Lamentations 3-5

New American Standard Bible

3 I am the man who has ^(A)seen misery
Because of the rod of His wrath.
² He has driven me and made me walk
In ^(B)darkness and not in light.
³ Indeed, He has ^(C)turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.
⁴ He has consumed my ^(D)flesh and my skin,
He has ^(E)broken my bones.
⁵ He has ^[a](F)besieged and surrounded me with ^[b](G)bitterness and hardship.
⁶ He has made me live in ^(H)dark places,
Like those who have long been dead.
⁷ He has ^(I)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my ^[c](J)chain heavy.
⁸ Even when I cry out and call for help,
He ^(K)shuts out my prayer.
⁹ He has ^(L)blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has twisted my paths.
¹⁰ He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
¹¹ He has made my ways deviate, and ^(M)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
¹² He ^(N)bent His bow
And ^(O)took aim at me as a target for the arrow.
¹³ He made the ^[d]arrows of His ^(P)quiver
Enter my ^[e]inward parts.
¹⁴ I have become a ^(Q)laughingstock to all my people,
Their ^(R)song of ridicule all the day.
¹⁵ He has ^(S)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink plenty of wormwood.
¹⁶ He has also ^(T)made my teeth grind with ^(U)gravel;
He has made me cower in the ^(V)dust.
¹⁷ My soul has been excluded ^(W)from peace;
I have forgotten ^[f]happiness.
¹⁸ So I say, “My ^[g]strength has failed,
And so has my ^(X)hope from the Lord.”

¹⁹ Remember my misery and my homelessness, the ^(Y)wormwood and ^[h]bitterness.
^20 (Z)My soul certainly remembers,
And ^[i]is ^(AA)bent over within me.
²¹ I recall this to my mind,
Therefore I ^[j](AB)wait.
^22 [k]The Lord’s ^(AC)acts of mercy indeed do not end,
^(AD)For His compassions do not fail.
²³ They are new ^(AE)every morning;
Great is ^(AF)Your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my ^(AG)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I ^[l](AH)wait for Him.”
²⁵ The Lord is good to those who ^[m](AI)await Him,
To the ^[n]person who ^(AJ)seeks Him.
²⁶ It is good that he ^(AK)waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷ It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
²⁸ Let him ^(AL)sit alone and keep quiet,
Since He has laid it on him.
²⁹ Let him ^[o]put his mouth in the ^(AM)dust;
Perhaps there is ^(AN)hope.
³⁰ Let him give his ^(AO)cheek to the one who is going to strike him;
Let him be filled with shame.
³¹ For the Lord will ^(AP)not reject forever,
³² For if He causes grief,
Then He will have ^(AQ)compassion
In proportion to His abundant mercy.
³³ For He ^(AR)does not ^[p]afflict ^[q]willingly
Or ^[r]grieve the sons of mankind.
³⁴ To crush under ^[s]one’s feet
All the prisoners of the ^[t]land,
³⁵ To ^[u]deprive a man of ^(AS)justice
In the presence of the Most High,
³⁶ To ^[v](AT)defraud someone in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does not ^[w]approve.
³⁷ Who is ^[x]there who speaks and it ^(AU)comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That ^[y](AV)both adversity and good proceed?

