Lamentations 3
1 I am a man who has seen misery under the rod of Yahweh's fury.
ALEPH ego vir videns paupertatem meam in virga indignationis eius
2 He drove me away and caused me to walk in darkness rather than light.
ALEPH me minavit et adduxit in tenebris et non in lucem
3 Surely he turned his hand against me again and again, the whole day long.
ALEPH tantum in me vertit et convertit manum suam tota die
4 He made my flesh and my skin waste away; he broke my bones.
BETH vetustam fecit pellem meam et carnem meam contrivit ossa mea
5 He built up siege works against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
BETH aedificavit in gyro meo et circumdedit me felle et labore
6 He made me live in dark places, like those who died long ago.
BETH in tenebrosis conlocavit me quasi mortuos sempiternos
7 He built a wall around me and I cannot escape. He made my chains heavy
GIMEL circumaedificavit adversum me ut non egrediar adgravavit conpedem meam
8 and though I call out and cry for help, he shut out my prayer.
GIMEL sed et cum clamavero et rogavero exclusit orationem meam
9 He blocked my path with a wall of hewn stone; he made my paths crooked.
GIMEL conclusit vias meas lapidibus quadris semitas meas subvertit
10 He is like a bear waiting to ambush me, a lion in hiding;
DELETH ursus insidians factus est mihi leo in absconditis
11 he turned aside my paths, he has made me desolate.
DELETH semitas meas subvertit et confregit me posuit me desolatam
12 He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.
DELETH tetendit arcum suum et posuit me quasi signum ad sagittam
13 He pierced my kidneys with the arrows of his quiver.
HE misit in renibus meis filias faretrae suae
14 I became a laughingstock to all my people, the object of their taunting all day long.
HE factus sum in derisu omni populo meo canticum eorum tota die
15 He filled me with bitterness and forced me to drink wormwood.
HE replevit me amaritudinibus inebriavit me absinthio
16 He has made my teeth grind with gravel, and he made me cower in the ashes.
VAV et fregit ad numerum dentes meos cibavit me cinere
17 My soul is deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.
VAV et repulsa est anima mea oblitus sum bonorum
18 So I say, “My endurance has perished and so has my hope in Yahweh.”
VAV et dixi periit finis meus et spes mea a Domino
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and bitterness.
ZAI recordare paupertatis et transgressionis meae absinthii et fellis
20 I continually remember it and I am bowed down within me.
ZAI memoria memor ero et tabescet in me anima mea
21 But I call this to mind and therefore I have hope:
ZAI hoc recolens in corde meo ideo sperabo
22 The steadfast love of Yahweh never ceases and his compassions never end,
HETH misericordiae Domini quia non sumus consumpti quia non defecerunt miserationes eius
23 they are new every morning; your faithfulness is great.
HETH novae diluculo multa est fides tua
24 “Yahweh is my inheritance,” I said, therefore I will hope in him.
HETH pars mea Dominus dixit anima mea propterea expectabo eum
25 Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the one who seeks him.
TETH bonus est Dominus sperantibus in eum animae quaerenti illum
26 It is good to wait silently for the salvation of Yahweh.
TETH bonum est praestolari cum silentio salutare Domini
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
TETH bonum est viro cum portaverit iugum ab adulescentia sua
28 Let him sit alone in silence, when it is laid upon him.
IOTH sedebit solitarius et tacebit quia levavit super se
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope.
IOTH ponet in pulvere os suum si forte sit spes
30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who strikes him, and let him be filled to the full with reproach.
IOTH dabit percutienti se maxillam saturabitur obprobriis
31 For the Lord will not reject us forever,
CAPH quia non repellet in sempiternum Dominus
32 but though he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
CAPH quia si abiecit et miserebitur secundum multitudinem misericordiarum suarum
33 For he does not afflict from his heart or torment the children of mankind.
CAPH non enim humiliavit ex corde suo et abiecit filios hominis
34 To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
LAMED ut contereret sub pedibus suis omnes vinctos terrae
35 to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High,
LAMED ut declinaret iudicium viri in conspectu vultus Altissimi
36 to deny justice to a person—the Lord would not approve such things!
LAMED ut perverteret hominem in iudicio suo Dominus ignoravit
37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord decreed it?
MEM quis est iste qui dixit ut fieret Domino non iubente
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and the good come?
MEM ex ore Altissimi non egredientur nec mala nec bona
39 How can any person alive complain? How can a person complain about the punishment for his sins?
MEM quid murmuravit homo vivens vir pro peccatis suis
40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to Yahweh.
NUN scrutemur vias nostras et quaeramus et revertamur ad Dominum
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in the heavens:
NUN levemus corda nostra cum manibus ad Dominum in caelos
42 “We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
NUN nos inique egimus et ad iracundiam provocavimus idcirco tu inexorabilis es
43 You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us, you have killed and you have not spared.
SAMECH operuisti in furore et percussisti nos occidisti nec pepercisti
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.
SAMECH opposuisti nubem tibi ne transeat oratio
45 You have made us like filthy scum and refuse among the nations.
SAMECH eradicationem et abiectionem posuisti me in medio populorum
46 All our enemies curse us,
FE aperuerunt super nos os suum omnes inimici
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us, ruin and destruction.
FE formido et laqueus facta est nobis vaticinatio et contritio
48 My eyes flow with streams of tears because my people are destroyed.
FE divisiones aquarum deduxit oculus meus in contritione filiae populi mei
49 My eyes will shed tears without ceasing, without relief,
AIN oculus meus adflictus est nec tacuit eo quod non esset requies
50 until Yahweh from heaven looks down and sees.
AIN donec respiceret et videret Dominus de caelis
51 My eyes cause me grief because of all the daughters of my city.
AIN oculus meus depraedatus est animam meam in cunctis filiabus urbis meae
52 I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies; they hunted me without a reason.
SADE venatione ceperunt me quasi avem inimici mei gratis
53 They cast me into a pit and they threw a stone on me,
SADE lapsa est in lacu vita mea et posuerunt lapidem super me
54 and they caused waters to overflow, covering my head. I said, 'I have been cut off!'
SADE inundaverunt aquae super caput meum dixi perii
55 I called on your name, Yahweh, from the depths of the pit.
COPH invocavi nomen tuum Domine de lacis novissimis
56 You heard my voice when I said, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help.'
COPH vocem meam audisti ne avertas aurem tuam a singultu meo et clamoribus
57 You came near on the day I called on you; you said, 'Do not fear.'
COPH adpropinquasti in die quando invocavi te dixisti ne timeas
58 Lord, you defended my case, you saved my life!
RES iudicasti Domine causam animae meae redemptor vitae meae
59 Yahweh, you have seen the wrong they have done to me; judge my case.
RES vidisti Domine iniquitatem adversum me iudica iudicium meum
60 You have seen their insults, all their plots against me—
RES vidisti omnem furorem universas cogitationes eorum adversum me
61 You have heard their scorn, Yahweh, and all their plans regarding me.
SEN audisti obprobria eorum Domine omnes cogitationes eorum adversum me
62 The lips and the accusations of my enemies come against me all the day.
SEN labia insurgentium mihi et meditationes eorum adversum me tota die
63 Look at how they sit and then rise up; they mock me with their songs.
SEN sessionem eorum et resurrectionem eorum vide ego sum psalmus eorum
64 Pay back to them, Yahweh, according to what they have done.
THAU reddes eis vicem Domine iuxta opera manuum suarum
65 You will let their hearts be shameless! May your condemnation be upon them!
THAU dabis eis scutum cordis laborem tuum
66 You pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens, Yahweh!”
THAU persequeris in furore et conteres eos sub caelis Domine
