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Lamentations 3
Amplified Bible
Lamentations 3
Amplified Bible
Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Affliction
3 I am [Jeremiah] the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2
He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3
Surely He has turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.
4
He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away;
He has shattered my bones.
5
He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6
He has made me live in dark places
Like those who have long been dead.
7
He walled me in so that I cannot get out;
He has weighted down my chain.
8
Even when I cry out and shout for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
9
He has blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10
He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
And like a lion [hiding] in secret places.
11
He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12
He has bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow.
13
He has caused the arrows of His quiver
To enter my inner parts.
14
I have become the [object of] ridicule to all my people,
And [the subject of] their mocking song all the day.
15
He has filled me with bitterness;
He has made me drunk with wormwood (bitterness).
16
He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has [covered me with ashes and] made me cower in the dust.
17
My soul has been cast far away from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
18
So I say, “My strength has perished
And so has my hope and expectation from the Lord.”
Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy
19
Remember [O Lord] my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall (bitterness).
20
My soul continually remembers them
And is bowed down within me.
21
But this I call to mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22
It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed,
Because His [tender] compassions never fail.(A)
23
They are new every morning;
Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.(B)
24
“The Lord is my portion and my inheritance,” says my soul;
“Therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.”(C)
25
The Lord is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him,
To those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].
26
It is good that one waits quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
27
It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke [of godly discipline] in his youth.
28
Let him sit alone [in hope] and keep quiet,
Because God has laid it on him [for his benefit].(D)
29
Let him put his mouth in the dust [in recognition of his unworthiness];
There may yet be hope.(E)
30
Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him;
Let him be filled with reproach.
31
For the Lord will not reject forever,(F)
32
For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness and tender mercy.
33
For He does not afflict willingly and from His heart
Or grieve the children of men.(G)
34
To trample and crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,
35
To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36
To defraud a man in his lawsuit—
The Lord does not approve of these things.
37
Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has authorized and commanded it?
38
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both adversity (misfortune) and good (prosperity, happiness) proceed?
39
Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Complain [of punishment] in view of his sins?
40
Let us test and examine our ways,
And let us return to the Lord.
41
Let us lift up our hearts and our hands [in prayer]
Toward God in heaven;
42
We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned.
43
You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain [without pity] and have not spared.
44
You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.
45
You have made us scum and refuse
Among the peoples (Gentile nations).
46
All our enemies have gaped at us.
47
Panic and pitfall (traps, danger) have come on us,
Devastation and destruction.
48
My eyes overflow with streams of tears
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people (Jerusalem).
49
My eyes overflow unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50
Until the Lord looks down
And sees from heaven.
51
My eyes [see things that] bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52
Without cause my enemies
Hunted me down like a bird;
53
They silenced me in the pit
And placed a stone over me.(H)
54
The waters ran down on my head;
I said, “I am cut off (destroyed)!”
55
I called on Your name, O Lord,
Out of the lowest pit.(I)
56
You have heard my voice,
“Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57
You drew near on the day I called to You;
You said, “Do not fear.”(J)
58
O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause [You have guided my way and protected me];
You have rescued and redeemed my life.
59
O Lord, You have seen the wrong [done to me];
Judge my case.
60
You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.
61
You have heard their reproach, O Lord,
And all their schemes against me.
62
The lips and whispering of my assailants
Are against me all day long.
63
Look at their sitting and their rising [their actions and secret counsels];
I am their mocking song [the subject of their ridicule].(K)
64
You will repay them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
65
You will harden their hearts;
Your curse will be upon them.
66
You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the Lord.
Lamentations 3
New International Version
Lamentations 3
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.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old(E)
and has broken my bones.(F)
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness(G) and hardship.(H)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.(I)
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;(J)
he has weighed me down with chains.(K)
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,(L)
he shuts out my prayer.(M)
9 He has barred(N) my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.(O)
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion(P) in hiding,(Q)
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled(R) me
and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow(S)
and made me the target(T) for his arrows.(U)
13 He pierced(V) my heart
with arrows from his quiver.(W)
14 I became the laughingstock(X) of all my people;(Y)
they mock me in song(Z) all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.(AA)
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;(AB)
he has trampled me in the dust.(AC)
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”(AD)
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness(AE) and the gall.(AF)
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast(AG) within me.(AH)
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love(AI) we are not consumed,(AJ)
for his compassions never fail.(AK)
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(AL)
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;(AM)
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;(AN)
26 it is good to wait quietly(AO)
for the salvation of the Lord.(AP)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,(AQ)
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust(AR)—
there may yet be hope.(AS)
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,(AT)
and let him be filled with disgrace.(AU)
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.(AV)
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.(AW)
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.(AX)
34 To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
35 to deny people their rights
before the Most High,(AY)
36 to deprive them of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?(AZ)
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?(BA)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?(BB)
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?(BC)
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,(BD)
and let us return to the Lord.(BE)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven,(BF) and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled(BG)
and you have not forgiven.(BH)
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued(BI) us;
you have slain without pity.(BJ)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud(BK)
so that no prayer(BL) can get through.(BM)
45 You have made us scum(BN) and refuse
among the nations.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide(BO) against us.(BP)
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,(BQ)
ruin and destruction.(BR)”
48 Streams of tears(BS) flow from my eyes(BT)
because my people are destroyed.(BU)
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,(BV)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.(BW)
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.(BX)
53 They tried to end my life in a pit(BY)
and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,(BZ)
and I thought I was about to perish.(CA)
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths(CB) of the pit.(CC)
56 You heard my plea:(CD) “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near(CE) when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”(CF)
58 You, Lord, took up my case;(CG)
you redeemed my life.(CH)
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.(CI)
Uphold my cause!(CJ)
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.(CK)
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.
Amplified Bible (AMP) 
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
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