4 How ^(CJ)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are spilled out
At the ^[ai]corner of every street.
² The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against pure gold,
How they are regarded as ^(CK)earthenware jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
³ Even ^(CL)jackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has proved herself ^(CM)cruel,
Like ^(CN)ostriches in the wilderness.
⁴ The ^(CO)tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth because of ^(CP)thirst;
The children ^(CQ)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
⁵ Those who used to eat ^(CR)delicacies
Are made to tremble in the streets;
Those who were raised in crimson clothing
Embrace garbage heaps.
⁶ For the ^[aj]wrongdoing of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the ^[ak](CS)sin of Sodom,
Which was ^(CT)overthrown as in a moment,
^[al]And no hands were turned toward her.
⁷ Her ^[am]consecrated ones were ^(CU)purer than snow,
They shined more than milk;
They were more ruddy in ^[an]body than pearls of coral,
Their form was like ^[ao](CV)lapis lazuli.
⁸ Their appearance is ^(CW)darker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their ^(CX)skin is shriveled on their bones,
It is dry, it has become like wood.
⁹ Better off are those ^(CY)killed by the sword
Than those killed by hunger;
For they ^[ap](CZ)waste away, ^[aq]stricken
By the lack of the produce of the field.
¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women
^(DA)Boiled their own children;
They became ^(DB)food for them
Due to the destruction of the daughter of my people.
¹¹ The Lord has ^(DC)expended His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has ^(DD)kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has consumed its foundations.
¹² The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of ^(DE)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Would ^(DF)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
¹³ Because of the sins of her ^(DG)prophets
And the wrongdoings of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The ^(DH)blood of the righteous,
¹⁴ They wandered, ^(DI)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with ^(DJ)blood,
Such that no one could touch their ^(DK)garments.
¹⁵ “Keep away! ^(DL)Unclean!” ^[ar]they cried out of themselves.
“Keep away, keep away, do not touch!”
For they ^(DM)distanced themselves as well as wandered;
People among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to reside with us.”
¹⁶ The presence of the Lord has scattered them,
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not ^[as](DN)honor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
¹⁷ Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for ^[at]help was ^(DO)useless;
At our observation point we have watched
For a ^(DP)nation that could not save.
¹⁸ They ^(DQ)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our ^(DR)end drew near,
Our days were ^[au]finished
For our end had come.
¹⁹ Our pursuers were ^(DS)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
²⁰ The ^(DT)breath of our nostrils, the ^(DU)Lord’s anointed,
Was ^(DV)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “^[av]In his ^(DW)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
²¹ Rejoice and be joyful, daughter of ^(DX)Edom,
Who lives in the land of Uz;
But the ^(DY)cup will pass to you as well,
You will become drunk and expose yourself.
²² The punishment of your wrongdoing has been ^(DZ)completed, daughter of Zion;
He will no longer exile you.
But He ^(EA)will punish your wrongdoing, daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!

5 Remember, Lord, what has come upon us;
Look, and see our ^(EB)disgrace!
² Our inheritance has been turned over to ^(EC)strangers,
Our ^(ED)houses to foreigners.
³ We have become orphans, ^(EE)without a father;
Our mothers are like widows.
^4 [aw]We have to pay for our drinking ^(EF)water,
Our wood comes to us at a price.
^5 [ax]Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out, we are given ^(EG)no rest.
⁶ We have ^[ay]submitted to ^(EH)Egypt and Assyria ^[az]to get enough bread.
⁷ Our ^(EI)fathers sinned, and are gone;
It is we who have been burdened with the punishment for their wrongdoings.
^8 (EJ)Slaves rule over us;
There is ^(EK)no one to rescue us from their hand.
⁹ We get our bread ^[ba]at the ^(EL)risk of our lives
Because of the sword in the wilderness.
¹⁰ Our skin has become as ^(EM)hot as an oven,
Because of the ravages of hunger.
¹¹ They violated the ^(EN)women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
¹² Leaders were hung by their hands;
^[bb](EO)Elders were not respected.
¹³ Young men ^[bc](EP)worked at the grinding mill,
And youths ^(EQ)staggered under loads of wood.
¹⁴ Elders are absent from the gate,
Young men from their ^(ER)music.
¹⁵ The joy of our hearts has ^(ES)ended;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
¹⁶ The ^(ET)crown has fallen from our head;
^(EU)Woe to us, for we have sinned!
¹⁷ Because of this our ^(EV)heart is faint,
Because of these things our ^(EW)eyes are dim;
¹⁸ Because of ^(EX)Mount Zion which lies desolate,
^(EY)Jackals prowl in it.