Lamentations 3
1 I am a man who has seen misery under the rod of Yahweh's fury.
Aleph. I am the man that see my poverty by the rod of his indignation.
2 He drove me away and caused me to walk in darkness rather than light.
Aleph. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, and not into light.
3 Surely he turned his hand against me again and again, the whole day long.
Aleph. Only against me he hath turned, and turned again his hand all the day.
4 He made my flesh and my skin waste away; he broke my bones.
Beth. My skin and my flesh he hath made old, he hath broken my bones.
5 He built up siege works against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
Beth. He hath built round about me, and he hath compassed me with gall and labour.
6 He made me live in dark places, like those who died long ago.
Beth. He hath set me in dark places as those that are dead for ever.
7 He built a wall around me and I cannot escape. He made my chains heavy
Ghimel. He hath built against me round about, that I may not get out: he hath made my fetters heavy.
8 and though I call out and cry for help, he shut out my prayer.
Ghimel. Yea, and when I cry, and entreat, he hath shut out my prayer.
9 He blocked my path with a wall of hewn stone; he made my paths crooked.
Ghimel. He hath shut up my ways with square stones, he hath turned my paths upside down.
10 He is like a bear waiting to ambush me, a lion in hiding;
Daleth. He is become to me as a bear lying in wait: as a lion in secret places.
11 he turned aside my paths, he has made me desolate.
Daleth. He hath turned aside my paths, and hath broken me in pieces, he hath made me desolate.
12 He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.
Daleth. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.
13 He pierced my kidneys with the arrows of his quiver.
He. He hath shot into my reins the daughters of his quiver.
14 I became a laughingstock to all my people, the object of their taunting all day long.
He. I am made a derision to all my people, their song all the day long.
15 He filled me with bitterness and forced me to drink wormwood.
He. He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind with gravel, and he made me cower in the ashes.
Vau. And he hath broken my teeth one by one, he hath fed me with ashes.
17 My soul is deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.
Vau. And my soul is removed far off from peace, I have forgotten good things.
18 So I say, “My endurance has perished and so has my hope in Yahweh.”
Vau. And I said: My end and my hope is perished from the Lord.
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and bitterness.
Zain. Remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood, and the gall.
20 I continually remember it and I am bowed down within me.
Zain. I will be mindful and remember, and my soul shall languish within me.
21 But I call this to mind and therefore I have hope:
Zain. These things I shall think over in my heart, therefore will I hope.
22 The steadfast love of Yahweh never ceases and his compassions never end,
Heth. The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because his commiserations have not failed.
23 they are new every morning; your faithfulness is great.
Heth. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.
24 “Yahweh is my inheritance,” I said, therefore I will hope in him.
Heth. The Lord is my portion, said my soul: therefore will I wait for him.
25 Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the one who seeks him.
Teth. The Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good to wait silently for the salvation of Yahweh.
Teth. It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Teth. It is good for a man, when he hath borne the yoke from his youth.
28 Let him sit alone in silence, when it is laid upon him.
Jod. He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it up upon himself.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope.
Jod. He shall put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who strikes him, and let him be filled to the full with reproach.
Jod. He shall give his cheek to him that striketh him, he shall be filled with reproaches.
31 For the Lord will not reject us forever,
Caph. For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
32 but though he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
Caph. For if he hath cast off, he will also have mercy, according to the multitude of his mercies.
33 For he does not afflict from his heart or torment the children of mankind.
Caph. For he hath not willingly afflicted, nor cast off the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
Lamed. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,
35 to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High,
Lamed. To turn aside the judgment of a man before the face of the most High,
36 to deny justice to a person—the Lord would not approve such things!
Lamed. To destroy a man wrongfully in his judgment, the Lord hath not approved.
37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord decreed it?
Mem. Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and the good come?
Mem. Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Highest?
39 How can any person alive complain? How can a person complain about the punishment for his sins?
Mem. Why hath a living man murmured, man suffering for his sins?
40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to Yahweh.
Nun. Let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in the heavens:
Nun. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens.
42 “We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
Nun. We have done wickedly, and provoked thee to wrath: therefore thou art inexorable.
43 You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us, you have killed and you have not spared.
Samech. Thou hast covered in thy wrath, and hast struck us: thou hast killed and hast not spared.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.
Samech. Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that our prayer may not pass through.
45 You have made us like filthy scum and refuse among the nations.
Samech. Thou hast made me as an outcast, and refuse in the midst of the people.
46 All our enemies curse us,
Phe. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us, ruin and destruction.
Phe. Prophecy is become to us a fear, and a snare, and destruction.
48 My eyes flow with streams of tears because my people are destroyed.
Phe. My eye hath run down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes will shed tears without ceasing, without relief,
Ain. My eye is afflicted, and hath not been quiet, because there was no rest:
50 until Yahweh from heaven looks down and sees.
Ain. Till the Lord regarded and looked down from the heavens.
51 My eyes cause me grief because of all the daughters of my city.
Ain. My eye hath wasted my soul because of all the daughters of my city.
52 I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies; they hunted me without a reason.
Sade. My enemies have chased me and caught me like a bird, without cause.
53 They cast me into a pit and they threw a stone on me,
Sade. My life is fallen into the pit, and they have laid a stone over me.
54 and they caused waters to overflow, covering my head. I said, 'I have been cut off!'
Sade. Waters have flowed over my head: I said: I am cut off.
55 I called on your name, Yahweh, from the depths of the pit.
Coph. I have called upon thy name, O Lord, from the lowest pit.
56 You heard my voice when I said, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help.'
Coph. Thou hast heard my voice: turn not away thy ear from my sighs, and cries.
57 You came near on the day I called on you; you said, 'Do not fear.'
Coph. Thou drewest near in the day, when I called upon thee, thou saidst: Fear not.
58 Lord, you defended my case, you saved my life!
Res. Thou hast judged, O Lord, the cause of my soul, thou the Redeemer of my life.
59 Yahweh, you have seen the wrong they have done to me; judge my case.
Res. Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge thou my judgment.
60 You have seen their insults, all their plots against me—
Res. Thou hast seen all their fury, and all their thoughts against me.
61 You have heard their scorn, Yahweh, and all their plans regarding me.
Sin. Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, all their imaginations against me.
62 The lips and the accusations of my enemies come against me all the day.
Sin. The lips of them that rise up against me: and their devices against me all the day.
63 Look at how they sit and then rise up; they mock me with their songs.
Sin. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up, I am their song.
64 Pay back to them, Yahweh, according to what they have done.
Thau. Thou shalt render them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.
65 You will let their hearts be shameless! May your condemnation be upon them!
Thau. Thou shalt give them a buckler of heart, thy labour.
66 You pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens, Yahweh!”
Thau. Thou shalt persecute them in anger, and shalt destroy them from under the heavens, O Lord.
