Lamentations 3
Legacy Standard Bible
Jeremiah’s Heavy Chain
Aleph
3 I am the man who has (A)seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2 He has driven me and made me walk
In (B)darkness and not in light.
3 Surely against me He has (C)turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
Beth
4 He has caused my (D)flesh and my skin to waste away;
He has (E)broken my bones.
5 He has (F)besieged and encompassed me with (G)gall and hardship.
6 (H)Dark places He has made me inhabit,
Like those who have long been dead.
Gimel
7 He has (I)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my [a](J)chain heavy.
8 Even when I cry out and call for help,
He (K)shuts out my prayer.
9 He has (L)blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
Daleth
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11 He has turned aside my ways and (M)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He (N)bent His bow
And (O)set me as a target for the arrow.
He
13 He made the [b]arrows of His (P)quiver
To enter into my [c]inward parts.
14 I have become a (Q)laughingstock to all my people,
Their (R)music of mockery all the day.
15 He has (S)saturated me with bitterness;
He has sated me with wormwood.
Vav
16 He has (T)broken my teeth with (U)gravel;
He has made me cower in the (V)dust.
17 My soul has been rejected (W)from peace;
I have forgotten goodness.
18 So I say, “My strength has perished,
As well as my (X)hopeful waiting which comes from Yahweh.”
The Lord Will Not Reject Forever
Zayin
19 Remember my affliction and my [d]homelessness, the (Y)wormwood and gall.
20 Surely (Z)my soul remembers
And is (AA)bowed down within me.
21 This I will return to my heart;
Therefore I will (AB)wait in hope.
Heth
22 The (AC)lovingkindnesses of Yahweh [e]indeed never cease,
(AD)For His compassions never fail.
23 They are new (AE)every morning;
Great is (AF)Your faithfulness.
24 “Yahweh is my (AG)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I (AH)wait for Him.”
Teth
25 Yahweh is good to those who (AI)hope in Him,
To the soul who (AJ)seeks Him.
26 It is good that he (AK)waits silently
For the salvation of Yahweh.
27 It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
Yodh
28 Let him (AL)sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
29 Let him [f]put his mouth in the (AM)dust;
Perhaps there is (AN)hope.
30 Let him give his (AO)cheek to the one who strikes him;
Let him be saturated with reproach.
Kaph
31 For the Lord will (AP)not reject forever,
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have (AQ)compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
33 For He (AR)does not afflict from His heart
Or grieve the sons of men.
Lamedh
34 To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the [g]land,
35 To [h]deprive a man of (AS)justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36 To [i](AT)defraud a man in his legal case—
These things the Lord does not see with approval.
Mem
37 Who is [j]there who speaks and it (AU)happens,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That (AV)both calamities and [k]good go forth?
39 Why should any living [l]person or any man
(AW)Complain because of his sins?
Nun
40 Let us (AX)search out and examine our ways,
And let us return to Yahweh.
41 We (AY)lift up our heart to our hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have (AZ)transgressed and rebelled;
You have (BA)not pardoned.
Samekh
43 You have covered Yourself with (BB)anger
And (BC)pursued us;
You have killed and (BD)have not spared.
44 You have (BE)covered Yourself with a cloud
So that (BF)no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere (BG)scum and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
Pe
46 All our enemies have (BH)opened their mouths against us.
47 (BI)Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My [m](BJ)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Ayin
49 My eyes pour down (BK)unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until Yahweh (BL)looks down
And sees from heaven.
51 My eyes deal severely with my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
Tsadhe
52 My enemies (BM)without cause
Hunted me down (BN)like a bird;
53 They have silenced my life (BO)in the pit
And have [n](BP)placed a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed (BQ)over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”
Qoph
55 I (BR)called on Your name, O Yahweh,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (BS)heard my voice,
“(BT)Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You (BU)drew near when I called on You;
You said, “(BV)Do not fear!”
Resh
58 O Lord, You (BW)have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have (BX)redeemed my life.
59 O Yahweh, You have (BY)seen my oppression;
(BZ)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (CA)purposes against me.
Sin / Shin
61 You have heard their (CB)reproach, O Yahweh,
All their purposes against me.
62 The (CC)lips of those who rise against me and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63 Look on their (CD)sitting and their rising;
(CE)I am their mocking song.
