Lamentations 3:1-18

Holman Christian Standard Bible

3 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s wrath.
² He has driven me away and forced me to walk
in darkness instead of light.^(A)
3 Yes, He repeatedly turns His hand
against me all day long.

⁴ He has worn away my flesh and skin;^(B)
He has shattered my bones.^(C)
5 He has laid siege against me,^(D)
encircling me with bitterness and hardship.^(E)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those who have been dead for ages.^(F)

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape;^(G)
He has weighed me down with chains.
⁸ Even when I cry out and plead for help,
He rejects my prayer.^(H)
9 He has walled in my ways with cut stones;^(I)
He has made my paths crooked.^(J)

¹⁰ He is^[a] a bear waiting in ambush,
a lion in hiding.^(K)
11 He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces;
He left me desolate.
¹² He strung His bow^(L)
and set me as the target for His arrow.

¹³ He pierced my kidneys
with His arrows.^(M)
14 I am a laughingstock^(N) to all my people,^[b]
mocked by their songs^(O) all day long.
¹⁵ He filled me with bitterness,
satiated me with wormwood.^(P)

¹⁶ He ground my teeth on gravel^(Q)
and made me cower^[c] in the dust.
¹⁷ My soul has been deprived^[d] of peace;^(R)
I have forgotten what happiness is.
¹⁸ Then I thought: My future^[e] is lost,
as well as my hope from the Lord.