Θρῆνοι 3
1 ἐγὼ ἀνὴρ ὁ βλέπων πτωχείαν ἐν ῥάβδῳ θυμοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐπ’ ἐμέ
I [, the one who am writing this, ] am a man who has been afflicted/punished [MTY] by Yahweh because he was angry.
2 παρέλαβέν με καὶ ἀπήγαγεν εἰς σκότος καὶ οὐ φῶς
[It was as though] he caused me to walk in a very dark place without any light [at all].
3 πλὴν ἐν ἐμοὶ ἐπέστρεψεν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν
He has punished [IDM] me many times, all day, [every] day.
4 ἐπαλαίωσεν σάρκας μου καὶ δέρμα μου ὀστέα μου συνέτριψεν
He has caused my skin and my flesh to become old. He has broken my bones.
5 ἀνῳκοδόμησεν κατ’ ἐμοῦ καὶ ἐκύκλωσεν κεφαλήν μου καὶ ἐμόχθησεν
He has surrounded me [DOU] with bitterness and suffering.
6 ἐν σκοτεινοῖς ἐκάθισέν με ὡς νεκροὺς αἰῶνος
[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 ἀνῳκοδόμησεν κατ’ ἐμοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐξελεύσομαι ἐβάρυνεν χαλκόν μου
[It is as though] [MET] he has built a wall around me, and fastened/tied me with heavy chains, and I cannot escape.
8 καί γε κεκράξομαι καὶ βοήσω ἀπέφραξεν προσευχήν μου
Although I call out and cry out for him to help me, he does not pay attention to my prayers.
9 ἀνῳκοδόμησεν ὁδούς μου ἐνέφραξεν τρίβους μου ἐτάραξεν
[It is as though] he has blocked my path with a [high] stone [wall] and has caused my path to become crooked.
10 ἄρκος ἐνεδρεύουσα αὐτός μοι λέων ἐν κρυφαίοις
He has waited to attack me like [SIM] a bear or a lion hides and waits [to attack other animals].
11 κατεδίωξεν ἀφεστηκότα καὶ κατέπαυσέν με ἔθετό με ἠφανισμένην
[It is as though] he has dragged me off the path and (mauled me/torn me into pieces), and left me without help.
12 ἐνέτεινεν τόξον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐστήλωσέν με ὡς σκοπὸν εἰς βέλος
[It is as though] [MET] he bent his bow and caused me to become the target [at which he shot] his arrows.
13 εἰσήγαγεν τοῖς νεφροῖς μου ἰοὺς φαρέτρας αὐτοῦ
[It is as though] he shot his arrows deep into my body.
14 ἐγενήθην γέλως παντὶ λαῷ μου ψαλμὸς αὐτῶν ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν
All my relatives laugh at me; all day, [every] day they sing songs that make fun of me.
15 ἐχόρτασέν με πικρίας ἐμέθυσέν με χολῆς
He has filled me with (bitterness/great suffering), [like] [MET] someone who drinks a very bitter liquid suffers.
16 καὶ ἐξέβαλεν ψήφῳ ὀδόντας μου ἐψώμισέν με σποδόν
[It is as though] he has caused me to chew gravel that broke my teeth, and he has trampled me in the dirt.
17 καὶ ἀπώσατο ἐξ εἰρήνης ψυχήν μου ἐπελαθόμην ἀγαθὰ
Things no longer go well for me; I no longer remember being prosperous.
18 καὶ εἶπα ἀπώλετο νεῖκός μου καὶ ἡ ἐλπίς μου ἀπὸ κυρίου
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 ἐμνήσθην ἀπὸ πτωχείας μου καὶ ἐκ διωγμοῦ μου πικρίας καὶ χολῆς μου
When I think about my suffering and my wandering [away from home], [it is like drinking] a very bitter [DOU] liquid.
20 μνησθήσεται καὶ καταδολεσχήσει ἐπ’ ἐμὲ ἡ ψυχή μου
I will never forget this time when I feel very depressed/discouraged [IDM].
