Lamentationes 3
1 ALEPH ego vir videns paupertatem meam in virga indignationis eius
ALEPH. I am a man watching my own poverty by the rod of his indignation.
2 ALEPH me minavit et adduxit in tenebris et non in lucem
ALEPH. He has driven me and led me into darkness, and not into light.
3 ALEPH tantum in me vertit et convertit manum suam tota die
ALEPH. Against me only, he has turned and turned again his hand, all day long.
4 BETH vetustam fecit pellem meam et carnem meam contrivit ossa mea
BETH. My skin and my flesh, he has made old; he has crushed my bones.
5 BETH aedificavit in gyro meo et circumdedit me felle et labore
BETH. He has built all around me, and he has encircled me with gall and hardship.
6 BETH in tenebrosis conlocavit me quasi mortuos sempiternos
BETH. He has gathered me into darkness, like those who are forever dead.
7 GIMEL circumaedificavit adversum me ut non egrediar adgravavit conpedem meam
GHIMEL. He has built against me all around, so that I may not depart. He has increased the burden of my confinement.
8 GIMEL sed et cum clamavero et rogavero exclusit orationem meam
GHIMEL. Yet even when I cry out and beg, he excludes my prayer.
9 GIMEL conclusit vias meas lapidibus quadris semitas meas subvertit
GHIMEL. He has enclosed my ways with square stones; he has subverted my paths.
10 DELETH ursus insidians factus est mihi leo in absconditis
DALETH. He has become to me like a bear lying in ambush, like a lion in hiding.
11 DELETH semitas meas subvertit et confregit me posuit me desolatam
DALETH. He has subverted my paths, and he has broken me. He has placed me in desolation.
12 DELETH tetendit arcum suum et posuit me quasi signum ad sagittam
DALETH. He has bent his bow, and he has positioned me like a target for his arrows.
13 HE misit in renibus meis filias faretrae suae
HE. He has shot into my kidneys the daughters of his quiver.
14 HE factus sum in derisu omni populo meo canticum eorum tota die
HE. I have become a derision to all my people, their song throughout the day.
15 HE replevit me amaritudinibus inebriavit me absinthio
HE. He has filled me with bitterness; he has inebriated me with wormwood.
16 VAV et fregit ad numerum dentes meos cibavit me cinere
VAU. And he has broken each one of my teeth; he has fed me with ashes.
17 VAV et repulsa est anima mea oblitus sum bonorum
VAU. And my soul has been driven away from peace; I have forgotten what is good.
18 VAV et dixi periit finis meus et spes mea a Domino
VAU. And I said, “My end and my hope from the Lord has perished.”
19 ZAI recordare paupertatis et transgressionis meae absinthii et fellis
ZAIN. Remember my poverty and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall.
20 ZAI memoria memor ero et tabescet in me anima mea
ZAIN. I will call to mind the past, and my soul shall languish within me.
21 ZAI hoc recolens in corde meo ideo sperabo
ZAIN. These recollections are in my heart; therefore, I shall hope.
22 HETH misericordiae Domini quia non sumus consumpti quia non defecerunt miserationes eius
HETH. By the mercies of the Lord, we are not consumed. For his compassion has not passed away.
23 HETH novae diluculo multa est fides tua
HETH. I know it at first light; great is your faithfulness.
24 HETH pars mea Dominus dixit anima mea propterea expectabo eum
HETH. “The Lord is my portion,” said my soul. Because of this, I will wait for him.
25 TETH bonus est Dominus sperantibus in eum animae quaerenti illum
TETH. The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.
26 TETH bonum est praestolari cum silentio salutare Domini
TETH. It is good to stand ready in silence for the salvation of God.
27 TETH bonum est viro cum portaverit iugum ab adulescentia sua
TETH. It is good for a man, when he has carried the yoke from his youth.
28 IOTH sedebit solitarius et tacebit quia levavit super se
JOD. He shall sit solitary and silent. For he has lifted it upon himself.
29 IOTH ponet in pulvere os suum si forte sit spes
JOD. He shall place his mouth in the dirt, if perhaps there may be hope.
30 IOTH dabit percutienti se maxillam saturabitur obprobriis
JOD. He shall give his cheek to those who strike him; he shall be saturated with reproaches.
31 CAPH quia non repellet in sempiternum Dominus
CAPH. For the Lord will not rebuke forever.
32 CAPH quia si abiecit et miserebitur secundum multitudinem misericordiarum suarum
CAPH. For, if he has cast down, he will also have compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies.
