Lamentations 3:1-3

New International Version

3 ^[a]I am the man who has seen affliction^(A)
    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.^(B)
²He has driven me away and made me walk
    in darkness^(C) rather than light;
³indeed, he has turned his hand against me^(D)
    again and again, all day long.

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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.

Lamentations 3:13-24

New International Version

¹³He pierced^(A) my heart
    with arrows from his quiver.^(B)
¹⁴I became the laughingstock^(C) of all my people;^(D)
    they mock me in song^(E) all day long.
¹⁵He has filled me with bitter herbs
    and given me gall to drink.^(F)

¹⁶He has broken my teeth with gravel;^(G)
    he has trampled me in the dust.^(H)
¹⁷I have been deprived of peace;
    I have forgotten what prosperity is.
¹⁸So I say, “My splendor is gone
    and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”^(I)

¹⁹I remember my affliction and my wandering,
    the bitterness^(J) and the gall.^(K)
²⁰I well remember them,
    and my soul is downcast^(L) within me.^(M)
²¹Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

²²Because of the Lord’s great love^(N) we are not consumed,^(O)
    for his compassions never fail.^(P)
²³They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.^(Q)
²⁴I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;^(R)
    therefore I will wait for him.”