איכה 3
| אני הגבר ראה עני בשבט עברתו׃ | 1 |
I [, the one who am writing this, ] am a man who has been afflicted/punished [MTY] by Yahweh because he was angry.
| אותי נהג וילך חשך ולא אור׃ | 2 |
[It was as though] he caused me to walk in a very dark place without any light [at all].
| אך בי ישב יהפך ידו כל היום׃ | 3 |
He has punished [IDM] me many times, all day, [every] day.
| בלה בשרי ועורי שבר עצמותי׃ | 4 |
He has caused my skin and my flesh to become old. He has broken my bones.
| בנה עלי ויקף ראש ותלאה׃ | 5 |
He has surrounded me [DOU] with bitterness and suffering.
| במחשכים הושיבני כמתי עולם׃ | 6 |
[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.
| גדר בעדי ולא אצא הכביד נחשתי׃ | 7 |
[It is as though] [MET] he has built a wall around me, and fastened/tied me with heavy chains, and I cannot escape.
| גם כי אזעק ואשוע שתם תפלתי׃ | 8 |
Although I call out and cry out for him to help me, he does not pay attention to my prayers.
| גדר דרכי בגזית נתיבתי עוה׃ | 9 |
[It is as though] he has blocked my path with a [high] stone [wall] and has caused my path to become crooked.
| דב ארב הוא לי אריה במסתרים׃ | 10 |
He has waited to attack me like [SIM] a bear or a lion hides and waits [to attack other animals].
| דרכי סורר ויפשחני שמני שמם׃ | 11 |
[It is as though] he has dragged me off the path and (mauled me/torn me into pieces), and left me without help.
| דרך קשתו ויציבני כמטרא לחץ׃ | 12 |
[It is as though] [MET] he bent his bow and caused me to become the target [at which he shot] his arrows.
| הביא בכליותי בני אשפתו׃ | 13 |
[It is as though] he shot his arrows deep into my body.
| הייתי שחק לכל עמי נגינתם כל היום׃ | 14 |
All my relatives laugh at me; all day, [every] day they sing songs that make fun of me.
| השביעני במרורים הרוני לענה׃ | 15 |
He has filled me with (bitterness/great suffering), [like] [MET] someone who drinks a very bitter liquid suffers.
| ויגרס בחצץ שני הכפישני באפר׃ | 16 |
[It is as though] he has caused me to chew gravel that broke my teeth, and he has trampled me in the dirt.
| ותזנח משלום נפשי נשיתי טובה׃ | 17 |
Things no longer go well for me; I no longer remember being prosperous.
| ואמר אבד נצחי ותוחלתי מיהוה׃ | 18 |
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!”
| זכר עניי ומרודי לענה וראש׃ | 19 |
When I think about my suffering and my wandering [away from home], [it is like drinking] a very bitter [DOU] liquid.
| זכור תזכור ותשיח עלי נפשי׃ | 20 |
I will never forget this time when I feel very depressed/discouraged [IDM].
| זאת אשיב אל לבי על כן אוחיל׃ | 21 |
However, I confidently expect [Yahweh to do good things for me again] when I think about this:
| חסדי יהוה כי לא תמנו כי לא כלו רחמיו׃ | 22 |
Yahweh never stops faithfully loving [us], and he never stops being kind to us.
| חדשים לבקרים רבה אמונתך׃ | 23 |
[He is the one whom we can] always trust/lean on. Every morning he is merciful [to us again].
| חלקי יהוה אמרה נפשי על כן אוחיל לו׃ | 24 |
[So] I say to myself, “Yahweh is all that I need; so I will confidently wait for him [to do good things for me].”
| טוב יהוה לקוו לנפש תדרשנו׃ | 25 |
Yahweh is good to [all] those who depend on him, to those who seek his [help].
| טוב ויחיל ודומם לתשועת יהוה׃ | 26 |
[So] it is good for us to wait quietly for Yahweh to save/rescue [us].
| טוב לגבר כי ישא על בנעוריו׃ | 27 |
And it is good for us to [patiently] endure [suffering] while we are young.
| ישב בדד וידם כי נטל עליו׃ | 28 |
Those [who seek his help] should sit by themselves, silently, [knowing that] it is Yahweh who has allowed/caused them to suffer.
| יתן בעפר פיהו אולי יש תקוה׃ | 29 |
They should lie in the dirt, with their faces on the ground, [because] they can still hope [that Yahweh will help them].
| יתן למכהו לחי ישבע בחרפה׃ | 30 |
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.
| כי לא יזנח לעולם אדני׃ | 31 |
Yahweh does not abandon [us his people] forever.
| כי אם הוגה ורחם כרב חסדו׃ | 32 |
Sometimes he causes us to suffer, but sometimes he is kind [to us] because he continually and faithfully loves [us].
