Lamentations 3
1 I, am the man, that hath seen affliction, by the rod of his indignation;
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 brought into darkness, and not 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 again and again, turn his hand all the day.
He has punished [IDM] me many times, all day, [every] day.
4 He hath worn out my flesh and my skin, hath broken my bones;
He has caused my skin and my flesh to become old. He has broken my bones.
5 He hath built up against me, and carried round me, fortifications and a trench;
He has surrounded me [DOU] with bitterness and suffering.
6 In dark places, hath he made me sit, like the dead of age-past 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 walled up around me, that I cannot get out, hath weighted my fetter;
[It is as though] [MET] he has built a wall around me, and fastened/tied me with heavy chains, and I cannot escape.
8 Yea, when I make outcry and implore, he hath shut 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 walled in my ways with hewn stone, my paths, hath he caused to wind back.
[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, he is 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 My ways, hath he turned aside, and hath torn me in pieces, 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 trodden his bow, and set me up, 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 my reins, the sons of his quiver;
[It is as though] he shot his arrows deep into my body.
14 I have become a derision to all my people, their 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, hath drenched me with wormwood.
He has filled me with (bitterness/great suffering), [like] [MET] someone who drinks a very bitter liquid suffers.
16 And he hath crushed, with gravel-stones, my teeth, hath made me cower in 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 thou hast thrust away from welfare, my soul, I have forgotten prosperity;
Things no longer go well for me; I no longer remember being prosperous.
18 And I said, Vanished is mine endurance, even mine expectation, from Yahweh.
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 Remember my humiliation and my fleeings, the 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 Thou wilt, indeed remember, that, bowed down concerning myself, is my soul;
I will never forget this time when I feel very depressed/discouraged [IDM].
21 This, will I bring back to my heart, therefore, will I hope.
However, I confidently expect [Yahweh to do good things for me again] when I think about this:
22 The lovingkindnesses of Yahweh, verily they are not exhausted, Verily! not at an end, are his compassions:
Yahweh never stops faithfully loving [us], and he never stops being kind to us.
23 New things for the mornings! Abundant is thy faithfulness:
[He is the one whom we can] always trust/lean on. Every morning he is merciful [to us again].
24 My portion, is Yahweh, saith my soul, For this cause, 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 Good is Yahweh, to them who wait for him, to the soul that will seek him;
Yahweh is good to [all] those who depend on him, to those who seek his [help].
26 Good it is—both to wait and to be silent, for the deliverance of Yahweh;
[So] it is good for us to wait quietly for Yahweh to save/rescue [us].
27 Good it is for a man, that he should bear the yoke in his youth.
And it is good for us to [patiently] endure [suffering] while we are young.
28 Let him sit alone, and keep silence, because he took it upon himself:
Those [who seek his help] should sit by themselves, silently, [knowing that] it is Yahweh who has allowed/caused them to suffer.
29 Let him put, in the dust, his mouth, peradventure, there 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 Let him give, to him that smiteth him, his cheek, let him be sated 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 Surely My Lord, will not cast off, unto times age-abiding;
Yahweh does not abandon [us his people] forever.
32 Surely, though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion, according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses;
Sometimes he causes us to suffer, but sometimes he is kind [to us] because he continually and faithfully loves [us].
33 Surely he hath not afflicted from his heart, nor caused sorrow to the sons of men.
And he is not happy about causing human beings to suffer or to be sad.
34 To crush, under his feet, any of the prisoners of the earth;
If people (mistreat all the prisoners/crush all the prisoners under their feet)
35 To turn aside the right of a 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 oppress a son of earth in his cause, My Lord, hath made no provision.
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 was it that spake, and it was done, [when], My Lord, had not commanded?
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 Out of the mouth of the Most High, Proceed there not misfortunes and blessing?
God in heaven [MTY] is [RHQ] the one who causes disasters to happen, and he [also] causes good things to happen.
39 Why should a living son of earth complain, [Let] a 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 out our ways, and examine them well, and let us return unto Yahweh;
Instead, we should (examine/think carefully about) our behavior; we should turn back to Yahweh.
41 Let us lift up our heart, to the opened palms, to the Mighty One in the heavens;
We should pray [IDM] sincerely and lift up our arms toward God in heaven, [and say, ]
42 We, have trespassed and rebelled, Thou, hast not pardoned.
“We have sinned and rebelled [against you], and you have not forgiven [us].
43 Thou hast covered thyself with anger, and pursued us, hast slain—hast not spared;
You have surrounded us with your anger and pursued us; you have slaughtered [us] without pitying us.
44 Thou hast screened thyself with the clouds, that prayer, should not pass through;
You have hidden yourself in a cloud, with the result that you do not hear [us] when we pray.
45 Offscouring and refuse, dost thou make us, in the midst of the peoples.
You have caused [the people of other] nations to consider us to be only garbage [DOU].
46 With their mouth, opened wide over us, [stand] all our foes.
All our enemies have insulted us.
47 Terror and a pit, have befallen us, tumult and grievous injury;
We are constantly afraid [DOU], [because] we have experienced disasters and ruin [DOU].”
48 With streams of water, mine eye runneth down, over the grievous injury of the daughter of my people.
I cry a lot because my people have been destroyed.
49 Mine eye, poureth itself out and ceaseth not, without relief;
My tears continually flow; they will not stop
50 Until Yahweh out of the heavens shall look forth, and see,
until Yahweh looks down from heaven and sees [us].
51 Mine eye dealeth severely with 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 They, have laid snares, for me as a bird, who are mine enemies without cause:
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 cut off, in the dungeon, my life, and have cast a stone upon me;
They threw me into a pit to kill me, and they threw stones on top of me.
54 Waters, flowed 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 have called upon thy Name, O Yahweh, out of the dungeon below;
But from the bottom of the pit I cried out to you [MTY], “Yahweh, [help me]!”
56 My voice, thou hast heard, —do not close thine ear to my respite, to mine outcry;
I pleaded with you, “Do not refuse to heed [MTY] me while I cry out to you!”
57 Thou drewest near, in the day I kept calling on thee, thou saidst, Do not fear!
Then you answered me and said, “Do not be afraid!”
58 Thou hast pleaded, O My Lord, the pleas of my soul, hast redeemed my life;
Yahweh, you defended me; you did not allow me to die.
59 Thou hast beheld, O Yahweh, my failure to get justice, Pronounce thou my sentence;
[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 vindictiveness, all their plots against me.
You know the evil things that they have planned to do to me.
61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Yahweh, all their plots against me;
Yahweh, you have heard them insult [me] and what they have planned to do to me.
62 The lips of mine assailants, and their mutterings, are against me, all the day;
Every day they whisper and mutter things about me, all day long.
63 On their downsitting and their uprising, do thou look, I, am their song.
Look at them! Whether they are standing or sitting they make fun of me with the songs that they sing.
64 Thou wilt render to them a recompense, O Yahweh, according to the work of their hands;
Yahweh, cause them to suffer in return for their causing [me] to suffer!
65 Thou wilt suffer them a veiling of heart, thy curse to them;
Curse them [IDM] [for] their being very stubborn [IDM].
66 Thou wilt pursue in anger, and wilt destroy them, from under the heavens of Yahweh.
Because you are angry with them, pursue them and get rid of them, [until none of them remain] on the earth.
