Lamentations 3
1 I am a man who has seen misery under the rod of Yahweh's fury.
I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
2 He drove me away and caused me to walk in darkness rather than light.
He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.
3 Surely he turned his hand against me again and again, the whole day long.
Surely against me he turns his hand again and again all the day.
4 He made my flesh and my skin waste away; he broke my bones.
My flesh and my skin he has made old; he has broken my bones.
5 He built up siege works against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
He has built against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6 He made me live in dark places, like those who died long ago.
He has made me to dwell in dark places, like those that have been long dead.
7 He built a wall around me and I cannot escape. He made my chains heavy
He has walled me in, so I can't escape; he has made my chains heavy.
8 and though I call out and cry for help, he shut out my prayer.
Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
9 He blocked my path with a wall of hewn stone; he made my paths crooked.
He has walled up my ways with cut stone; he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is like a bear waiting to ambush me, a lion in hiding;
He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in hiding.
11 he turned aside my paths, he has made me desolate.
He has obstructed my path, and torn me in pieces; he has made me desolate.
12 He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.
He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He pierced my kidneys with the arrows of his quiver.
He has caused the arrows of his quiver to pierce my inward parts.
14 I became a laughingstock to all my people, the object of their taunting all day long.
I have become a laughingstock to all peoples, and their song all the day.
15 He filled me with bitterness and forced me to drink wormwood.
He has filled me with bitterness, he has given me in full measure wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind with gravel, and he made me cower in the ashes.
He has also broken my teeth with gravel; he has pressed me down in the dust.
17 My soul is deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.
You have removed my soul far away from peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My endurance has perished and so has my hope in Yahweh.”
And I said, "My strength and my hope has perished from the LORD."
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and bitterness.
Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
20 I continually remember it and I am bowed down within me.
My soul considers them, and is depressed.
21 But I call this to mind and therefore I have hope:
But this I call to my mind; therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of Yahweh never ceases and his compassions never end,
The LORD's faithful love does not cease; his compassion does not fail.
23 they are new every morning; your faithfulness is great.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 “Yahweh is my inheritance,” I said, therefore I will hope in him.
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."
25 Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the one who seeks him.
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
26 It is good to wait silently for the salvation of Yahweh.
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence, when it is laid upon him.
Let him sit alone and keep silence when he is disciplining him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope.
Let him put his mouth to the dust, there may yet be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who strikes him, and let him be filled to the full with reproach.
Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him; let him be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not reject us forever,
For the LORD will not reject forever.
32 but though he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For though he may cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the abundance of his loving kindness.
33 For he does not afflict from his heart or torment the children of mankind.
For he is not predisposed to bring affliction or suffering to human beings.
34 To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth;
35 to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High,
to deprive a man of justice before the face of the Most High,
36 to deny justice to a person—the Lord would not approve such things!
to subvert a man in his cause, the LORD does not approve.
37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord decreed it?
Who can speak a thing and have it come to pass, unless the LORD has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and the good come?
Doesn't both calamity and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?
39 How can any person alive complain? How can a person complain about the punishment for his sins?
Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to Yahweh.
Let us examine and search our ways, and return to the LORD.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in the heavens:
Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.
42 “We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
We have transgressed and have rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
43 You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us, you have killed and you have not spared.
You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you killed without sparing.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.
You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us like filthy scum and refuse among the nations.
You have made us rubbish and refuse in the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies curse us,
All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us, ruin and destruction.
Fear and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction.
48 My eyes flow with streams of tears because my people are destroyed.
Streams of tears run down from my eyes because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes will shed tears without ceasing, without relief,
My tears flow and do not cease, without respite,
50 until Yahweh from heaven looks down and sees.
until the LORD looks down and sees from heaven.
51 My eyes cause me grief because of all the daughters of my city.
My eyes bring my soul grief, 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.
They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.
53 They cast me into a pit and they threw a stone on me,
They have cut off my life in a pit, and have cast a stone on me.
54 and they caused waters to overflow, covering my head. I said, 'I have been cut off!'
Waters flowed over my head; I said, 'I am finished.'
55 I called on your name, Yahweh, from the depths of the pit.
I called on your name, LORD, out of the depths of the pit.
56 You heard my voice when I said, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help.'
You heard my voice; do not hide your ear at my sighs, to my cry.
57 You came near on the day I called on you; you said, 'Do not fear.'
You drew near in the day that I called on you; you said, "Do not be afraid."
58 Lord, you defended my case, you saved my life!
LORD, you have taken up the case for my soul; you have redeemed my life.
59 Yahweh, you have seen the wrong they have done to me; judge my case.
You have seen, LORD, the wrong done to me; judge my case.
60 You have seen their insults, all their plots against me—
You have seen all their vengeance and all their plots against me.
61 You have heard their scorn, Yahweh, and all their plans regarding me.
You have heard their insults, LORD, and all their plots against me.
62 The lips and the accusations of my enemies come against me all the day.
The lips of those that rose up against me, and their plots against me all day long.
63 Look at how they sit and then rise up; they mock me with their songs.
Look their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their mocking song.
64 Pay back to them, Yahweh, according to what they have done.
You will render to them what they deserve, LORD, according to the work of their hands.
65 You will let their hearts be shameless! May your condemnation be upon them!
You will give them hardness of heart as your curse to them.
66 You pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens, Yahweh!”
You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.
