Lamentations 3
1 Aleph. I am a man seynge my pouert in the yerde of his indignacioun.
I [, the one who am writing this, ] am a man who has been afflicted/punished [MTY] by Yahweh because he was angry.
2 Aleph. He droof me, and brouyte in to derknessis, and not in to liyt.
[It was as though] he caused me to walk in a very dark place without any light [at all].
3 Aleph. Oneli he turnede in to me, and turnede togidere his hond al dai.
He has punished [IDM] me many times, all day, [every] day.
4 Beth. He made eld my skyn, and my fleisch; he al to-brak my boonys.
He has caused my skin and my flesh to become old. He has broken my bones.
5 Beth. He bildid in my cumpas, and he cumpasside me with galle and trauel.
He has surrounded me [DOU] with bitterness and suffering.
6 Beth. He settide me in derk places, as euerlastynge deed men.
[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 Gymel. He bildide aboute ayens me, that Y go not out; he aggregide my gyues.
[It is as though] [MET] he has built a wall around me, and fastened/tied me with heavy chains, and I cannot escape.
8 Gymel. But and whanne Y crie and preye, he hath excludid my preier.
Although I call out and cry out for him to help me, he does not pay attention to my prayers.
9 Gymel. He closide togidere my weies with square stoonus; he distriede my pathis.
[It is as though] he has blocked my path with a [high] stone [wall] and has caused my path to become crooked.
10 Deleth. He is maad a bere settinge aspies to me, a lioun in hid places.
He has waited to attack me like [SIM] a bear or a lion hides and waits [to attack other animals].
11 Deleth. He distriede my pathis, and brak me; he settide me desolat.
[It is as though] he has dragged me off the path and (mauled me/torn me into pieces), and left me without help.
12 Deleth. He bente his bowe, and settide me as a signe to an arowe.
[It is as though] [MET] he bent his bow and caused me to become the target [at which he shot] his arrows.
13 He. He sente in my reynes the douytris of his arowe caas.
[It is as though] he shot his arrows deep into my body.
14 He. Y am maad in to scorn to al the puple, the song of hem al dai.
All my relatives laugh at me; all day, [every] day they sing songs that make fun of me.
15 He. He fillide me with bitternesses; he gretli fillide me with wermod.
He has filled me with (bitterness/great suffering), [like] [MET] someone who drinks a very bitter liquid suffers.
16 Vau. He brak at noumbre my teeth; he fedde me with aische.
[It is as though] he has caused me to chew gravel that broke my teeth, and he has trampled me in the dirt.
17 Vau. And my soule is putte awei; Y haue foryete goodis.
Things no longer go well for me; I no longer remember being prosperous.
18 Vau. And Y seide, Myn ende perischide, and myn hope fro the Lord.
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 Zai. Haue thou mynde on my pouert and goyng ouer, and on wermod and galle.
When I think about my suffering and my wandering [away from home], [it is like drinking] a very bitter [DOU] liquid.
20 Zai. Bi mynde Y schal be myndeful; and my soule schal faile in me.
I will never forget this time when I feel very depressed/discouraged [IDM].
21 Zai. Y bithenkynge these thingis in myn herte, schal hope in God.
However, I confidently expect [Yahweh to do good things for me again] when I think about this:
22 Heth. The mercies of the Lord ben manye, for we ben not wastid; for whi hise merciful doyngis failiden not.
Yahweh never stops faithfully loving [us], and he never stops being kind to us.
23 Heth. Y knew in the morewtid; thi feith is miche.
[He is the one whom we can] always trust/lean on. Every morning he is merciful [to us again].
24 Heth. My soule seide, The Lord is my part; therfor Y schal abide hym.
[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 Teth. The Lord is good to hem that hopen in to hym, to a soule sekynge hym.
Yahweh is good to [all] those who depend on him, to those who seek his [help].
26 Teth. It is good to abide with stilnesse the helthe of God.
[So] it is good for us to wait quietly for Yahweh to save/rescue [us].
27 Teth. It is good to a man, whanne he hath bore the yok fro his yongthe.
And it is good for us to [patiently] endure [suffering] while we are young.
28 Joth. He schal sitte aloone, and he schal be stille; for he reiside hym silf aboue hym silf.
Those [who seek his help] should sit by themselves, silently, [knowing that] it is Yahweh who has allowed/caused them to suffer.
29 Joth. He schal sette his mouth in dust, if perauenture hope is.
They should lie in the dirt, with their faces on the ground, [because] they can still hope [that Yahweh will help them].
30 Joth. He schal yyue the cheke to a man that smytith hym; he schal be fillid with schenschipis.
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 Caph. For the Lord schal not putte awei with outen ende.
Yahweh does not abandon [us his people] forever.
32 Caph. For if he castide awei, and he schal do merci bi the multitude of hise mercies.
Sometimes he causes us to suffer, but sometimes he is kind [to us] because he continually and faithfully loves [us].
33 Caph. For he makide not low of his herte; and castide not awei the sones of men. Lameth.
And he is not happy about causing human beings to suffer or to be sad.
