Lamentations 3-5

New King James Version

The Prophet’s Anguish and Hope

3 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
²He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
³Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.

⁴He has aged ^(A)my flesh and my skin,
And ^(B)broken my bones.
⁵He has besieged me
And surrounded me with bitterness and ^[a]woe.
⁶^(C)He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.

⁷^(D)He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.
⁸Even ^(E)when I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.
⁹He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.

¹⁰^(F)He has been to me a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in ^[b]ambush.
¹¹He has turned aside my ways and ^(G)torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
¹²He has bent His bow
And ^(H)set me up as a target for the arrow.

¹³He has caused ^(I)the ^[c]arrows of His quiver
To pierce my ^[d]loins.
¹⁴I have become the ^(J)ridicule of all my people—
^(K)Their taunting song all the day.
¹⁵^(L)He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink wormwood.

¹⁶He has also broken my teeth ^(M)with gravel,
And ^[e]covered me with ashes.
¹⁷You have moved my soul far from peace;
I have forgotten ^[f]prosperity.
¹⁸^(N)And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from the Lord.”

¹⁹Remember my affliction and roaming,
^(O)The wormwood and the ^[g]gall.
²⁰My soul still remembers
And ^[h]sinks within me.
²¹This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have ^(P)hope.

²²^(Q)Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions ^(R)fail not.
²³They are new ^(S)every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
²⁴“The Lord is my ^(T)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I ^(U)hope in Him!”

²⁵The Lord is good to those who ^(V)wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
²⁶It is good that one should ^(W)hope ^(X)and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷^(Y)It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.

²⁸^(Z)Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
²⁹^(AA)Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
³⁰^(AB)Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.

³¹^(AC)For the Lord will not cast off forever.
³²Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
³³For ^(AD)He does not afflict ^[i]willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.

³⁴To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
³⁵To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
³⁶Or subvert a man in his cause—
^(AE)The Lord does not approve.

³⁷Who is he ^(AF)who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?
³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That ^(AG)woe and well-being proceed?
³⁹^(AH)Why should a living man ^[j]complain,
^(AI)A man for the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the Lord;
⁴¹^(AJ)Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.
⁴²^(AK)We have transgressed and rebelled;
You have not pardoned.

⁴³You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and not pitied.
⁴⁴You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
That prayer should not pass through.
⁴⁵You have made us an ^(AL)offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.

⁴⁶^(AM)All our enemies
Have opened their mouths against us.
⁴⁷^(AN)Fear and a snare have come upon us,
^(AO)Desolation and destruction.
⁴⁸^(AP)My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹^(AQ)My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,
⁵⁰Till the Lord from heaven
^(AR)Looks down and sees.
⁵¹My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.

⁵²My enemies ^(AS)without cause
Hunted me down like a bird.
⁵³They ^[k]silenced my life ^(AT)in the pit
And ^(AU)threw ^[l]stones at me.
⁵⁴^(AV)The waters flowed over my head;
^(AW)I said, “I am cut off!”

⁵⁵^(AX)I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest ^(AY)pit.
⁵⁶^(AZ)You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
⁵⁷You ^(BA)drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, ^(BB)“Do not fear!”

⁵⁸O Lord, You have ^(BC)pleaded the case for my soul;
^(BD)You have redeemed my life.
⁵⁹O Lord, You have seen ^[m]how I am wronged;
^(BE)Judge my case.
⁶⁰You have seen all their vengeance,
All their ^(BF)schemes against me.

⁶¹You have heard their reproach, O Lord,
All their schemes against me,
⁶²The lips of my enemies
And their whispering against me all the day.
⁶³Look at their ^(BG)sitting down and their rising up;
I am their taunting song.

⁶⁴^(BH)Repay them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
⁶⁵Give them ^[n]a veiled heart;
Your curse be upon them!
⁶⁶In Your anger,
Pursue and destroy them
^(BI)From under the heavens of the ^(BJ)Lord.

