Lamentations 3
World English Bible
3 I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath.
2 He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness,
and not in light.
3 Surely he turns his hand against me
again and again all day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin old.
He has broken my bones.
5 He has built against me,
and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me dwell in dark places,
as those who have been long dead.
7 He has walled me about, so that I can’t go out.
He has made my chain heavy.
8 Yes, when I cry, and call for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has walled up my ways with cut stone.
He has made my paths crooked.
10 He is to me as a bear lying in wait,
as a lion in secret places.
11 He has turned away my ways,
and pulled me in pieces.
He has made me desolate.
12 He has bent his bow,
and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys.
14 I have become a derision to all my people,
and their song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness.
He has stuffed me with wormwood.
16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel.
He has covered me with ashes.
17 You have removed my soul far away from peace.
I forgot prosperity.
18 I said, “My strength has perished,
along with my expectation from Yahweh.”
19 Remember my affliction and my misery,
the wormwood and the bitterness.
20 My soul still remembers them,
and is bowed down within me.
21 This I recall to my mind;
therefore I have hope.
22 It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed,
because his compassion doesn’t fail.
23 They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness.
24 “Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul.
“Therefore I will hope in him.”
25 Yahweh is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that a man should hope
and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone and keep silence,
because he has laid it on him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust,
if it is so that there may be hope.
30 Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him.
Let him be filled full of reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 For though he causes grief,
yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
33 For he does not afflict willingly,
nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 to turn away the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord doesn’t approve.
37 Who is he who says, and it comes to pass,
when the Lord doesn’t command it?
38 Doesn’t evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?
39 Why does a living man complain,
a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways,
and turn again to Yahweh.
41 Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God[a] in the heavens.
42 “We have transgressed and have rebelled.
You have not pardoned.
43 “You have covered us with anger and pursued us.
You have killed.
You have not pitied.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud,
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us an off-scouring and refuse
in the middle of the peoples.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
47 Terror and the pit have come on us,
devastation and destruction.”
48 My eye runs down with streams of water,
for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eye pours down
and doesn’t cease,
without any intermission,
50 until Yahweh looks down,
and sees from heaven.
51 My eye affects my soul,
because of all the daughters of my city.
52 They have chased me relentlessly like a bird,
those who are my enemies without cause.
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon,
and have cast a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed over my head.
I said, “I am cut off.”
55 I called on your name, Yahweh,
out of the lowest dungeon.
56 You heard my voice:
“Don’t hide your ear from my sighing,
and my cry.”
57 You came near in the day that I called on you.
You said, “Don’t be afraid.”
58 Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul.
You have redeemed my life.
59 Yahweh, you have seen my wrong.
Judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance
and all their plans against me.
61 You have heard their reproach, Yahweh,
and all their plans against me,
62 the lips of those that rose up against me,
and their plots against me all day long.
63 You see their sitting down and their rising up.
I am their song.
64 You will pay them back, Yahweh,
according to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them hardness of heart,
your curse to them.
66 You will pursue them in anger,
and destroy them from under the heavens of Yahweh.
Footnotes
- 3:41 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
Lamentations 3
Christian Standard Bible
Hope through God’s Mercy
א Aleph
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.
ב Beth
4 He has worn away my flesh and skin;(B)
he has broken 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)
ג Gimel
7 He has walled me in so I cannot get out;(G)
he has weighed me down with chains.
8 Even when I cry out and plead for help,
he blocks out my prayer.(H)
9 He has walled in my ways with blocks of stone;(I)
he has made my paths crooked.(J)
ד Daleth
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.
ה He
13 He pierced my kidneys
with shafts from his quiver.(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)
ו Waw
16 He ground my teeth with gravel(Q)
and made me cower[c] in the dust.
17 I have been deprived[d] of peace;(R)
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 Then I thought, “My future[e] is lost,
as well as my hope from the Lord.”