34 That he schulde al to-foule vndur hise feet alle the boundun men of erthe. Lameth.
If people (mistreat all the prisoners/crush all the prisoners under their feet)
35 That he schulde bowe doun the dom of man, in the siyt of the cheer of the hiyeste.
or if they rebel against God by refusing to give to people the things that it is right for them [to receive],
36 Lameth. That he schulde peruerte a man in his dom, the Lord knew not.
or if they cause judges to decide matters unjustly, (does Yahweh not see all those things?/Yahweh certainly sees all those things!) [RHQ]
37 Men. Who is this that seide, that a thing schulde be don, whanne the Lord comaundide not?
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 Men. Nether goodis nether yuels schulen go out of the mouth of the hiyeste.
God in heaven [MTY] is [RHQ] the one who causes disasters to happen, and he [also] causes good things to happen.
39 Men. What grutchide a man lyuynge, a man for hise synnes?
[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 Nun. Serche we oure weies, and seke we, and turne we ayen to the Lord.
Instead, we should (examine/think carefully about) our behavior; we should turn back to Yahweh.
41 Nun. Reise we oure hertis with hondis, to the Lord in to heuenes.
We should pray [IDM] sincerely and lift up our arms toward God in heaven, [and say, ]
42 Nun. We han do wickidli, and han terrid thee to wraththe; therfor thou art not able to be preied.
“We have sinned and rebelled [against you], and you have not forgiven [us].
43 Sameth. Thou hilidist in stronge veniaunce, and smitidist vs; thou killidist, and sparidist not.
You have surrounded us with your anger and pursued us; you have slaughtered [us] without pitying us.
44 Sameth. Thou settidist a clowde to thee, that preier passe not.
You have hidden yourself in a cloud, with the result that you do not hear [us] when we pray.
45 Sameth. Thou settidist me, drawing vp bi the roote, and castynge out, in the myddis of puplis.
You have caused [the people of other] nations to consider us to be only garbage [DOU].
46 Ayn. Alle enemyes openyden her mouth on vs.
All our enemies have insulted us.
47 Ayn. Inward drede and snare is maad to vs, profesie and defoulyng.
We are constantly afraid [DOU], [because] we have experienced disasters and ruin [DOU].”
48 Ayn. Myn iyen ledden doun departyngis of watris, for the defoulyng of the douyter of my puple.
I cry a lot because my people have been destroyed.
49 Phe. Myn iye was turmentid, and was not stille; for no reste was.
My tears continually flow; they will not stop
50 Phe. Vntil the Lord bihelde, and siy fro heuenes.
until Yahweh looks down from heaven and sees [us].
51 Phe. Myn iye robbide my soule in alle the douytris of my citee.
I am very grieved because of [what has happened to] the women of my city.
52 Sade. Myn enemyes token me with out cause, bi huntyng as a brid.
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 Sade. My lijf slood in to a lake; and thei puttiden a stoon on me.
They threw me into a pit to kill me, and they threw stones on top of me.
54 Sade. Watris flowiden ouer myn heed; Y seide, Y perischide.
The water [in the pit] rose above my head, and I said [to myself], “I am about to die/drown!”
55 Coph. Lord, Y clepide to help thi name, fro the laste lake.
But from the bottom of the pit I cried out to you [MTY], “Yahweh, [help me]!”
56 Coph. Thou herdist my vois; turne thou not awei thin eere fro my sobbyng and cries.
I pleaded with you, “Do not refuse to heed [MTY] me while I cry out to you!”
57 Coph. Thou neiyidist to me in the dai, wherynne Y clepide thee to help; thou seidist, Drede thou not.
Then you answered me and said, “Do not be afraid!”
58 Res. Lord, ayenbiere of my lijf, thou demydist the cause of my soule.
Yahweh, you defended me; you did not allow me to die.
59 Res. Lord, thou siest the wickidnesse of hem ayens me; deme thou my doom.
[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 Res. Thou siest al the woodnesse, alle the thouytis of hem ayenus me.
You know the evil things that they have planned to do to me.
61 Syn. Lord, thou herdist the schenshipis of hem; alle the thouytis of hem ayens me.
Yahweh, you have heard them insult [me] and what they have planned to do to me.
62 Syn. The lippis of men risynge ayens me, and the thouytis of hem ayens me al dai.
Every day they whisper and mutter things about me, all day long.
63 Syn. Se thou the sittynge and risyng ayen of hem; Y am the salm of hem.
Look at them! Whether they are standing or sitting they make fun of me with the songs that they sing.
64 Thau. Lord, thou schalt yelde while to hem, bi the werkis of her hondis.
Yahweh, cause them to suffer in return for their causing [me] to suffer!
65 Tau. Thou schalt yyue to hem the scheeld of herte, thi trauel.
Curse them [IDM] [for] their being very stubborn [IDM].
66 Tau. Lord, thou schalt pursue hem in thi strong veniaunce, and thou schalt defoule hem vndur heuenes.
Because you are angry with them, pursue them and get rid of them, [until none of them remain] on the earth.