The Degradation of Zion

4 How the gold has become dim!
How changed the fine gold!
The stones of the sanctuary are ^[o]scattered
At the head of every street.

²The precious sons of Zion,
^[p]Valuable as fine gold,
How they are ^[q]regarded ^(BK)as clay pots,
The work of the hands of the potter!

³Even the jackals present their breasts
To nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people is cruel,
^(BL)Like ostriches in the wilderness.

⁴The tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth for thirst;
^(BM)The young children ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.

⁵Those who ate delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those who were brought up in scarlet
^(BN)Embrace ash heaps.

⁶The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the punishment of the ^(BO)sin of Sodom,
Which was ^(BP)overthrown in a moment,
With no hand to help her!

⁷Her ^[r]Nazirites were ^[s]brighter than snow
And whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in body than rubies,
Like sapphire in their ^[t]appearance.

⁸Now their appearance is blacker than soot;
They go unrecognized in the streets;
^(BQ)Their skin clings to their bones,
It has become as dry as wood.

⁹Those slain by the sword are better off
Than those who die of hunger;
For these ^(BR)pine away,
Stricken for lack of the fruits of the ^(BS)field.

¹⁰The hands of the ^(BT)compassionate women
Have ^[u]cooked their ^(BU)own children;
They became ^(BV)food for them
In the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹The Lord has fulfilled His fury,
^(BW)He has poured out His fierce anger.
^(BX)He kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has devoured its foundations.

¹²The kings of the earth,
And all inhabitants of the world,
Would not have believed
That the adversary and the enemy
Could ^(BY)enter the gates of Jerusalem—

¹³^(BZ)Because of the sins of her prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
^(CA)Who shed in her midst
The blood of the just.

¹⁴They wandered blind in the streets;
^(CB)They have defiled themselves with blood,
^(CC)So that no one would touch their garments.

¹⁵They cried out to them,
“Go away, ^(CD)unclean!
Go away, go away,
Do not touch us!”
When they fled and wandered,
Those among the nations said,
“They shall no longer dwell here.”

¹⁶The ^[v]face of the Lord scattered them;
He no longer regards them.
^(CE)The people do not respect the priests
Nor show favor to the elders.

¹⁷Still ^(CF)our eyes failed us,
Watching vainly for our help;
In our watching we watched
For a nation that could not save us.

¹⁸^(CG)They ^[w]tracked our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets.
^(CH)Our end was near;
Our days were over,
For our end had come.

¹⁹Our pursuers were ^(CI)swifter
Than the eagles of the heavens.
They pursued us on the mountains
And lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

²⁰The ^(CJ)breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord,
^(CK)Was caught in their pits,
Of whom we said, “Under his shadow
We shall live among the nations.”

²¹Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of ^(CL)Edom,
You who dwell in the land of Uz!
^(CM)The cup shall also pass over to you
And you shall become drunk and make yourself naked.

²²^(CN)The punishment of your iniquity ^[x]is accomplished,
O daughter of Zion;
He will no longer send you into captivity.
^(CO)He will punish your iniquity,
O daughter of Edom;
He will uncover your sins!

Prayer for Restoration

5 Remember, ^(CP)O Lord, what has come upon us;
Look, and behold ^(CQ)our reproach!
²^(CR)Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens,
And our houses to foreigners.
³We have become orphans and waifs,
Our mothers are like ^(CS)widows.

⁴We pay for the water we drink,
And our wood comes at a price.
⁵^(CT)They pursue at our ^[y]heels;
We labor and have no rest.
⁶^(CU)We have given our hand ^(CV)to the Egyptians
And the ^(CW)Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.