21 ταύτην τάξω εἰς τὴν καρδίαν μου διὰ τοῦτο ὑπομενῶ
However, I confidently expect [Yahweh to do good things for me again] when I think about this:
Yahweh never stops faithfully loving [us], and he never stops being kind to us.
[He is the one whom we can] always trust/lean on. Every morning he is merciful [to us again].
[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 ἀγαθὸς κύριος τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν αὐτόν ψυχῇ ἣ ζητήσει αὐτὸν ἀγαθὸν
Yahweh is good to [all] those who depend on him, to those who seek his [help].
26 καὶ ὑπομενεῖ καὶ ἡσυχάσει εἰς τὸ σωτήριον κυρίου
[So] it is good for us to wait quietly for Yahweh to save/rescue [us].
27 ἀγαθὸν ἀνδρὶ ὅταν ἄρῃ ζυγὸν ἐν νεότητι αὐτοῦ
And it is good for us to [patiently] endure [suffering] while we are young.
28 καθήσεται κατὰ μόνας καὶ σιωπήσεται ὅτι ἦρεν ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ
Those [who seek his help] should sit by themselves, silently, [knowing that] it is Yahweh who has allowed/caused them to suffer.
They should lie in the dirt, with their faces on the ground, [because] they can still hope [that Yahweh will help them].
30 δώσει τῷ παίοντι αὐτὸν σιαγόνα χορτασθήσεται ὀνειδισμῶν
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 ὅτι οὐκ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἀπώσεται κύριος
Yahweh does not abandon [us his people] forever.
32 ὅτι ὁ ταπεινώσας οἰκτιρήσει κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ ἐλέους αὐτοῦ
Sometimes he causes us to suffer, but sometimes he is kind [to us] because he continually and faithfully loves [us].
33 ὅτι οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη ἀπὸ καρδίας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐταπείνωσεν υἱοὺς ἀνδρός
And he is not happy about causing human beings to suffer or to be sad.
34 τοῦ ταπεινῶσαι ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ πάντας δεσμίους γῆς
If people (mistreat all the prisoners/crush all the prisoners under their feet)
35 τοῦ ἐκκλῖναι κρίσιν ἀνδρὸς κατέναντι προσώπου ὑψίστου
or if they rebel against God by refusing to give to people the things that it is right for them [to receive],
36 καταδικάσαι ἄνθρωπον ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαι αὐτὸν κύριος οὐκ εἶπεν
or if they cause judges to decide matters unjustly, (does Yahweh not see all those things?/Yahweh certainly sees all those things!) [RHQ]
37 τίς οὕτως εἶπεν καὶ ἐγενήθη κύριος οὐκ ἐνετείλατο
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 ἐκ στόματος ὑψίστου οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται τὰ κακὰ καὶ τὸ ἀγαθόν
God in heaven [MTY] is [RHQ] the one who causes disasters to happen, and he [also] causes good things to happen.
39 τί γογγύσει ἄνθρωπος ζῶν ἀνὴρ περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ
[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 ἐξηρευνήθη ἡ ὁδὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ἠτάσθη καὶ ἐπιστρέψωμεν ἕως κυρίου
Instead, we should (examine/think carefully about) our behavior; we should turn back to Yahweh.
41 ἀναλάβωμεν καρδίας ἡμῶν ἐπὶ χειρῶν πρὸς ὑψηλὸν ἐν οὐρανῷ
We should pray [IDM] sincerely and lift up our arms toward God in heaven, [and say, ]
42 ἡμαρτήσαμεν ἠσεβήσαμεν καὶ οὐχ ἱλάσθης
“We have sinned and rebelled [against you], and you have not forgiven [us].
43 ἐπεσκέπασας ἐν θυμῷ καὶ ἀπεδίωξας ἡμᾶς ἀπέκτεινας οὐκ ἐφείσω
You have surrounded us with your anger and pursued us; you have slaughtered [us] without pitying us.
44 ἐπεσκέπασας νεφέλην σεαυτῷ εἵνεκεν προσευχῆς
You have hidden yourself in a cloud, with the result that you do not hear [us] when we pray.