Tav
64 You will (CF)recompense them, O Yahweh,
According to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them [o](CG)dullness of heart;
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (CH)pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the (CI)heavens of Yahweh!
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:7 Lit bronze piece
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit sons
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit kidneys
- Lamentations 3:19 Or bitterness
- Lamentations 3:22 Or that we are not consumed
- Lamentations 3:29 Lit give
- Lamentations 3:34 Or earth
- Lamentations 3:35 Or turn aside a man’s case
- Lamentations 3:36 Lit make crooked
- Lamentations 3:37 Lit this
- Lamentations 3:38 Lit the good
- Lamentations 3:39 Or human being
- Lamentations 3:48 Lit eye brings
- Lamentations 3:53 Or cast stones
- Lamentations 3:65 Or insolence
Lamentations 3
Tree of Life Version
3 I am the strong man who has seen affliction
by the rod of His wrath.
2 He has driven me and made me walk
in darkness and not light.
3 Surely, He has turned His hand against me
again and again all day long.
4 He made my flesh and my skin
waste away, broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
6 He made me dwell in dark places
like those long dead.
7 He has walled me in so I cannot get out.
He made my chain heavy.
8 Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
9 He walled in my ways with hewn stone.
He twisted my paths.
10 He is a lurking bear to me,
a lion in hiding.
11 He turned aside my paths and tore me to pieces.
He has made me desolate.
12 He bent His bow and made me
the target for His arrow.
13 He shot into my kidneys
arrows from His quiver.
14 I have become a laughing stock
to all my people,
their song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness
and made me drink wormwood.
16 He broke my teeth with gravel.
He made me wallow in ashes.
17 My soul has been deprived of shalom,
I have forgotten goodness.
18 So I said, “My endurance has perished,
and my hope from Adonai.”
19 Remember my affliction
my homelessness, bitterness and gall.
20 Whenever I remember,
my soul is downcast within me.
Our Hope—His Faithfulness
21 This I recall to my heart—
therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the mercies of Adonai
we will not be consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning!
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “Adonai is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in Him.”
25 Adonai is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul that seeks Him.
26 It is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of Adonai.
27 It is good for a man
to bear the yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone and be silent,
since He has laid it upon him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
Intercession for Justice
30 Let him offer his cheek
to the one who strikes him.[a]
Let him have his fill of disgrace.
31 For the Lord will not reject forever.
32 For though He has caused grief,
yet He will have compassion
according to His abundant mercies.
33 For He does not afflict from His heart
or grieve the sons of men.
34 To crush under His foot
all the prisoners of the land,
35 to deprive a person of justice
before the face of Elyon,
36 to defraud a person in his lawsuit—
would the Lord not see?
37 Who speaks and it comes to pass
unless the Lord has decreed it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of Elyon
that both calamities and good things proceed?
39 Why should any living person complain
when punished for his sins?
40 Let us examine and test our ways,
and let us return to Adonai.
41 Let us lift up our heart and hands
to God in heaven.
42 We have transgressed and rebelled—
You have not pardoned.
43 You covered Yourself with anger and pursued us.
You have slain without pity.
44 You shrouded Yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
45 You have made us scum and refuse
in the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies opened their mouth
wide against us.
47 Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
devastation and destruction.
48 Streams of tears run down my eyes
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eye flows unceasingly,
without stopping,
50 until Adonai looks down
from heaven and sees.
51 My eye torments my soul
because of all the daughters of my city.
52 For no reason, my enemies
hunted me down like a bird.
53 They cut off my life in the Pit,
and cast stones upon me.
54 Waters flowed over my head.
I said, “I have been cut off!”
55 I called on Your Name, Adonai,
from the depths of the Pit.
56 You heard my voice,
“Do not close Your ears to my cry for relief.”
57 You drew near on the day I called to You.
You said, “Do not fear!”
58 Lord, You pled my soul’s case,
You redeemed my life.[b]
59 Adonai, You saw the wrong done to me;
judge my cause!
60 You have seen all their vengefulness,
all their schemes against me.
61 You heard their taunt, Adonai,
all their plots against me.
62 The lips of my assailants and their whispering
are against me all day long.
63 Look at them, sitting or standing,
they mock me in their song.
64 Pay them back what they deserve, Adonai,
according to the work of their hands.
65 Give them a distraught heart.
May Your curse be on them.
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of Adonai.
Footnotes
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.