⁷^(CX)Our fathers sinned and are no more,
But we bear their iniquities.
⁸Servants rule over us;
There is none to deliver us from their hand.
⁹We get our bread at the risk of our lives,
Because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin is hot as an oven,
Because of the fever of famine.
¹¹They ^(CY)ravished the women in Zion,
The maidens in the cities of Judah.
¹²Princes were hung up by their hands,
And elders were not respected.
¹³Young men ^(CZ)ground at the millstones;
Boys staggered under loads of wood.
¹⁴The elders have ceased gathering at the gate,
And the young men from their ^(DA)music.

¹⁵The joy of our heart has ceased;
Our dance has turned into ^(DB)mourning.
¹⁶^(DC)The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
¹⁷Because of this our heart is faint;
^(DD)Because of these things our eyes grow dim;
¹⁸Because of Mount Zion which is ^(DE)desolate,
With foxes walking about on it.

¹⁹You, O Lord, ^(DF)remain forever;
^(DG)Your throne from generation to generation.
²⁰^(DH)Why do You forget us forever,
And forsake us for so long a time?
²¹^(DI)Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be ^[z]restored;
Renew our days as of old,
²²Unless You have utterly rejected us,
And are very angry with us!

Footnotes

Lamentations 3:5 hardship or weariness
Lamentations 3:10 Lit. secret places
Lamentations 3:13 Lit. sons of
Lamentations 3:13 Lit. kidneys
Lamentations 3:16 Lit. bent me down in
Lamentations 3:17 Lit. good
Lamentations 3:19 bitterness
Lamentations 3:20 Lit. bowed down
Lamentations 3:33 Lit. from His heart
Lamentations 3:39 Or murmur
Lamentations 3:53 LXX put to death
Lamentations 3:53 Lit. a stone on
Lamentations 3:59 Lit. my wrong
Lamentations 3:65 A Jewish tradition sorrow of
Lamentations 4:1 Lit. poured out
Lamentations 4:2 Lit. Weighed against
Lamentations 4:2 reckoned
Lamentations 4:7 Or nobles
Lamentations 4:7 Or purer
Lamentations 4:7 Lit. polishing
Lamentations 4:10 boiled
Lamentations 4:16 Tg. anger
Lamentations 4:18 Lit. hunted
Lamentations 4:22 has been completed
Lamentations 5:5 Lit. necks
Lamentations 5:21 returned

Psalm 119:148-152

New King James Version

¹⁴⁸^(A)My eyes are awake through the night watches,
That I may meditate on Your word.
¹⁴⁹Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness;
O Lord, revive me according to Your justice.
¹⁵⁰They draw near who follow after wickedness;
They are far from Your law.
¹⁵¹You are ^(B)near, O Lord,
And all Your commandments are truth.
¹⁵²Concerning Your testimonies,
I have known of old that You have founded them ^(C)forever.

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Proverbs 28:11

New King James Version

¹¹The rich man is wise in his own eyes,
But the poor who has understanding searches him out.

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Proverbs 28:11 in all English translations

Philemon

New King James Version

Greeting

¹Paul, a ^(A)prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, ²to ^[a]the beloved Apphia, ^(B)Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

⁴^(C)I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, ⁵^(D)hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, ⁶that the sharing of your faith may become effective ^(E)by the acknowledgment of ^(F)every good thing which is in ^[b]you in Christ Jesus. ⁷For we ^[c]have great ^[d]joy and ^[e]consolation in your love, because the ^[f]hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.

The Plea for Onesimus

⁸Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, ⁹yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ— ¹⁰I appeal to you for my son ^(G)Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, ¹¹who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.

¹²I am sending him ^[g]back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own ^[h]heart, ¹³whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. ¹⁴But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, ^(H)that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.

¹⁵For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, ¹⁶no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the ^(I)flesh and in the Lord.

Philemon’s Obedience Encouraged

¹⁷If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. ¹⁸But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. ¹⁹I, Paul, am writing with my own ^(J)hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides. ²⁰Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.

²¹^(K)Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. ²²But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for ^(L)I trust that ^(M)through your prayers I shall be granted to you.