Lamentations 3:19-39

Good News Translation

¹⁹ The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison.
²⁰     I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed.
²¹     Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing:

²² The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue,
²³     Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.
²⁴     The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.

²⁵ The Lord is good to everyone who trusts in him,
²⁶     So it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait for him to save us—
²⁷     And it is best to learn this patience in our youth.

²⁸ When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience;
²⁹     We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope.
³⁰     Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all.

³¹ The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever.
³²     He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.
³³     He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.

³⁴ The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison;
³⁵     He knows when we are denied the rights he gave us;
³⁶     When justice is perverted in court, he knows.

³⁷ The will of the Lord alone is always carried out.^[a]
38     Good and evil alike take place at his command.
³⁹     Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?^[b]