Lamentations 3
Revised Standard Version
God’s Steadfast Love Endures
3 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away,
and broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has put heavy chains on me;
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones,
he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding;
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.
13 He drove into my heart
the arrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
the burden of their songs all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness,
he has sated me with wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and 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 my expectation from the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and my bitterness,[a]
the wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.
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;
23 they are new every morning;
great is thy faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone in silence
when he has laid it on him;
29 let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30 let him give his cheek to the smiter,
and be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not
cast off for ever,
32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve the sons of men.
34 To crush under foot
all the prisoners of the earth,
35 to turn aside the right of a man
in the presence of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his cause,
the Lord does not approve.
37 Who has commanded and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has ordained it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and evil come?
39 Why should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord!
41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
42 “We have transgressed and rebelled,
and thou hast not forgiven.
43 “Thou hast wrapped thyself with anger and pursued us,
slaying without pity;
44 thou hast wrapped thyself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 Thou hast made us offscouring and refuse
among the peoples.
46 “All our enemies
rail against us;
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction;
48 my eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
50 until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees;
51 my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the maidens of my city.
52 “I have been hunted like a bird
by those who were my enemies without cause;
53 they flung me alive into the pit
and cast stones on me;
54 water closed over my head;
I said, ‘I am lost.’
55 “I called on thy name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
56 thou didst hear my plea, ‘Do not close
thine ear to my cry for help!’[c]
57 Thou didst come near when I called on thee;
thou didst say, ‘Do not fear!’
58 “Thou hast taken up my cause, O Lord,
thou hast redeemed my life.
59 Thou hast seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
judge thou my cause.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance, all their devices against me.
61 “Thou hast heard their taunts, O Lord,
all their devices against me.
62 The lips and thoughts of my assailants
are against me all the day long.
63 Behold their sitting and their rising;
I am the burden of their songs.
64 “Thou wilt requite them, O Lord,
according to the work of their hands.
65 Thou wilt give them dullness of heart;
thy curse will be on them.
66 Thou wilt pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under thy heavens, O Lord.”[d]
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:19 Cn: Heb wandering
- Lamentations 3:22 Syr Tg: Heb we are not cut off
- Lamentations 3:56 Heb uncertain
- Lamentations 3:66 Syr Compare Gk Vg: Heb the heavens of the Lord
Lamentations 3
American Standard Version
3 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
2 He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, [a]and not in light.
3 Surely against me he turneth his hand again and again all the day.
4 My flesh and my skin hath he [b]made old; he hath broken my bones.
5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
6 He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
7 He hath walled me about, that I cannot go forth; he hath made my chain heavy.
8 Yea, when I cry, and call for help, he shutteth out my prayer.
9 He hath walled up my ways with hewn stone; he hath made my paths crooked.
10 He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He hath caused the [c]shafts of his quiver to enter into my reins.
14 I am become a derision to all my people, and their song all the day.
15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath sated me with wormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones; he hath covered me with ashes.
17 And thou hast [d]removed my soul far off from peace; I forgat prosperity.
18 And I said, My strength is perished, and mine expectation from Jehovah.
19 Remember mine affliction and my [e]misery, the wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is bowed down within me.
21 This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope.
22 It is of Jehovah’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
24 Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 Jehovah is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Jehovah.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 [f]Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he hath laid it upon him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
30 Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him; let him be filled full with reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
32 For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
33 For he doth not afflict [g]willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord [h]approveth not.
37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
38 Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not evil and good?
39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, [i]a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah.
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled; thou hast not pardoned.
43 Thou hast [j]covered with anger and pursued us; thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.
45 Thou hast made us an offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
47 Fear and the pit are come upon us, [k]devastation and destruction.
48 Mine eye runneth down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 Mine eye poureth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
50 Till Jehovah look down, and behold from heaven.
51 Mine eye affecteth my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.
52 They have chased me sore like a bird, they that are mine enemies without cause.
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone upon me.
54 Waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off.
55 I called upon thy name, O Jehovah, out of the lowest dungeon.
56 Thou heardest my voice; hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee; thou saidst, Fear not.
58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
59 O Jehovah, thou hast seen my wrong; judge thou my cause.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me.
61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Jehovah, and all their devices against me,
62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.
63 Behold thou their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their song.
64 Thou wilt render unto them a recompense, O Jehovah, according to the work of their hands.
65 Thou wilt give them [l]hardness of heart, thy curse unto them.
66 Thou wilt pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Jehovah.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:2 Or, without light
- Lamentations 3:4 Or, worn out
- Lamentations 3:13 Hebrew sons.
- Lamentations 3:17 Or, cast off
- Lamentations 3:19 Or, wandering. Or, outcast state
- Lamentations 3:28 Or, He sitteth etc. (so through verses 28–30)
- Lamentations 3:33 Hebrew from his heart.
- Lamentations 3:36 Hebrew seeth not.
- Lamentations 3:39 Or, a man that is in his sins
- Lamentations 3:43 Or, covered thyself
- Lamentations 3:47 Or, tumult
- Lamentations 3:65 Or, blindness. Hebrew covering.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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