ז Zayin
19 Remember[f] my affliction and my homelessness,(S)
the wormwood and the poison.(T)
20 I continually remember them
and have become depressed.[g](U)
21 Yet I call this to mind,
and therefore I have hope:(V)
ח Cheth
22 Because of the Lord’s faithful love(W)
we do not perish,[h]
for his mercies never end.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!(X)
24 I say, “The Lord is my portion,(Y)
therefore I will put my hope in him.”
ט Teth
25 The Lord is good to those who wait(Z) for him,
to the person who seeks him.
26 It is good to wait quietly(AA)
for salvation from the Lord.(AB)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke(AC)
while he is still young.
י Yod
28 Let him sit alone and be silent,(AD)
for God has disciplined[i] him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust(AE)—
perhaps there is still hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek
to the one who would strike him;(AF)
let him be filled with disgrace.
כ Kaph
31 For the Lord
will not reject us forever.
32 Even if he causes suffering,
he will show compassion
according to the abundance of his faithful love.(AG)
33 For he does not enjoy bringing affliction(AH)
or suffering on mankind.
ל Lamed
34 Crushing all the prisoners of the land[j]
beneath one’s feet,
35 denying justice to a man(AI)
in the presence of the Most High,
36 or subverting a person in his lawsuit(AJ)—
the Lord does not approve of these things.
מ Mem
37 Who is there who speaks and it happens,
unless the Lord has ordained it?(AK)
38 Do not both adversity and good
come from the mouth of the Most High?(AL)
39 Why should any living person complain,
any man, because of the punishment for his sins?
נ Nun
40 Let’s examine and probe our ways,
and turn back to the Lord.(AM)
41 Let’s lift up our hearts and our hands(AN)
to God in heaven:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled;
you have not forgiven.(AO)
ס Samek
43 “You have covered yourself in anger and pursued us;
you have killed without compassion.(AP)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.(AQ)
45 You have made us disgusting filth
among the peoples.(AR)
פ Pe
46 “All our enemies
open their mouths against us.(AS)
47 We have experienced panic and pitfall,(AT)
devastation and destruction.”
48 My eyes flow with streams of tears
because of the destruction of my dear people.
ע Ayin
49 My eyes overflow unceasingly,
without end,(AU)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.(AV)
51 My eyes bring me grief
because of the fate of all the women in my city.
צ Tsade
52 For no reason, my enemies[k]
hunted me like a bird.(AW)
53 They smothered my life in[l] a pit(AX)
and threw stones on me.
54 Water flooded over my head,(AY)
and I thought, “I’m going to die!” (AZ)
ק Qoph
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths of the pit.
56 You heard my plea:
Do not ignore my cry for relief.
57 You came near whenever I called you;
you said, “Do not be afraid.”
ר Resh
58 You championed my cause, Lord;(BA)
you redeemed my life.(BB)
59 Lord, you saw the wrong done to me;
judge my case.
60 You saw all their vengefulness,
all their plots against me.(BC)
שׂ Sin / שׁ Shin
61 Lord, you heard their insults,(BD)
all their plots against me.
62 The slander[m] and murmuring of my opponents
attack me all day long.
63 When they sit and when they rise, look,
I am mocked by their songs.(BE)
ת Taw
64 You will pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
according to the work of their hands.(BF)
65 You will give them a heart filled with anguish.[n](BG)
May your curse be on them!
66 You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
under your heavens.[o](BH)
Footnotes
- 3:10 Lit is to me
- 3:14 Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg; other Hb mss, Syr read all peoples
- 3:16 Or and trampled me
- 3:17 Syr, Vg; MT reads You deprived my soul
- 3:18 Or splendor
- 3:19 Or I remember
- 3:20 Alt Hb tradition reads and you cause me to collapse
- 3:22 One Hb mss, Syr, Tg read The Lord’s faithful love, indeed, does not perish
- 3:28 Lit has laid a burden on
- 3:34 Or earth
- 3:52 Or Those who were my enemies for no reason
- 3:53 Or They ended my life in; Hb obscure
- 3:62 Lit lips
- 3:65 Or them an obstinate heart; Hb obscure
- 3:66 Lit under the Lord’s heavens
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