18 Why did I ever come out of the womb(A)
    to see trouble(B) and sorrow
    and to end my days in shame?(C)

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20 “Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,(A)

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14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ,(A) you are blessed,(B) for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.(C)

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[a]I am the man who has seen affliction(A)
    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter.

14 “Mortals, born of woman,(A)
    are of few days(B) and full of trouble.(C)

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For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die(A) in the arena. We have been made a spectacle(B) to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ,(C) but you are so wise in Christ!(D) We are weak, but you are strong!(E) You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.(F) 12 We work hard with our own hands.(G) When we are cursed, we bless;(H) when we are persecuted,(I) we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage(J) of the world—right up to this moment.

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All our days pass away under your wrath;
    we finish our years with a moan.(A)
10 Our days may come to seventy years,(B)
    or eighty,(C) if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,(D)
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.(E)

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19 You know how I am scorned,(A) disgraced and shamed;
    all my enemies are before you.

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13 Let us, then, go to him(A) outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.(B)

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fixing our eyes on Jesus,(A) the pioneer(B) and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross,(C) scorning its shame,(D) and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.(E)

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36 Some faced jeers and flogging,(A) and even chains and imprisonment.(B)

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36 You need to persevere(A) so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.(B)

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12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame,(A) because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard(B) what I have entrusted to him until that day.(C)

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41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing(A) because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.(B)

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20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn(A) while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.(B)

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12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?(A)
    Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering(B)
    that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me
    in the day of his fierce anger?(C)

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18 You who are my Comforter[a] in sorrow,
    my heart is faint(A) within me.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 8:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

“Hear me, you who know what is right,(A)
    you people who have taken my instruction to heart:(B)
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
    or be terrified by their insults.(C)

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From the sole of your foot to the top of your head(A)
    there is no soundness(B)
only wounds and welts(C)
    and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged(D)
    or soothed with olive oil.(E)

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13 “If only you would hide me in the grave(A)
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!(B)
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember(C) me!(D)

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16 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.(A)
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.(B)

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’(C)

“Cursed(D) is the ground(E) because of you;
    through painful toil(F) you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.(G)
18 It will produce thorns and thistles(H) for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.(I)
19 By the sweat of your brow(J)
    you will eat your food(K)
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”(L)

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