Lamentations 3:1-18

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.”