Lamentations 3
1 I am the man that 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 caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.
By him I have been made to go in the dark where there is no light.
3 Surely against me he turns his hand again and again all the day.
Truly against me his hand has been turned again and again all the day.
4 My flesh and my skin he has made old; he has broken my bones.
My flesh and my skin have been used up by him and my bones broken.
5 He has built against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
He has put up a wall against me, shutting me in with bitter sorrow.
6 He has made me to dwell in dark places, like those that have been long dead.
He has kept me in dark places, like those who have been long dead.
7 He has walled me in, so I can't escape; he has made my chains heavy.
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 Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
Even when I send up a cry for help, he keeps my prayer shut out.
9 He has walled up my ways with cut stone; he has made my paths crooked.
He has put up a wall of cut stones about my ways, he has made my roads twisted.
10 He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in hiding.
He is like a bear waiting for me, like a lion in secret places.
11 He has obstructed my path, and torn me in pieces; he has made me desolate.
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 set me as a mark for the arrow.
With his bow bent, he has made me the mark for his arrows.
13 He has caused the arrows of his quiver to pierce my inward parts.
He has let loose his arrows into the inmost parts of my body.
14 I have become a laughingstock to all peoples, and 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 bitterness, he has given me in full measure wormwood.
He has made my life nothing but pain, he has given me the bitter root in full measure.
16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel; he has pressed me down in the dust.
By him my teeth have been broken with crushed stones, and I am bent low in the dust.
17 You have removed my soul far away from peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.
My soul is sent far away from peace, I have no more memory of good.
18 And I said, "My strength and my hope has perished from the LORD."
And I said, My strength is cut off, and my hope from the Lord.
19 Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
Keep in mind my trouble and my wandering, the bitter root and the poison.
20 My soul considers them, and is depressed.
My soul still keeps the memory of them; and is bent down in me.
21 But this I call to my mind; therefore I have hope:
This I keep in mind, and because of this I have hope.
22 The LORD's faithful love does not cease; his compassion does not fail.
It is through the Lord's love that we have not come to destruction, because his mercies have no limit.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
They are new every morning; great is your good faith.
24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."
I said to myself, The Lord is my heritage; and because of this I will have hope in him.
25 The LORD is good to those who wait 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 that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
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 bear the yoke while he is young.
It is good for a man to undergo the yoke when he is young.
28 Let him sit alone and keep silence when he is disciplining him.
Let him be seated by himself, saying nothing, because he has put it on him.
29 Let him put his mouth to the dust, there may yet be hope.
Let him put his mouth in the dust, if by chance there may be hope.
30 Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him; let him be filled with insults.
Let his face be turned to him who gives him blows; let him be full of shame.
31 For the LORD will not reject forever.
For the Lord does not give a man up for ever.
32 For though he may cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the abundance of his loving kindness.
For though he sends grief, still he will have pity in the full measure of his love.
33 For he is not predisposed to bring affliction or suffering to human beings.
For he has no pleasure in troubling and causing grief to the children of men.
34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth;
In a man's crushing under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
35 to deprive a man of justice 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 does not approve.
In his doing wrong to a man in his cause, the Lord has no pleasure.
37 Who can speak a thing and have it come to pass, unless the LORD has commanded it?
Who is able to say a thing, and give effect to it, if it has not been ordered by the Lord?
38 Doesn't both calamity and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?
Do not evil and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
39 Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
What protest may a living man make, even a man about the punishment of his sin?
40 Let us examine and search our ways, and return to the LORD.
Let us make search and put our ways to the test, turning again to the Lord;
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.
Lifting up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled, and 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 pursued us; you killed without sparing.
Covering yourself with wrath you have gone after us, cutting us off without pity;
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.
Covering yourself with a cloud, so that prayer may not get through.
45 You have made us rubbish and refuse in the midst of the peoples.
You have made us like waste and that for which there is no use, among the peoples.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
The mouths of all our haters are open wide against us.
47 Fear and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction.
Fear and deep waters have come on us, wasting and destruction.
48 Streams of tears run down from my eyes because of 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 tears flow and do not cease, without respite,
My eyes are streaming without stopping, they have no rest,
50 until the LORD looks down and sees from heaven.
Till the Lord's eye is turned on me, till he sees my trouble from heaven.
51 My eyes bring my soul grief, because of all the daughters of my city.
The Lord is unkind to my soul, more than all the daughters of my town.
52 They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.
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 have cast a stone on me.
They have put an end to my life in the prison, stoning me with stones.
54 Waters flowed over my head; I said, 'I am finished.'
Waters were flowing over my head; I said, I am cut off.
55 I called on your name, LORD, out of the depths of the pit.
I was making prayer to your name, O Lord, out of the lowest prison.
56 You heard my voice; do not hide your ear at my sighs, to my cry.
My voice came to you; let not your ear be shut to my breathing, to my cry.
57 You drew near in the day that I called on you; you said, "Do not be afraid."
You came near in the day when I made my prayer to you: you said, Have no fear.
58 LORD, you have taken up the case for 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, LORD, the wrong done to me; judge my case.
O Lord, you have seen my wrong; be judge in my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance and all their plots against me.
You have seen all the evil rewards they have sent on me, and all their designs against me.
61 You have heard their insults, LORD, and all their plots against me.
Their bitter words have come to your ears, O Lord, and all their designs against me;
62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their plots against me all day long.
The lips of those who came up against me, and their thoughts against me all the day.
63 Look their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their mocking song.
Take note of them when they are seated, and when they get up; I am their song.
64 You will render to them what they deserve, LORD, according to the work of their hands.
You will give them their reward, O Lord, answering to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them hardness of heart as your curse to them.
You will let their hearts be covered over with your curse on them.
66 You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.
You will go after them in wrath, and put an end to them from under the heavens of the Lord.