33 CAPH non enim humiliavit ex corde suo et abiecit filios hominis
CAPH. For he has not humiliated from his heart, nor has he thrown aside the sons of men,
34 LAMED ut contereret sub pedibus suis omnes vinctos terrae
LAMED. as if to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,
35 LAMED ut declinaret iudicium viri in conspectu vultus Altissimi
LAMED. as if to turn aside the judgment of a man in the sight of the presence of the Most High,
36 LAMED ut perverteret hominem in iudicio suo Dominus ignoravit
LAMED. as if to pervert a man in his judgment: the Lord does not do this.
37 MEM quis est iste qui dixit ut fieret Domino non iubente
MEM. Who is this, who said to do what the Lord did not command?
38 MEM ex ore Altissimi non egredientur nec mala nec bona
MEM. Does not both misfortune and good proceed from the mouth of the Most High?
39 MEM quid murmuravit homo vivens vir pro peccatis suis
MEM. Why has a living man murmured, a man suffering for his sins?
40 NUN scrutemur vias nostras et quaeramus et revertamur ad Dominum
NUN. Let us examine our ways, and seek out, and return to the Lord.
41 NUN levemus corda nostra cum manibus ad Dominum in caelos
NUN. Let us lift up our hearts, with our hands, toward the Lord in the heavens.
42 NUN nos inique egimus et ad iracundiam provocavimus idcirco tu inexorabilis es
NUN. We have acted sinfully, and we have provoked to wrath. About this, you are relentless.
43 SAMECH operuisti in furore et percussisti nos occidisti nec pepercisti
SAMECH. You have covered us in your fury, and you have struck us. You have killed, and have not spared.
44 SAMECH opposuisti nubem tibi ne transeat oratio
SAMECH. You have set a cloud opposite you, lest our prayer pass through.
45 SAMECH eradicationem et abiectionem posuisti me in medio populorum
SAMECH. In the midst of the peoples, you have uprooted me and cast me out.
46 FE aperuerunt super nos os suum omnes inimici
PHE. All our enemies have opened their mouths over us.
47 FE formido et laqueus facta est nobis vaticinatio et contritio
PHE. Prediction has become for us a dread, and a snare, and a grief.
48 FE divisiones aquarum deduxit oculus meus in contritione filiae populi mei
PHE. My eye has brought forth streams of water at the contrition of the daughter of my people.
49 AIN oculus meus adflictus est nec tacuit eo quod non esset requies
AIN. My eye has been afflicted, and it has not been quieted, because there would be no rest
50 AIN donec respiceret et videret Dominus de caelis
AIN. until the Lord looked down and saw from the heavens.
51 AIN oculus meus depraedatus est animam meam in cunctis filiabus urbis meae
AIN. My eye has exhausted my soul over every one of the daughters of my city.
52 SADE venatione ceperunt me quasi avem inimici mei gratis
SADE. My enemies have chased me, and they have caught me like a bird, without reason.
53 SADE lapsa est in lacu vita mea et posuerunt lapidem super me
SADE. My life has fallen into a pit, and they have placed a stone over me.
54 SADE inundaverunt aquae super caput meum dixi perii
SADE. The waters have flooded over my head. I said, “I am lost.”
55 COPH invocavi nomen tuum Domine de lacis novissimis
COPH. I called upon your name, O Lord, from the furthest pit.
56 COPH vocem meam audisti ne avertas aurem tuam a singultu meo et clamoribus
COPH. You have heard my voice. Do not turn away your ear from my sobbing and my cries.
57 COPH adpropinquasti in die quando invocavi te dixisti ne timeas
COPH. You drew near in the daytime, when I called upon you. You said, “Fear not.”
58 RES iudicasti Domine causam animae meae redemptor vitae meae
RES. You have judged, O Lord, the case of my soul. You are the Redeemer of my life.
59 RES vidisti Domine iniquitatem adversum me iudica iudicium meum
RES. You have seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me. Judge my case.
60 RES vidisti omnem furorem universas cogitationes eorum adversum me
RES. You have seen all their fury, every one of their thoughts is against me.
61 SEN audisti obprobria eorum Domine omnes cogitationes eorum adversum me
SIN. You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their thoughts are against me.
62 SEN labia insurgentium mihi et meditationes eorum adversum me tota die
SIN. The lips of those who rise up against me, and their meditations, are against me all day long.
63 SEN sessionem eorum et resurrectionem eorum vide ego sum psalmus eorum
SIN. Watch their sitting down and their rising up: I am their psalm.
64 THAU reddes eis vicem Domine iuxta opera manuum suarum
THAU. You shall pay a recompense to them, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.
65 THAU dabis eis scutum cordis laborem tuum
THAU. You shall give them a heavy shield of the heart: your hardship.
66 THAU persequeris in furore et conteres eos sub caelis Domine
THAU. You shall pursue them in fury, and you shall destroy them under the heavens, O Lord.
