Lamentations 3:37-5:22
New American Standard Bible 1995
37 Who is [a]there who speaks and it (A)comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That [b](B)both good and ill go forth?
39 Why should any living [c]mortal, or any man,
Offer (C)complaint [d]in view of his sins?
40 Let us (D)examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the Lord.
41 We (E)lift up our heart [e]and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have (F)transgressed and rebelled,
You have (G)not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with (H)anger
And (I)pursued us;
You have slain and (J)have not spared.
44 You have (K)covered Yourself with a cloud
So that (L)no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere (M)offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies have (N)opened their mouths against us.
47 (O)Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My [f](P)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes pour down (Q)unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until the Lord (R)looks down
And sees from heaven.
51 My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies (S)without cause
Hunted me down (T)like a bird;
53 They have silenced [g]me (U)in the pit
And have [h](V)placed a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed (W)over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”
55 I (X)called on Your name, O Lord,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (Y)heard my voice,
“(Z)Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You (AA)drew near when I called on You;
You said, “(AB)Do not fear!”
58 O Lord, You (AC)have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have (AD)redeemed my life.
59 O Lord, You have (AE)seen my oppression;
(AF)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (AG)schemes against me.
61 You have heard their (AH)reproach, O Lord,
All their schemes against me.
62 The (AI)lips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63 Look on their (AJ)sitting and their rising;
(AK)I am their mocking song.
64 You will (AL)recompense them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them [i](AM)hardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (AN)pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the (AO)heavens of the Lord!
Distress of the Siege Described
4 How (AP)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At the [j]corner of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as (AQ)earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even (AR)jackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become (AS)cruel
Like (AT)ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The (AU)tongue of the infant cleaves
To the roof of its mouth because of (AV)thirst;
The little ones (AW)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
5 Those who ate (AX)delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those [k]reared in purple
Embrace ash pits.
6 For the [l]iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the [m](AY)sin of Sodom,
Which was (AZ)overthrown as in a moment,
And no hands were [n]turned toward her.
7 Her [o]consecrated ones were (BA)purer than snow,
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in [p]body than corals,
Their polishing was like [q](BB)lapis lazuli.
8 Their appearance is (BC)blacker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their (BD)skin is shriveled on their bones,
It is withered, it has become like wood.
9 Better are those [r](BE)slain with the sword
Than those [s]slain with hunger;
For they [t](BF)pine away, being stricken
For lack of the fruits of [u]the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women
(BG)Boiled their own children;
They became (BH)food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord has (BI)accomplished His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has (BJ)kindled a fire in Zion
Which has consumed its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of (BK)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could (BL)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Because of the sins of her (BM)prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The (BN)blood of the righteous;
14 They wandered, (BO)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with (BP)blood
So that no one could touch their (BQ)garments.
15 “Depart! (BR)Unclean!” [v]they cried of themselves.
“Depart, depart, do not touch!”
So they (BS)fled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to dwell with us.”
16 The presence of the Lord has scattered them,
He will not continue to regard them;
They did not [w](BT)honor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
17 Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for [x]help was (BU)useless;
In our watching we have watched
For a (BV)nation that could not save.
18 They (BW)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our (BX)end drew near,
Our days were [y]finished
For our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were (BY)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
20 The (BZ)breath of our nostrils, the (CA)Lord’s anointed,
Was (CB)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “Under his (CC)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of (CD)Edom,
Who dwells in the land of Uz;
But the (CE)cup will come around to you as well,
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
22 The punishment of your iniquity has been (CF)completed, O daughter of Zion;
He will exile you no longer.
But He (CG)will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!
A Prayer for Mercy
5 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
Look, and see our (CH)reproach!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to (CI)strangers,
Our (CJ)houses to aliens.
3 We have become orphans (CK)without a father,
Our mothers are like widows.
4 [z]We have to pay for our drinking (CL)water,
Our wood comes to us at a price.
5 [aa]Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out, there is (CM)no rest for us.
6 We have [ab]submitted to (CN)Egypt and Assyria [ac]to get enough bread.
7 Our (CO)fathers sinned, and are no more;
It is we who have borne their iniquities.
8 (CP)Slaves rule over us;
There is (CQ)no one to deliver us from their hand.
9 We get our bread [ad]at the (CR)risk of our lives
[ae]Because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin has become as (CS)hot as an oven,
Because of [af]the burning heat of famine.
11 They ravished the (CT)women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hung by their hands;
[ag](CU)Elders were not respected.
13 Young men [ah](CV)worked at the grinding mill,
And youths (CW)stumbled under loads of wood.
14 Elders [ai]are gone from the gate,
Young men from their (CX)music.
15 The joy of our hearts has (CY)ceased;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
16 The (CZ)crown has fallen from our head;
(DA)Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our (DB)heart is faint,
Because of these things our (DC)eyes are dim;
18 Because of (DD)Mount Zion which lies desolate,
(DE)Foxes prowl in it.
19 (DF)You, O Lord, [aj]rule forever;
Your (DG)throne is from generation to generation.
20 Why do You (DH)forget us forever?
Why do You forsake us [ak]so long?
21 (DI)Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored;
Renew (DJ)our days as of old,
22 Unless (DK)You have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly (DL)angry with us.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:37 Lit this
- Lamentations 3:38 Lit the evil things and the good
- Lamentations 3:39 Or human being
- Lamentations 3:39 Or on the basis of
- Lamentations 3:41 Lit toward our
- Lamentations 3:48 Lit eye brings
- Lamentations 3:53 Lit my life
- Lamentations 3:53 Or cast stones
- Lamentations 3:65 Or insolence
- Lamentations 4:1 Lit head
- Lamentations 4:5 Lit established in crimson
- Lamentations 4:6 Or punishment for iniquity
- Lamentations 4:6 Or punishment for sin
- Lamentations 4:6 Or wrung over her
- Lamentations 4:7 Or Nazirites
- Lamentations 4:7 Lit bones
- Lamentations 4:7 Heb sappir
- Lamentations 4:9 Lit pierced
- Lamentations 4:9 Lit pierced
- Lamentations 4:9 Lit flow away
- Lamentations 4:9 Lit my fields
- Lamentations 4:15 Or they (men) cried to them
- Lamentations 4:16 Lit lift up the faces of
- Lamentations 4:17 Lit our help
- Lamentations 4:18 Lit full
- Lamentations 5:4 Lit We drink our water for silver
- Lamentations 5:5 Lit We have been pursued upon
- Lamentations 5:6 Lit given the hand to
- Lamentations 5:6 Lit to be satisfied with
- Lamentations 5:9 Lit with our soul
- Lamentations 5:9 Or In the face of
- Lamentations 5:10 Or the ravages of hunger
- Lamentations 5:12 Lit The faces of elders
- Lamentations 5:13 Lit carry
- Lamentations 5:14 Lit have ceased
- Lamentations 5:19 Lit sit
- Lamentations 5:20 Lit to length of days
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
