Lamentations 3:19-66

New King James Version

¹⁹ Remember my affliction and roaming,
^(A)The wormwood and the ^[a]gall.
²⁰ My soul still remembers
And ^[b]sinks within me.
²¹ This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have ^(B)hope.

^22 (C)Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions ^(D)fail not.
²³ They are new ^(E)every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my ^(F)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I ^(G)hope in Him!”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who ^(H)wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
²⁶ It is good that one should ^(I)hope ^(J)and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
^27 (K)It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.

^28 (L)Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
^29 (M)Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
^30 (N)Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.

^31 (O)For the Lord will not cast off forever.
³² Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
³³ For ^(P)He does not afflict ^[c]willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.

³⁴ To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
³⁵ To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
³⁶ Or subvert a man in his cause—
^(Q)The Lord does not approve.

³⁷ Who is he ^(R)who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?
³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That ^(S)woe and well-being proceed?
^39 (T)Why should a living man ^[d]complain,
^(U)A man for the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰ Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the Lord;
^41 (V)Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.
^42 (W)We have transgressed and rebelled;
You have not pardoned.

⁴³ You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and not pitied.
⁴⁴ You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
That prayer should not pass through.
⁴⁵ You have made us an ^(X)offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.

^46 (Y)All our enemies
Have opened their mouths against us.
^47 (Z)Fear and a snare have come upon us,
^(AA)Desolation and destruction.
^48 (AB)My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.

^49 (AC)My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,
⁵⁰ Till the Lord from heaven
^(AD)Looks down and sees.
⁵¹ My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.

⁵² My enemies ^(AE)without cause
Hunted me down like a bird.
⁵³ They ^[e]silenced my life ^(AF)in the pit
And ^(AG)threw ^[f]stones at me.
^54 (AH)The waters flowed over my head;
^(AI)I said, “I am cut off!”

^55 (AJ)I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest ^(AK)pit.
^56 (AL)You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
⁵⁷ You ^(AM)drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, ^(AN)“Do not fear!”

⁵⁸ O Lord, You have ^(AO)pleaded the case for my soul;
^(AP)You have redeemed my life.
⁵⁹ O Lord, You have seen ^[g]how I am wronged;
^(AQ)Judge my case.
⁶⁰ You have seen all their vengeance,
All their ^(AR)schemes against me.

⁶¹ You have heard their reproach, O Lord,
All their schemes against me,
⁶² The lips of my enemies
And their whispering against me all the day.
⁶³ Look at their ^(AS)sitting down and their rising up;
I am their taunting song.

^64 (AT)Repay them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
⁶⁵ Give them ^[h]a veiled heart;
Your curse be upon them!
⁶⁶ In Your anger,
Pursue and destroy them
^(AU)From under the heavens of the ^(AV)Lord.