hand has been turned again and again all the day.
4 He has worn out my flesh and my skin. He has broken my bones.
My flesh and my skin have been used up by him and my bones broken.
5 He has built up against me, And sets around poverty and weariness.
He has put up a wall against me, shutting me in with bitter sorrow.
6 In dark places He has caused me to dwell, As the dead of old.
He has kept me in dark places, like those who have been long dead.
7 He has hedged me in, and I do not go out, He has made heavy my chain.
He has put a wall round me, so that I am not able to go out; he has made great the weight of my chain.
8 Also when I call and cry out, He has shut out my prayer.
Even when I send up a cry for help, he keeps my prayer shut out.
9 He has hedged my ways with hewn work, My paths He has made crooked.
He has put up a wall of cut stones about my ways, he has made my roads twisted.
10 A bear lying in wait He [is] to me, A lion in secret hiding places.
He is like a bear waiting for me, like a lion in secret places.
11 My ways He is turning aside, and He pulls me in pieces, He has made me a desolation.
By him my ways have been turned on one side and I have been pulled in bits; he has made me waste.
12 He has bent His bow, And sets me up as a mark for an arrow.
With his bow bent, he has made me the mark for his arrows.
13 He has caused to enter into my reins The sons of His quiver.
He has let loose his arrows into the inmost parts of my body.
14 I have been a derision to all my people, Their song all the day.
I have become the sport of all the peoples; I am their song all the day.
15 He has filled me with bitter things, He has filled me [with] wormwood.
He has made my life nothing but pain, he has given me the bitter root in full measure.
16 And He breaks with gravel my teeth, He has covered me with ashes.
By him my teeth have been broken with crushed stones, and I am bent low in the dust.
17 And You cast off my soul from peace, I have forgotten prosperity.
My soul is sent far away from peace, I have no more memory of good.
18 And I say, My strength and my hope have perished from YHWH.
And I said, My strength is cut off, and my hope from the Lord.
19 Remember my affliction and my mourning, Wormwood and gall!
Keep in mind my trouble and my wandering, the bitter root and the poison.
20 Remember well, and my soul bows down in me.
My soul still keeps the memory of them; and is bent down in me.
21 This I turn to my heart—therefore I hope.
This I keep in mind, and because of this I have hope.
22 The kindnesses of YHWH! For we have not been consumed, For His mercies have not ended.
It is through the Lord's love that we have not come to destruction, because his mercies have no limit.
23 New every morning, abundant [is] Your faithfulness.
They are new every morning; great is your good faith.
24 My portion [is] YHWH, my soul has said, Therefore I hope for Him.
I said to myself, The Lord is my heritage; and because of this I will have 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 are waiting for him, to the soul which is looking for him.
26 [It is] good when one stays and stands still For the salvation of YHWH.
It is good to go on hoping and quietly waiting 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 undergo the yoke when he is young.
28 He sits alone, and is silent, For He has laid [it] on him.
Let him be seated by himself, saying nothing, because he has put it on him.
29 He puts his mouth in the dust, if so be, there is hope.
Let him put his mouth in the dust, if by chance there may be hope.
30 He gives to his striker the cheek, He is filled with reproach.
Let his face be turned to him who gives him blows; let him be full of shame.
31 For the Lord does not cast off for all time.
For the Lord does not give a man up for ever.
32 For though He afflicted, yet He has pitied, According to the abundance of His kindness.
For though he sends grief, still he will have pity in the full measure of his love.
33 For He has not afflicted with His heart, Nor does He grieve the sons of men.
For he has no pleasure in troubling and causing grief to the children of men.
34 To bruise under one’s feet any bound ones of earth,
In a man's crushing under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the judgment of a man, Before the face of the Most High,
In his turning away the right of a man before the face of the Most High.
36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord has not approved.
In his doing wrong to a man in his cause, the Lord has no pleasure.
37 Who [is] this—he has spoken, and it is, [And] the Lord has not commanded [it]?
Who is able to say a thing, and give effect to it, if it has not been ordered by the Lord?
38 From the mouth of the Most High does not go forth the evils and the good.
Do not evil and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
39 Why does a living man sigh habitually, A man for his sin?
What protest may a living man make, even a man about the punishment of his sin?
40 We search our ways, and investigate, And turn back to YHWH.
Let us make search and put our ways to the test, turning again to the Lord;
41 We lift up our heart on the hands to God in the heavens.
Lifting up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens.
42 We have transgressed and been rebellious, You have not forgiven.
We have done wrong and gone against your law; we have not had your forgiveness.
43 You have covered Yourself with anger, And pursue us; You have slain—You have not pitied.
Covering yourself with wrath you have gone after us, cutting us off without pity;
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud, So that prayer does not pass through.
Covering yourself with a cloud, so that prayer may not get through.
45 Outcast and refuse You make us In the midst of the peoples.
You have made us like waste and that for which there is no use, among the peoples.
46 Opened against us their mouth have all our enemies.
The mouths of all our haters are open wide against us.
47 Fear and a snare has been for us, Desolation and destruction.
Fear and deep waters have come on us, wasting and destruction.
48 Streams of water go down my eye, For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Rivers of water are running down from my eyes, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eye is poured out, And does not cease without intermission,
My eyes are streaming without stopping, they have no rest,
50 Until YHWH looks and sees from the heavens,
Till the Lord's eye is turned on me, till he sees my trouble from heaven.
51 My eye affects my soul, Because of all the daughters of my city.
The Lord is unkind to my soul, more than all the daughters of my town.
52 Hunting—my enemies have hunted me without cause like the bird.
They who are against me without cause have gone hard after me as if I was a bird;
53 They have cut off my life in a pit, And they cast a stone against me.
They have put an end to my life in the prison, stoning me with stones.
54 Waters have flowed over my head, I have said, I have been cut off.
Waters were flowing over my head; I said, I am cut off.
55 I called Your Name, O YHWH, from the lower pit.
I was making prayer to your name, O Lord, out of the lowest prison.
56 You have heard my voice, do not hide Your ear at my breathing—at my cry.
My voice came to you; let not your ear be shut to my breathing, to my cry.
57 You have drawn near in the day I call You, You have said, Do not fear.
You came near in the day when I made my prayer to you: you said, Have no fear.
58 You have pleaded, O Lord, the pleadings of my soul, You have redeemed my life.
O Lord, you have taken up the cause of my soul, you have made my life safe.
59 You have seen, O YHWH, my overthrow, Judge my cause.
O Lord, you have seen my wrong; be judge in my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance, All their thoughts of me.
You have seen all the evil rewards they have sent on me, and all their designs against me.
61 You have heard their reproach, O YHWH, All their thoughts against me,
Their bitter words have come to your ears, O Lord, and all their designs against me;
62 The lips of my withstanders, Even their meditation against me all the day.
The lips of those who came up against me, and their thoughts against me all the day.
63 Their sitting down, and their rising up, Behold attentively, I [am] their song.
Take note of them when they are seated, and when they get up; I am their song.
64 You return to them the deed, O YHWH, According to the work of their hands.
You will give them their reward, O Lord, answering to the work of their hands.
65 You give to them a covered heart, Your curse to them.
You will let their hearts be covered over with your curse on them.
66 You pursue in anger, and destroy them, From under the heavens of YHWH!
You will go after them in wrath, and put an end to them from under the heavens of the Lord.
