Lamentations 3:1-9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God’s Steadfast Love Endures
3 I am one who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s[a] wrath;(A)
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 against me alone he turns his hand,
again and again, all day long.(B)
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;(C)
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me sit in darkness
like the dead of long ago.(D)
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has put heavy chains on me;(E)
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;(F)
9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
Footnotes
- 3.1 Heb his
Lamentations 3:1-9
New International Version
3 [a]I am the man who has seen affliction(A)
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.(B)
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness(C) rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me(D)
again and again, all day long.
Footnotes
- 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.
Lamentations 3:19-33
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!(A)
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.(B)
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,[a]
his mercies never come to an end;(C)
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(D)
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”(E)
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.(F)
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.(G)
27 It is good for one to bear
the yoke in youth,(H)
28 to sit alone in silence
when the Lord[b] has imposed it,(I)
29 to put one’s mouth to the dust
(there may yet be hope),
30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter
and be filled with insults.(J)
31 For the Lord will not
reject forever.(K)
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;(L)
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve anyone.(M)
Lamentations 3:19-33
New International Version
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness(A) and the gall.(B)
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast(C) within me.(D)
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love(E) we are not consumed,(F)
for his compassions never fail.(G)
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(H)
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;(I)
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;(J)
26 it is good to wait quietly(K)
for the salvation of the Lord.(L)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
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