Lamentations 3:37-58

Revised Standard Version

³⁷ Who has commanded and it came to pass,
    unless the Lord has ordained it?
³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that good and evil come?
³⁹ Why should a living man complain,
    a man, about the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰ Let us test and examine our ways,
    and return to the Lord!
⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven:
⁴² “We have transgressed and rebelled,
    and thou hast not forgiven.

⁴³ “Thou hast wrapped thyself with anger and pursued us,
    slaying without pity;
⁴⁴ thou hast wrapped thyself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can pass through.
⁴⁵ Thou hast made us offscouring and refuse
    among the peoples.

⁴⁶ “All our enemies
    rail against us;
⁴⁷ panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and destruction;
⁴⁸ my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹ “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
⁵⁰ until the Lord from heaven
    looks down and sees;
⁵¹ my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the maidens of my city.

⁵² “I have been hunted like a bird
    by those who were my enemies without cause;
⁵³ they flung me alive into the pit
    and cast stones on me;
⁵⁴ water closed over my head;
    I said, ‘I am lost.’

⁵⁵ “I called on thy name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
⁵⁶ thou didst hear my plea, ‘Do not close
    thine ear to my cry for help!’^[a]
57 Thou didst come near when I called on thee;
    thou didst say, ‘Do not fear!’

⁵⁸ “Thou hast taken up my cause, O Lord,
    thou hast redeemed my life.