Lamentations 3
1 I am a man who has seen misery under the rod of Yahweh's fury.
I am the man that hath seen affliction under the rod of His wrath;
2 He drove me away and caused me to walk in darkness rather than light.
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.
Yea, against me doth he again and again turn his hand all the day long.
4 He made my flesh and my skin waste away; he broke my bones.
My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.
5 He built up siege works against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
He hath builded against me, and encompassed me with bitterness and woe.
6 He made me live in dark places, like those who died long ago.
He hath set me in dark places, as those that have long been dead.
7 He built a wall around me and I cannot escape. He made my chains heavy
He hath hedged me about, so that I cannot get out; he hath made my chain heavy;
8 and though I call out and cry for help, he shut out my prayer.
Yea, when I cry and call aloud, he shutteth out my prayer.
9 He blocked my path with a wall of hewn stone; he made my paths crooked.
He blocketh up my way with hewn stone; he maketh my paths crooked.
10 He is like a bear waiting to ambush me, a lion in hiding;
A bear lying in wait hath he been to me, a lion in lurking-places.
11 he turned aside my paths, he has made me desolate.
He hath turned aside my ways, and torn me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
12 He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He pierced my kidneys with the arrows of his quiver.
He hath caused the sons of his quiver to pierce my reins.
14 I became a laughingstock to all my people, the object of their taunting all day long.
I have been a laughing-stock to all my people, their song all the day.
15 He filled me with bitterness and forced me to drink wormwood.
He hath filled me with bitterness; he hath made me drunk with wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind with gravel, and he made me cower in the ashes.
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel-stones; He hath covered me with ashes.
17 My soul is deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.
Yea, thou hast removed my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.
18 So I say, “My endurance has perished and so has my hope in Yahweh.”
And I say, “My confidence and my hope in Jehovah are gone!”
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.
Yea, thou wilt remember them, for my soul sinketh within me!
21 But I call this to mind and therefore I have hope:
This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope;
22 The steadfast love of Yahweh never ceases and his compassions never end,
It is of the mercy of Jehovah that we are not consumed; yea, his compassion faileth not;
23 they are new every morning; your faithfulness is great.
It is new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
24 “Yahweh is my inheritance,” I said, therefore I will hope in him.
Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul, therefore do I hope in him.
25 Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the one who seeks him.
Jehovah is good to them that trust in him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good to wait silently for the salvation of Yahweh.
It is good that a man hope, and quietly wait for salvation from Jehovah.
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 in his youth;
28 Let him sit alone in silence, when it is laid upon him.
That he sit alone and keep silence, since He layeth it upon him;
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope.
That he put his mouth in the dust, [[saying to himself, ]] “Perhaps 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.
That he offer his cheek to the smiter; that he be filled with reproach.
31 For the Lord will not reject us forever,
For the Lord will not cast off forever;
32 but though he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For though he cause grief, yet doth he have compassion according to his great mercy;
33 For he does not afflict from his heart or torment the children of mankind.
For he doth not willingly afflict and grieve the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
Doth one trample under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High,
Doth he bend the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36 to deny justice to a person—the Lord would not approve such things!
Doth he subvert a man in his cause, and shall not the Lord behold it?
37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord decreed it?
Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord hath not commanded?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and the good come?
Cometh not evil, as well as good, from the mouth of the Most High?
39 How can any person alive complain? How can a person complain about the punishment for his sins?
Wherefore then murmureth the living man? Let him murmur at his own sin!
40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to Yahweh.
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah!
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in the heavens:
Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens!
42 “We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
We have transgressed; we have rebelled; thou hast not forgiven!
43 You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us, you have killed and you have not spared.
Thou hast hidden thyself in anger, and hast pursued us; thou hast slain and hast not spared;
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.
Thou hast hidden thyself in a cloud, that our prayer may not pass through;
45 You have made us like filthy scum and refuse among the nations.
Thou hast made us the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the nations.
46 All our enemies curse us,
All our enemies have opened their mouths against us;
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us, ruin and destruction.
Terror and the pit have come upon us, desolation and destruction;
48 My eyes flow with streams of tears because my people are destroyed.
Mine eye runneth down with streams of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes will shed tears without ceasing, without relief,
Mine eye trickleth down and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
50 until Yahweh from heaven looks down and sees.
Until Jehovah look down and behold from heaven.
51 My eyes cause me grief because of all the daughters of my city.
Mine eye is painful to me on account 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 that are my enemies without cause hunt me down like a bird;
53 They cast me into a pit and they threw a stone on me,
They take away my life in the dungeon; they cast a stone upon me;
54 and they caused waters to overflow, covering my head. I said, 'I have been cut off!'
Waters flow over my head; I say, “I am undone!”
55 I called on your name, Yahweh, from the depths of the pit.
I call upon thy name, O Jehovah, from the deep dungeon;
56 You heard my voice when I said, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help.'
Hear thou my voice! hide not thine ear from my cry for relief!
57 You came near on the day I called on you; you said, 'Do not fear.'
Be near to me, when I call upon thee! Say, “Fear not!”
58 Lord, you defended my case, you saved my life!
Thou maintainest my cause, O Lord; thou redeemest my life!
59 Yahweh, you have seen the wrong they have done to me; judge my case.
Thou, O Jehovah, seest the wrong done to me; Maintain thou my cause!
60 You have seen their insults, all their plots against me—
Thou seest all their vengeance, all their devices against me.
61 You have heard their scorn, Yahweh, and all their plans regarding me.
Thou hearest their reproach, O Jehovah, all their devices against me,
62 The lips and the accusations of my enemies come against me all the day.
The words of my adversaries, and their machinations against me all the day long!
63 Look at how they sit and then rise up; they mock me with their songs.
Behold their sitting down and their rising up! I am their song.
64 Pay back to them, Yahweh, according to what they have done.
Render to them a recompense, O Jehovah, according to the work of their hands!
65 You will let their hearts be shameless! May your condemnation be upon them!
Give them blindness of mind! thy curse be upon them!
66 You pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens, Yahweh!”
Pursue them in thine anger, and destroy them from under Jehovah's heaven!
