Lamentations 3:7-24

New American Standard Bible

⁷He has ^(A)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my ^[a]^(B)chain heavy.
⁸Even when I cry out and call for help,
He ^(C)shuts out my prayer.
⁹He has ^(D)blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has twisted my paths.
¹⁰He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
¹¹He has made my ways deviate, and ^(E)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
¹²He ^(F)bent His bow
And ^(G)took aim at me as a target for the arrow.
¹³He made the ^[b]arrows of His ^(H)quiver
Enter my ^[c]inward parts.
¹⁴I have become a ^(I)laughingstock to all my people,
Their ^(J)song of ridicule all the day.
¹⁵He has ^(K)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink plenty of wormwood.
¹⁶He has also ^(L)made my teeth grind with ^(M)gravel;
He has made me cower in the ^(N)dust.
¹⁷My soul has been excluded ^(O)from peace;
I have forgotten ^[d]happiness.
¹⁸So I say, “My ^[e]strength has failed,
And so has my ^(P)hope from the Lord.”

Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy

¹⁹Remember my misery and my homelessness, the ^(Q)wormwood and ^[f]bitterness.
²⁰^(R)My soul certainly remembers,
And ^[g]is ^(S)bent over within me.
²¹I recall this to my mind,
Therefore I ^[h]^(T)wait.
²²^[i]The Lord’s ^(U)acts of mercy indeed do not end,
^(V)For His compassions do not fail.
²³They are new ^(W)every morning;
Great is ^(X)Your faithfulness.
²⁴“The Lord is my ^(Y)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I ^[j]^(Z)wait for Him.”