Lamentations 3
21st Century King James Version
3 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
3 Surely against me is He turned; He turneth His hand against me all the day.
4 My flesh and my skin hath He made old; He hath broken my bones.
5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that are dead of old.
7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out; He hath made my chain heavy.
8 Also when I cry and shout, He shutteth out my prayer.
9 He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone; He hath made my paths crooked.
10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; He hath made me desolate.
12 He hath bent His bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He hath caused the arrows of His quiver to enter into my reins.
14 I was a derision to all my people, and their song all the day.
15 He hath filled me with bitterness; He hath made me drunken with wormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones; He hath covered me with ashes.
17 And Thou hast removed my soul far off from peace; I forgot prosperity.
18 And I said, “My strength and my hope are perished from the Lord,”
19 remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
21 This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope:
22 It is through the Lord’S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” saith my soul, “Therefore will I hope in Him.”
25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so it be, there may be hope.
30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him; he is filled full with reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
32 But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.
33 For He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under His feet all the prisoners of the earth,
35 to turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his cause—the Lord approveth not.
37 Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
38 Out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good?
39 Why then doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled; Thou hast not pardoned.
43 Thou hast covered Thyself with anger and persecuted us; Thou hast slain, Thou hast not pitied.
44 Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.
45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47 Fear and a snare have come upon us, desolation and destruction.
48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 Mine eye trickleth down and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
50 till the Lord look down and behold from heaven.
51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.
52 Mine enemies chased me sorely like a bird, without cause.
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, “I am cut off!”
55 I called upon Thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.
56 Thou hast heard my voice: “Hide not Thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.”
57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon Thee; Thou saidst, “Fear not.”
58 O Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; Thou hast redeemed my life.
59 O Lord, Thou hast seen my wrong; judge Thou my cause.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginings against me.
61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginings against me,
62 the lips of those that rose up against me, and their devices against me all the day.
63 Behold their sitting down and their rising up; I am their music.
64 Render unto them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.
65 Give them sorrow of heart, Thy curse unto them.
66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord.
Lamentations 3
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Ray of Hope in the Midst of Anguish[a]
3 I am the man who has experienced affliction under the rod of his fury.
2 He drove me off and brought me into darkness instead of light.
3 See how he turns against me. He turns his hand against me all day long.
4 He wore out my flesh and my skin. He shattered my bones.
5 He built siege works against me. He surrounded me with bitterness
and hardship.
6 He made me dwell in dark places, like people who died long ago.
7 He walled me in, so I cannot leave. He made my chains heavy.
8 Even when I call and cry out, he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my way with a stone wall. He has made my paths crooked.
10 He is about to ambush me like a bear, like a lion lying in wait.
11 He diverted me off my path and tore me to pieces. He made
me desolate.
12 He bent his bow and set me up as a target for the arrow.
13 He shot the arrows from his quiver into my heart.[b]
14 I was a laughingstock to all my people, the target of their song
all day long.
15 He has made me eat bitter food and drink my fill of wormwood.
16 He broke my teeth with gravel. He pushed me down into[c] the ashes.
17 You deprived my soul of peace. I have forgotten what well-being[d] is.
18 I said, “My endurance has vanished, along with my hope from
the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and my homeless wandering,
the wormwood and bitterness.
20 My soul always remembers, and it has sunk within me.
21 Nevertheless, I keep this in my heart. This is the reason I have hope:
22 By the mercies of the Lord we are not consumed, for his compassions do not fail.
23 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
24 My soul says, “The Lord is my portion. Therefore, I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good to hope quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he bears a yoke early in his life.
28 Let him sit alone and be silent, because the Lord has laid this upon him.
29 Let him stick his face in the dust. Perhaps there still is hope.
30 Let him turn his cheek toward the one who strikes him. Let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For the Lord will not push us away forever.
32 Even though he brings grief, he will show compassion on the basis of his great mercy.
33 Certainly it is not what his heart desires when he causes affliction,
when he brings grief to the children of men.
34 To crush all the land’s prisoners under his feet,
35 to deny a man’s right before the face of the Most High,
36 to undermine a man in his legal dispute—
the Lord does not look with favor on these things.[e]
37 Who can speak something and have it happen, unless the Lord commands it?
38 Don’t the bad things and the good both come from the mouth of the Most High?
39 How can any living man complain?
How can someone complain about the consequences of his sins?
40 Let us explore and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
42 We were disobedient and rebelled, so you did not forgive.
43 You covered yourself with anger and pursued us. You killed and did not spare.
44 You covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer passes through.
45 You make us like scraps and garbage among the peoples.
46 All our enemies opened their mouth against us.
47 Panic and the pit were ours, devastation and destruction.
48 Streams of water run down from my eyes,
because of the breaking of the daughter of my people.
49 My eye pours without stopping. It will not cease,
50 until the Lord looks down so that he sees from heaven.
51 What I see makes my soul ache for all the daughters of my city.
52 For no reason, my enemies hunted me like a bird.
53 They ended my life in the pit and threw stones at me.
54 Water flowed above my head, and I said, “I am cut off!”
55 I called on your name, Lord, from the deepest pit.
56 You heard my voice: “Do not hide your ear from my cry for relief!”
57 The day I called to you, you came near and said, “Do not fear.”
58 Lord, you pleaded my soul’s case. You redeemed my life.
59 Lord, you saw how I was wronged. Judge my case.
60 You saw all their vengeance, all their plans against me.
61 You heard their scorn, Lord, all their plans against me.
62 You heard the lips of those who rise up against me
and their plots against me all day long.
63 Watch them when they sit down and when they get up.
I am the target of their mocking song.
64 You will pay them back, Lord, according to what their hands have done.
65 You will give them a stubborn[f] heart. Your curse is on them.
66 You will pursue them in anger
and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an alphabetic acrostic. The 66 verses in the chapter form 22 groups, with three verses in each group. All three lines of each group of verses begin with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in alphabetic order. This chapter is the high point of the acrostic structure of Lamentations and includes most of the lines of bright hope contained in the five poems that make up the composition.
- Lamentations 3:13 Literally kidneys
- Lamentations 3:16 Or made me grovel in
- Lamentations 3:17 Or prosperity
- Lamentations 3:36 The Hebrew reads the Lord did not see.
- Lamentations 3:65 The meaning of this word is uncertain.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.