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17 I’ve[a] rejected peace; I’ve forgotten what is good.
18 I thought: My future is gone, as well as my hope from the Lord.

19 The memory of my suffering and homelessness is bitterness and poison.
20 I[b] can’t help but remember and am depressed.
21 I call all this to mind—therefore, I will wait.

22 Certainly the faithful love of the Lord hasn’t ended;[c] certainly God’s compassion isn’t through!
23 They are renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
24 I think:[d] The Lord is my portion! Therefore, I’ll wait for him.

25 The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the person[e] who seeks him.
26 It’s good to wait in silence for the Lord’s deliverance.
27 It’s good for a man to carry a yoke in his youth.
28 He should sit alone and be silent when God lays it on him.
29 He should put his mouth in the dirt—perhaps there is hope.
30 He should offer his cheek for a blow; he should be filled with shame.

31 My Lord definitely[f] won’t reject forever.
32 Although he has caused grief, he will show compassion in measure with his covenant loyalty.
33 He definitely doesn’t enjoy affliction,[g] making humans suffer.

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 3:17 Or my spirit; also in 3:20, 24, 25, 51, 58
  2. Lamentations 3:20 Or My spirit can’t help but remember and is depressed
  3. Lamentations 3:22 Tg, Syr, and other ancient sources; MT we aren’t finished.
  4. Lamentations 3:24 Or My spirit thinks
  5. Lamentations 3:25 Or spirit
  6. Lamentations 3:31 Or Because my Lord won’t reject forever
  7. Lamentations 3:33 Heb He does not afflict from his heart.

Our suffering and our hope

18 I believe that the present suffering is nothing compared to the coming glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 The whole creation waits breathless with anticipation for the revelation of God’s sons and daughters. 20 Creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice—it was the choice of the one who subjected it—but in the hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from slavery to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now. 23 And it’s not only the creation. We ourselves who have the Spirit as the first crop of the harvest also groan inside as we wait to be adopted and for our bodies to be set free. 24 We were saved in hope. If we see what we hope for, that isn’t hope. Who hopes for what they already see? 25 But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.

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