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