^(A)“For three transgressions of ^(B)Moab,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,^[a]
because ^(C)he burned to lime
    the bones of the king of Edom.
² So I will send a fire upon Moab,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of ^(D)Kerioth,
and Moab shall die amid uproar,
    amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
^3 (E)I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
    and will kill ^(F)all its princes^[b] with him,”
says the Lord.

^(G)“For three transgressions of Judah,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because ^(H)they have rejected the law of the Lord,
    and have not kept his statutes,
but ^(I)their lies have led them astray,
    those after which their fathers walked.
⁵ So ^(J)I will send a fire upon Judah,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”

^(K)“For three transgressions of Israel,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because ^(L)they sell the righteous for ^(M)silver,
    and the needy for a pair of sandals—
⁷ those who trample the head of the poor ^(N)into the dust of the earth
    and ^(O)turn aside the way of the afflicted;
^(P)a man and his father go in to the same girl,
    so that my holy name is profaned;
⁸ they lay themselves down beside every altar
    on garments ^(Q)taken in pledge,
and in the house of their God they drink
    the wine of those who have been fined.

⁹ “Yet ^(R)it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
    ^(S)whose height was like the height of the cedars
    and who was as strong as the oaks;
^(T)I destroyed his fruit above
    and his roots beneath.
^10 (U)Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
    ^(V)and led you forty years in the wilderness,
    ^(W)to possess the land of the Amorite.
¹¹ And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
    and some of your young men for ^(X)Nazirites.
    Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.

¹² “But you made the Nazirites ^(Y)drink wine,
    and commanded the prophets,
    saying, ^(Z)‘You shall not prophesy.’

¹³ “Behold, I will press you down in your place,
    as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
^14 (AA)Flight shall perish from the swift,
    ^(AB)and the strong shall not retain his strength,
    ^(AC)nor shall the mighty save his life;
¹⁵ he who handles the bow shall not stand,
    and he who is ^(AD)swift of foot shall not save himself,
    ^(AE)nor shall he who rides the horse save his life;
¹⁶ and he who is stout of heart among the mighty
    shall flee away naked in that day,”
declares the Lord.

⁴ He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
    ^(D)he has broken my bones;
^5 (E)he has besieged and enveloped me
    with ^(F)bitterness and tribulation;
^6 (G)he has made me dwell in darkness
    like the dead of long ago.

^7 (H)He has walled me about so that ^(I)I cannot escape;
    he has made my chains heavy;
⁸ though ^(J)I call and cry for help,
    he shuts out my prayer;
^9 (K)he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
    he has made my paths crooked.

^10 (L)He is a bear lying in wait for me,
    a lion in hiding;
^11 (M)he turned aside my steps and ^(N)tore me to pieces;
    ^(O)he has made me desolate;
^12 (P)he bent his bow ^(Q)and set me
    as a target for his arrow.

¹³ He drove into my kidneys
    ^(R)the arrows of his quiver;
^14 (S)I have become the laughingstock of all my people,^{[a]
    (T)}the object of their taunts all day long.
^15 (U)He has filled me with bitterness;
    he has sated me with ^(V)wormwood.

^16 (W)He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
    and ^(X)made me cower in ashes;
¹⁷ my soul is bereft of peace;
    I have forgotten what happiness^[b] is;
^18 (Y)so I say, “My endurance has perished;
    so has my hope from the Lord.”

^19 (Z)Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
    ^(AA)the wormwood and ^(AB)the gall!
²⁰ My soul continually remembers it
    ^(AC)and is bowed down within me.
²¹ But this I call to mind,
    and ^(AD)therefore I have hope:

^22 (AE)The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;^{[c]
    (AF)}his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new ^(AG)every morning;
    ^(AH)great is your faithfulness.
^24 (AI)“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    ^(AJ)“therefore I will hope in him.”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who ^(AK)wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
^26 (AL)It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
^27 (AM)It is good for a man that he bear
    the yoke ^(AN)in his youth.

²⁸ Let him ^(AO)sit alone in silence
    when it is laid on him;
^29 (AP)let him put his mouth in the dust—
    there may yet be hope;
^30 (AQ)let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
    and let him be filled with insults.

^31 (AR)For the Lord will not
    cast off forever,
³² for, though he ^(AS)cause grief, ^(AT)he will have compassion
    ^(AU)according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
^33 (AV)for he does not afflict from his heart
    or ^(AW)grieve the children of men.

³⁴ To crush underfoot
    all ^(AX)the prisoners of the earth,
^35 (AY)to deny a man justice
    in the presence of the Most High,
³⁶ to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
    ^(AZ)the Lord does not approve.

^37 (BA)Who has spoken and it came to pass,
    unless the Lord has commanded it?
^38 (BB)Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that good and bad come?
^39 (BC)Why should a living man complain,
    a man, about the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰ Let us test and examine our ways,
    ^(BD)and return to the Lord!
^41 (BE)Let us lift up our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven:
^42 (BF)“We have transgressed and ^(BG)rebelled,
    and you have not forgiven.

⁴³ “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
    ^(BH)killing without pity;
^44 (BI)you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can pass through.
^45 (BJ)You have made us scum and garbage
    among the peoples.

^46 (BK)“All our enemies
    open their mouths against us;
^47 (BL)panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and ^(BM)destruction;
^48 (BN)my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

^49 (BO)“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
^50 (BP)until the Lord from heaven
    looks down and sees;
⁵¹ my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

^52 (BQ)“I have been hunted ^(BR)like a bird
    by those who were my enemies ^(BS)without cause;
^53 (BT)they flung me alive into the pit^{[d]
    (BU)}and cast stones on me;
^54 (BV)water closed over my head;
    I said, ^(BW)‘I am lost.’

^55 (BX)“I called on your name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
^56 (BY)you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!’
^57 (BZ)You came near when I called on you;
    you said, ^(CA)‘Do not fear!’

⁵⁸ “You have ^(CB)taken up my cause, ^(CC)O Lord;
    you have ^(CD)redeemed my life.
⁵⁹ You have seen the wrong done to me, ^(CE)O Lord;
    judge my cause.
⁶⁰ You have seen all their vengeance,
    all ^(CF)their plots against me.

^61 (CG)“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
    all ^(CH)their plots against me.
⁶² The lips and thoughts ^(CI)of my assailants
    are against me all the day long.
^63 (CJ)Behold their sitting and their rising;
    ^(CK)I am the object of their taunts.

^64 (CL)“You will repay them,^[e] O Lord,
    ^(CM)according to the work of their hands.
⁶⁵ You will give them^[f] dullness of heart;
    your curse will be^[g] on them.
⁶⁶ You will pursue them^[h] in anger and ^(CN)destroy them
    from under ^(CO)your heavens, O Lord.”^[i]