| כי לא ענה מלבו ויגה בני איש׃ | 33 |
And he is not happy about causing human beings to suffer or to be sad.
| לדכא תחת רגליו כל אסירי ארץ׃ | 34 |
If people (mistreat all the prisoners/crush all the prisoners under their feet)
| להטות משפט גבר נגד פני עליון׃ | 35 |
or if they rebel against God by refusing to give to people the things that it is right for them [to receive],
| לעות אדם בריבו אדני לא ראה׃ | 36 |
or if they cause judges to decide matters unjustly, (does Yahweh not see all those things?/Yahweh certainly sees all those things!) [RHQ]
| מי זה אמר ותהי אדני לא צוה׃ | 37 |
No one can [RHQ] command something to happen [and then cause it to happen] if Yahweh has not already decided that it should happen.
| מפי עליון לא תצא הרעות והטוב׃ | 38 |
God in heaven [MTY] is [RHQ] the one who causes disasters to happen, and he [also] causes good things to happen.
| מה יתאונן אדם חי גבר על חטאו׃ | 39 |
[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.
| נחפשה דרכינו ונחקרה ונשובה עד יהוה׃ | 40 |
Instead, we should (examine/think carefully about) our behavior; we should turn back to Yahweh.
| נשא לבבנו אל כפים אל אל בשמים׃ | 41 |
We should pray [IDM] sincerely and lift up our arms toward God in heaven, [and say, ]
| נחנו פשענו ומרינו אתה לא סלחת׃ | 42 |
“We have sinned and rebelled [against you], and you have not forgiven [us].
| סכתה באף ותרדפנו הרגת לא חמלת׃ | 43 |
You have surrounded us with your anger and pursued us; you have slaughtered [us] without pitying us.
| סכותה בענן לך מעבור תפלה׃ | 44 |
You have hidden yourself in a cloud, with the result that you do not hear [us] when we pray.
| סחי ומאוס תשימנו בקרב העמים׃ | 45 |
You have caused [the people of other] nations to consider us to be only garbage [DOU].
| פצו עלינו פיהם כל איבינו׃ | 46 |
All our enemies have insulted us.
| פחד ופחת היה לנו השאת והשבר׃ | 47 |
We are constantly afraid [DOU], [because] we have experienced disasters and ruin [DOU].”
| פלגי מים תרד עיני על שבר בת עמי׃ | 48 |
I cry a lot because my people have been destroyed.
| עיני נגרה ולא תדמה מאין הפגות׃ | 49 |
My tears continually flow; they will not stop
| עד ישקיף וירא יהוה משמים׃ | 50 |
until Yahweh looks down from heaven and sees [us].
| עיני עוללה לנפשי מכל בנות עירי׃ | 51 |
I am very grieved because of [what has happened to] the women of my city.
| צוד צדוני כצפור איבי חנם׃ | 52 |
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].
| צמתו בבור חיי וידו אבן בי׃ | 53 |
They threw me into a pit to kill me, and they threw stones on top of me.
| צפו מים על ראשי אמרתי נגזרתי׃ | 54 |
The water [in the pit] rose above my head, and I said [to myself], “I am about to die/drown!”
| קראתי שמך יהוה מבור תחתיות׃ | 55 |
But from the bottom of the pit I cried out to you [MTY], “Yahweh, [help me]!”
| קולי שמעת אל תעלם אזנך לרוחתי לשועתי׃ | 56 |
I pleaded with you, “Do not refuse to heed [MTY] me while I cry out to you!”
| קרבת ביום אקראך אמרת אל תירא׃ | 57 |
Then you answered me and said, “Do not be afraid!”
| רבת אדני ריבי נפשי גאלת חיי׃ | 58 |
Yahweh, you defended me; you did not allow me to die.
| ראיתה יהוה עותתי שפטה משפטי׃ | 59 |
[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]!
| ראיתה כל נקמתם כל מחשבתם לי׃ | 60 |
You know the evil things that they have planned to do to me.
| שמעת חרפתם יהוה כל מחשבתם עלי׃ | 61 |
Yahweh, you have heard them insult [me] and what they have planned to do to me.
| שפתי קמי והגיונם עלי כל היום׃ | 62 |
Every day they whisper and mutter things about me, all day long.
| שבתם וקימתם הביטה אני מנגינתם׃ | 63 |
Look at them! Whether they are standing or sitting they make fun of me with the songs that they sing.
| תשיב להם גמול יהוה כמעשה ידיהם׃ | 64 |
Yahweh, cause them to suffer in return for their causing [me] to suffer!
| תתן להם מגנת לב תאלתך להם׃ | 65 |
Curse them [IDM] [for] their being very stubborn [IDM].
| תרדף באף ותשמידם מתחת שמי יהוה׃ | 66 |
Because you are angry with them, pursue them and get rid of them, [until none of them remain] on the earth.
