耶利米哀歌 3
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
刑罚、悔改和盼望
3 我在耶和华烈怒的杖下受尽痛苦。
2 祂把我赶进黑暗，
使我不见光明，
3 又屡屡攻击我，终日不断。
4 祂使我皮肉枯槁，
祂折断我的骨头。
5 祂使我四面受困，
尝尽痛苦艰辛。
6 祂使我住在幽暗中，
像久已死去的人。
7 祂围困我，使我无法逃脱，
祂给我戴上沉重的铜链。
8 即使我哀哭呼求，
祂也掩耳不听。
9 祂用凿好的石头阻挡我的去路，
使我的道路曲折难行。
10 祂像埋伏的巨熊，
又像伺机突袭的猛狮，
11 把我拖离大路，
将我撕成碎片，一片凄凉。
12 祂弯弓搭箭，把我当箭靶，
13 用箭袋中的箭射穿我的心脏。
14 我成了万人的笑柄，
他们终日唱歌讽刺我。
15 祂使我饱受苦楚，尝尽苦涩。
16 祂用石头打断我的牙齿，
把我践踏在尘土中。
17 我失去平安，
忘记了什么是快乐。
18 我说：“我精疲力竭，
对耶和华失去盼望。”
19 想起我的痛苦和漂泊流离，
就如苦艾和胆汁一样苦涩。
20 那情景萦绕心头，
使我心情沉重。
21 然而，我想起这事，
便有了盼望，
22 就是耶和华的慈爱永不终止，
祂的怜悯永无穷尽。
23 祂的慈爱和怜悯每天早晨都是新的，
祂的信实无比伟大！
24 我心里知道，
耶和华是我的产业，
我要仰望祂。
25 耶和华必赐福给那些等候和寻求祂的人，
26 因此，默然等候耶和华的拯救是美好的。
27 年轻时负轭受苦是有益的。
28 受耶和华管教时，
要默然独坐。
29 要谦卑，脸伏于地，
或许还有希望。
30 要任人打脸，甘心忍受凌辱。
31 因为主不会永远撇弃人。
32 主尽管使人忧伤，
祂依然怜悯人，
因为祂有无限的慈爱。
33 祂不愿使人忧伤、痛苦。
34 将囚犯踩在脚下，
35 在至高者面前冤枉他人，
36 审理案件时颠倒是非，
都是主所不容许的。
37 若非主许可，
谁的话可以兑现呢？
38 祸福岂不都出自至高者的口吗？
39 世人因自己的罪受罚，
又何必怨天尤人呢？
40 我们要省察自己的行为，
重新归向耶和华。
41 让我们举起双手，
诚心向天上的上帝祷告说：
42 “我们犯罪、背叛，
你没有赦免我们。
43 “你满怀愤怒地追赶我们，
毫不留情地杀戮我们。
44 你以密云遮盖自己，
以致祷告达不到你那里。
45 你使我们在列国中沦为废物、渣滓。
46 “我们的仇敌都幸灾乐祸。
47 我们充满恐惧，
面临陷阱、残害和毁灭。”
48 因同胞被毁灭，我泪流成河。
49 我的眼泪涌流不息，
50 直到耶和华从天上垂顾。
51 目睹城中妇女的遭遇，
我痛苦不已。
52 敌人无故地追捕我，
如同捕猎飞鸟。
53 他们把我推进坑里，
又用石头砸我。
54 水已经漫过我的头，
我想我要灭亡了。
55 耶和华啊，
我在深渊呼求你的名。
56 你曾垂听我的呼求，
求你现在不要掩耳不听我的祈祷。
57 我向你呼求的时候，
你曾走近我身旁，
安慰我说：“不用害怕！”
58 主啊，你为我申了冤，
救赎了我的性命。
59 耶和华啊，你已明察我的冤情，
求你为我主持公道。
60 你看见了他们怎样仇恨我、
谋害我。
61 你听见了他们怎样辱骂我、
谋害我。
62 他们整天诽谤我，图谋害我。
63 你看！他们或坐下或起来，
都唱歌讽刺我。
64 耶和华啊，
求你按照他们的所作所为报应他们！
65 求你使他们心里顽固，
好让你的咒诅落在他们身上！
66 求你发怒追赶他们，
从世上铲除他们！
Lamentations 3
EasyEnglish Bible
From trouble to hope[a]
3 I am the man who has seen trouble.
God punished me because he was angry with me.
2 He has led me into the dark.
There is no light, so I cannot see the right way.
3 He is completely against me.[b]
He causes me trouble all the time.
4 God has caused my skin and my whole body to become old.
He has broken my bones.
5 He has fought against me from every side.
He caused much trouble for me,
so that I am very sad.
6 He has brought me to this dark place.
So I am like a person who has been dead for a long time.
7 It is as if God has built high walls round me, and I cannot go out.
My troubles are very bad.
They hold me down like heavy chains.
8 I shout and I pray for help, but God does not listen.
9 On every road that I go along, he has put big rocks in my way.
I cannot go past them.
10 God is like a strong wild animal.
He hides and he waits for me by the path.
11 He is like an animal that catches me and pulls me off the path.
He tears me in pieces and then he leaves me without any help.
