Lamentations 3
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.
10 He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;(G)
11 he led me off my way and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
12 he bent his bow and set me
as a mark for his arrow.(H)
13 He shot into my vitals
the arrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the laughingstock of all my people,
the object of their taunt songs all day long.(I)
15 He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel;
he has made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “Gone is my glory
and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.”
19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!(J)
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.(K)
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,[b]
his mercies never come to an end;(L)
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(M)
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”(N)
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.(O)
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.(P)
27 It is good for one to bear
the yoke in youth,(Q)
28 to sit alone in silence
when the Lord[c] has imposed it,(R)
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.(S)
31 For the Lord will not
reject forever.(T)
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;(U)
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve anyone.(V)
34 When all the prisoners of the land
are crushed under foot,
35 when justice is perverted
in the presence of the Most High,(W)
36 when one’s case is subverted—
does the Lord not see it?(X)
37 Who can command and have it done,
if the Lord has not ordained it?(Y)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that evil and good come?(Z)
39 Why should any who draw breath complain
about the punishment of their sins?(AA)
40 Let us test and examine our ways
and return to the Lord.(AB)
41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
to God in heaven.(AC)
42 We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.(AD)
43 You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
killing without pity;(AE)
44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us filth and rubbish
among the peoples.(AF)
46 All our enemies
have opened their mouths against us;(AG)
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction.(AH)
48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of my people.[d]
49 My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,(AI)
50 until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.(AJ)
51 My eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the young women in my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
have hunted me like a bird;(AK)
53 they flung me alive into a pit
and hurled stones on me;(AL)
54 water closed over my head;
I said, “I am lost.”(AM)
55 I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;(AN)
56 you heard my plea, “Do not close your ear
to my cry for help, but give me relief!”(AO)
57 You came near when I called on you;
you said, “Do not fear!”(AP)
58 You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
you have redeemed my life.(AQ)
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their malice,
all their plots against me.(AR)
61 You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all their plots against me.
62 The whispers and murmurs of my assailants
are against me all day long.
63 Whether they sit or rise—see,
I am the object of their taunt songs.
64 Pay them back for their deeds, O Lord,
according to the work of their hands!
65 Give them anguish of heart;
your curse be on them!
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the Lord’s heavens.(AS)
Lamentations 3
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Ray of Hope in the Midst of Anguish[a]
3 I am the man who has experienced affliction under the rod of his fury.
2 He drove me off and brought me into darkness instead of light.
3 See how he turns against me. He turns his hand against me all day long.
4 He wore out my flesh and my skin. He shattered my bones.
5 He built siege works against me. He surrounded me with bitterness
and hardship.
6 He made me dwell in dark places, like people who died long ago.
7 He walled me in, so I cannot leave. He made my chains heavy.
8 Even when I call and cry out, he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my way with a stone wall. He has made my paths crooked.
10 He is about to ambush me like a bear, like a lion lying in wait.
11 He diverted me off my path and tore me to pieces. He made
me desolate.
12 He bent his bow and set me up as a target for the arrow.
13 He shot the arrows from his quiver into my heart.[b]
14 I was a laughingstock to all my people, the target of their song
all day long.
15 He has made me eat bitter food and drink my fill of wormwood.
16 He broke my teeth with gravel. He pushed me down into[c] the ashes.
17 You deprived my soul of peace. I have forgotten what well-being[d] is.
18 I said, “My endurance has vanished, along with my hope from
the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and my homeless wandering,
the wormwood and bitterness.
20 My soul always remembers, and it has sunk within me.
21 Nevertheless, I keep this in my heart. This is the reason I have hope:
22 By the mercies of the Lord we are not consumed, for his compassions do not fail.
23 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
24 My soul says, “The Lord is my portion. Therefore, I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good to hope quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he bears a yoke early in his life.
28 Let him sit alone and be silent, because the Lord has laid this upon him.
29 Let him stick his face in the dust. Perhaps there still is hope.
30 Let him turn his cheek toward the one who strikes him. Let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For the Lord will not push us away forever.
32 Even though he brings grief, he will show compassion on the basis of his great mercy.
33 Certainly it is not what his heart desires when he causes affliction,
when he brings grief to the children of men.
34 To crush all the land’s prisoners under his feet,
35 to deny a man’s right before the face of the Most High,
36 to undermine a man in his legal dispute—
the Lord does not look with favor on these things.[e]
37 Who can speak something and have it happen, unless the Lord commands it?
38 Don’t the bad things and the good both come from the mouth of the Most High?
39 How can any living man complain?
How can someone complain about the consequences of his sins?
40 Let us explore and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
42 We were disobedient and rebelled, so you did not forgive.
43 You covered yourself with anger and pursued us. You killed and did not spare.
44 You covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer passes through.
45 You make us like scraps and garbage among the peoples.
46 All our enemies opened their mouth against us.
47 Panic and the pit were ours, devastation and destruction.
48 Streams of water run down from my eyes,
because of the breaking of the daughter of my people.
49 My eye pours without stopping. It will not cease,
50 until the Lord looks down so that he sees from heaven.
51 What I see makes my soul ache for all the daughters of my city.
52 For no reason, my enemies hunted me like a bird.
53 They ended my life in the pit and threw stones at me.
54 Water flowed above my head, and I said, “I am cut off!”
55 I called on your name, Lord, from the deepest pit.
56 You heard my voice: “Do not hide your ear from my cry for relief!”
57 The day I called to you, you came near and said, “Do not fear.”
58 Lord, you pleaded my soul’s case. You redeemed my life.
59 Lord, you saw how I was wronged. Judge my case.
60 You saw all their vengeance, all their plans against me.
61 You heard their scorn, Lord, all their plans against me.
62 You heard the lips of those who rise up against me
and their plots against me all day long.
63 Watch them when they sit down and when they get up.
I am the target of their mocking song.
64 You will pay them back, Lord, according to what their hands have done.
65 You will give them a stubborn[f] heart. Your curse is on them.
66 You will pursue them in anger
and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an alphabetic acrostic. The 66 verses in the chapter form 22 groups, with three verses in each group. All three lines of each group of verses begin with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in alphabetic order. This chapter is the high point of the acrostic structure of Lamentations and includes most of the lines of bright hope contained in the five poems that make up the composition.
- Lamentations 3:13 Literally kidneys
- Lamentations 3:16 Or made me grovel in
- Lamentations 3:17 Or prosperity
- Lamentations 3:36 The Hebrew reads the Lord did not see.
- Lamentations 3:65 The meaning of this word is uncertain.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.