Lamentations 3:1-26 (New International Version)

Lamentations 3

 ^{1 [a]} I am the man who has seen affliction
       by the rod of his wrath.

 ² He has driven me away and made me walk
       in darkness rather than light;

 ³ indeed, he has turned his hand against me
       again and again, all day long.

 ⁴ He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
       and has broken my bones.

 ⁵ He has besieged me and surrounded me
       with bitterness and hardship.

 ⁶ He has made me dwell in darkness
       like those long dead.

 ⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
       he has weighed me down with chains.

 ⁸ Even when I call out or cry for help,
       he shuts out my prayer.

 ⁹ He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
       he has made my paths crooked.

 ¹⁰ Like a bear lying in wait,
       like a lion in hiding,

 ¹¹ he dragged me from the path and mangled me
       and left me without help.

 ¹² He drew his bow
       and made me the target for his arrows.

 ¹³ He pierced my heart
       with arrows from his quiver.

 ¹⁴ I became the laughingstock of all my people;
       they mock me in song all day long.

 ¹⁵ He has filled me with bitter herbs
       and sated me with gall.

 ¹⁶ He has broken my teeth with gravel;
       he has trampled me in the dust.

 ¹⁷ I have been deprived of peace;
       I have forgotten what prosperity is.

 ¹⁸ So I say, "My splendor is gone
       and all that I had hoped from the LORD."

 ¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
       the bitterness and the gall.

 ²⁰ I well remember them,
       and my soul is downcast within me.

 ²¹ Yet this I call to mind
       and therefore I have hope:

 ²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
       for his compassions never fail.

 ²³ They are new every morning;
       great is your faithfulness.

 ²⁴ I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
       therefore I will wait for him."

 ²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
       to the one who seeks him;

 ²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
       for the salvation of the LORD.