12 God is like a soldier with a bow and arrows.
He used his bow to shoot at me.
13 It was as if he shot me in the heart with his arrows.
14 All the people see me and laugh.
They even sing silly songs about me all the time.
15 God has caused my life to become a thing of pain.
It is as if he filled a cup with a very bitter drink for me.
16 It is as if he caused me to eat small stones, so that the stones broke my teeth.
Then he put me on the ground, and he pushed me down in the dirt.
17 He has taken peace away from my mind.
I cannot remember the happy days that I had before.
18 I tell myself, ‘Everything good has finished for me!
The things that I hoped for from the Lord have not come!’
19 Lord, please remember all my troubles, because I am sad.
Remember that I am very lonely.
My troubles are like poison for me.
20 I think about all those things,
and I feel small and alone.
21 But then I choose to remember God,
and this is my hope:[c]
22 The Lord's faithful love never comes to an end.
He never stops being kind to us.[d]
23 Every day, we can trust him to be kind again.
We know that he will do what he has promised to do.
24 ‘He is my Lord,’ I say to myself.
‘He is the reason why I can hope for good things.’
25 The Lord does good things for people who wait for him.
He is kind to everyone who looks for him.
26 It is good when people continue to hope.
It is good when they quietly wait for the Lord,
because he will save them.
27 It is also good for people to obey God when they are young.
They should work well for him.
28 Also, when the Lord causes them to be in trouble,
they should sit alone quietly.[e]
29 They should be humble in front of God.[f]
Then hope may come again.
30 If somebody hits them or insults them, they should accept it.[g]
31 The Lord does not turn against people for ever.
32 He does cause people to feel sad sometimes,
but he is sorry for us.
He is also very kind to us, because he loves us very much.
33 He does not enjoy seeing people who are in pain.
He does not enjoy causing trouble for them.[h]
34 Bad people may be cruel to those who are in prison.
35 They may turn against the Most High God and cheat people.
36 They may tell lies in court.
The Lord is not happy when he sees any of those bad things.
37 The Lord causes things to happen.
Nobody can cause things to happen without him.
38 The Most High God causes all things to happen.
He causes good things and bad things to happen when he speaks.
39 He only punishes us when we do wrong things.
We are still alive, so we should not be angry with God.
40 Instead, we should think a lot about what we do,
and we should turn back to the Lord again.
41 We should lift up our hands and pray to God in heaven.[i]
We should be honest with God and say to him,
42 ‘We have done wrong things,
and we have turned against you.
You have not forgiven us.
43 You have hidden yourself from us because you are angry.
You have followed us so that you could kill us.
You were not sorry about it.
44 You have hidden from us in a cloud.
So you do not listen to us when we talk to you.
45 You let people from other countries think bad things about us.
They think that we have no value.
We are like things that nobody can use any longer.
46 All our enemies have insulted us.
47 We have become afraid of them.
They have caught us and they have destroyed us and our things.’[j]
48 I weep, and my eyes are red with all my tears.
It is because the enemy has killed my people.
49 Tears come like a river from my eyes and they will not stop,
50 until the Lord looks down on us from heaven.
He will see us and he will help us.
51 I see what has happened to all the people in my city.
And so I am very sad.
52 My enemies had no reason to follow me.
But they caught me as they would catch a bird.
53 They put me alive into the well,
and they threw stones down on me.
54 The water covered my head.
Then I said, ‘I will soon die.’
55 I shouted your name, Lord,
when I was in the well.
56 ‘Please listen to me, Lord,’ I shouted.
‘Help me! Save me!’ I shouted,
and you heard me.
57 You came near to me when I prayed to you.
‘Do not be afraid,’ you said.
58 Lord, you have given me help.
You have paid the price to keep me alive.
59 You saw the bad things that they did to me.
So please agree with me that they were not fair!
60 You know all the bad things that they did to me.
And you know about all the bad things that they want to do to me.
61 You have heard their cruel words against me, Lord.
Yes, you know about all the bad things that they want to do to me.
62 These people have been cruel to me.
They attack me with cruel words every hour of the day.
63 Look at them as they sing cruel things about me.
They sing when they are sitting, and they sing when they are standing.
64 Punish them for what they have done, Lord.
65 Cause them to think that they cannot hope for anything good.
Cause bad things to happen to them.
66 Run after them angrily.
Kill them all because you are angry with them.
Let nobody on earth remember them any longer.
Footnotes
- 3:1 In this chapter, Jeremiah is speaking.
- 3:3 God may be angry with his people and he may punish them. He punishes them so that they learn from him. But they must not think that he has also stopped loving them. God is not against them, but he is against their sin.
- 3:21 Jeremiah begins to hope again. God's people think that God has forgotten to be kind.
- 3:22 Now Jeremiah is telling them true things about God. It is always good to believe God. We must remember what he has promised. And we should believe him even more when bad things happen to us.
- 3:28 God does not speak to us when we are talking all the time.
- 3:29 When people felt small or ashamed in front of God, they often lay down on the ground.
- 3:30 Jesus spoke about this too in Matthew 5:39.
- 3:33 God only wants people to learn from him. Then they can be happy.
- 3:41 Heaven is the name of God's home.
- 3:47 Jeremiah has suggested an honest way for the people to speak to God.
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