45 καμμύσαι με καὶ ἀπωσθῆναι ἔθηκας ἡμᾶς ἐν μέσῳ τῶν λαῶν
You have caused [the people of other] nations to consider us to be only garbage [DOU].
46 διήνοιξαν ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν πάντες οἱ ἐχθροὶ ἡμῶν
All our enemies have insulted us.
47 φόβος καὶ θυμὸς ἐγενήθη ἡμῖν ἔπαρσις καὶ συντριβή
We are constantly afraid [DOU], [because] we have experienced disasters and ruin [DOU].”
48 ἀφέσεις ὑδάτων κατάξει ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου ἐπὶ τὸ σύντριμμα τῆς θυγατρὸς τοῦ λαοῦ μου
I cry a lot because my people have been destroyed.
49 ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου κατεπόθη καὶ οὐ σιγήσομαι τοῦ μὴ εἶναι ἔκνηψιν
My tears continually flow; they will not stop
50 ἕως οὗ διακύψῃ καὶ ἴδῃ κύριος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ
until Yahweh looks down from heaven and sees [us].
51 ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου ἐπιφυλλιεῖ ἐπὶ τὴν ψυχήν μου παρὰ πάσας θυγατέρας πόλεως
I am very grieved because of [what has happened to] the women of my city.
52 θηρεύοντες ἐθήρευσάν με ὡς στρουθίον οἱ ἐχθροί μου δωρεάν
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 ἐθανάτωσαν ἐν λάκκῳ ζωήν μου καὶ ἐπέθηκαν λίθον ἐπ’ ἐμοί
They threw me into a pit to kill me, and they threw stones on top of me.
54 ὑπερεχύθη ὕδωρ ἐπὶ κεφαλήν μου εἶπα ἀπῶσμαι
The water [in the pit] rose above my head, and I said [to myself], “I am about to die/drown!”
55 ἐπεκαλεσάμην τὸ ὄνομά σου κύριε ἐκ λάκκου κατωτάτου
But from the bottom of the pit I cried out to you [MTY], “Yahweh, [help me]!”
56 φωνήν μου ἤκουσας μὴ κρύψῃς τὰ ὦτά σου εἰς τὴν δέησίν μου
I pleaded with you, “Do not refuse to heed [MTY] me while I cry out to you!”
57 εἰς τὴν βοήθειάν μου ἤγγισας ἐν ᾗ σε ἡμέρᾳ ἐπεκαλεσάμην εἶπάς μοι μὴ φοβοῦ
Then you answered me and said, “Do not be afraid!”
58 ἐδίκασας κύριε τὰς δίκας τῆς ψυχῆς μου ἐλυτρώσω τὴν ζωήν μου
Yahweh, you defended me; you did not allow me to die.
59 εἶδες κύριε τὰς ταραχάς μου ἔκρινας τὴν κρίσιν μου
[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 εἶδες πᾶσαν τὴν ἐκδίκησιν αὐτῶν εἰς πάντας διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐν ἐμοί
You know the evil things that they have planned to do to me.
61 ἤκουσας τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν αὐτῶν πάντας τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν κατ’ ἐμοῦ
Yahweh, you have heard them insult [me] and what they have planned to do to me.
62 χείλη ἐπανιστανομένων μοι καὶ μελέτας αὐτῶν κατ’ ἐμοῦ ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν
Every day they whisper and mutter things about me, all day long.
63 καθέδραν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀνάστασιν αὐτῶν ἐπίβλεψον ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν
Look at them! Whether they are standing or sitting they make fun of me with the songs that they sing.
64 ἀποδώσεις αὐτοῖς ἀνταπόδομα κύριε κατὰ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν
Yahweh, cause them to suffer in return for their causing [me] to suffer!
65 ἀποδώσεις αὐτοῖς ὑπερασπισμὸν καρδίας μόχθον σου αὐτοῖς
Curse them [IDM] [for] their being very stubborn [IDM].
66 καταδιώξεις ἐν ὀργῇ καὶ ἐξαναλώσεις αὐτοὺς ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κύριε
Because you are angry with them, pursue them and get rid of them, [until none of them remain] on the earth.
