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Lamentations 3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Lamentations 3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 3
The Voice of a Suffering Individual[a]
1 I am one who has known affliction
under the rod of God’s anger,(A)
2 One whom he has driven and forced to walk
in darkness, not in light;
3 Against me alone he turns his hand—
again and again all day long.
4 He has worn away my flesh and my skin,
he has broken my bones;(B)
5 He has besieged me all around
with poverty and hardship;
6 He has left me to dwell in dark places
like those long dead.(C)
7 He has hemmed me in with no escape,
weighed me down with chains;
8 Even when I cry for help,
he stops my prayer;(D)
9 He has hemmed in my ways with fitted stones,
and made my paths crooked.
10 He has been a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding!(E)
11 He turned me aside and tore me apart,
leaving me ravaged.(F)
12 He bent his bow, and set me up
as a target for his arrow.(G)
13 He pierced my kidneys
with shafts from his quiver.(H)
14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
their taunt all day long;(I)
15 He has sated me with bitterness,
filled me with wormwood.(J)
16 He has made me eat gravel,
trampled me into the dust;
17 My life is deprived of peace,
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 My enduring hope, I said,
has perished before the Lord.
19 The thought of my wretched homelessness
is wormwood and poison;
20 Remembering it over and over,
my soul is downcast.
21 But this I will call to mind;[b]
therefore I will hope:
22 The Lord’s acts of mercy are not exhausted,
his compassion is not spent;(K)
23 They are renewed each morning—
great is your faithfulness!
24 The Lord is my portion, I tell myself,
therefore I will hope in him.(L)
25 The Lord is good to those who trust in him,
to the one that seeks him;(M)
26 It is good to hope in silence
for the Lord’s deliverance.
27 It is good for a person, when young,
to bear the yoke,
28 To sit alone and in silence,
when its weight lies heavy,
29 To put one’s mouth in the dust—[c]
there may yet be hope—
30 To offer one’s cheek to be struck,
to be filled with disgrace.(N)
31 For the Lord does not
reject forever;(O)
32 Though he brings grief, he takes pity,
according to the abundance of his mercy;(P)
33 He does not willingly afflict
or bring grief to human beings.(Q)
34 That someone tramples underfoot
all the prisoners in the land,
35 Or denies justice to anyone
in the very sight of the Most High,
36 Or subverts a person’s lawsuit—
does the Lord not see?
37 Who speaks so that it comes to pass,
unless the Lord commands it?
38 Is it not at the word of the Most High
that both good and bad take place?(R)
39 What should the living complain about?
about their sins!
40 [d]Let us search and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord!(S)
41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
toward God in heaven!
42 We have rebelled and been obstinate;
you have not forgiven us.
43 You wrapped yourself in wrath and pursued us,
killing without pity;(T)
44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud,
which no prayer could pierce.
45 You have made us filth and rubbish
among the peoples.(U)
46 They have opened their mouths against us,
all our enemies;
47 Panic and the pit have been our lot,
desolation and destruction;(V)
48 [e]My eyes stream with tears over the destruction
of the daughter of my people.(W)
49 My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without rest,
50 Until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.
51 I am tormented by the sight
of all the daughters of my city.
52 Without cause, my enemies snared me
as though I were a bird;
53 They tried to end my life in the pit,
pelting me with stones.
54 The waters flowed over my head:
and I said, “I am lost!”(X)
55 I have called upon your name, O Lord,(Y)
from the bottom of the pit;
56 You heard me call, “Do not let your ear be deaf
to my cry for help.”
57 You drew near on the day I called you;
you said, “Do not fear!”
58 You pleaded my case, Lord,
you redeemed my life.
59 You see, Lord, how I am wronged;
do me justice!(Z)
60 You see all their vindictiveness,
all their plots against me.
61 You hear their reproach, Lord,
all their plots against me,
62 The whispered murmurings of my adversaries,
against me all day long;
63 Look! Whether they sit or stand,
I am the butt of their taunt.
64 Give them what they deserve, Lord,
according to their deeds;
65 Give them hardness of heart;
your curse be upon them;(AA)
66 Pursue them in wrath and destroy them
from under the Lord’s heaven!
Footnotes
- 3:1–66 This chapter is focused less on the destruction of Jerusalem than are chaps. 1 and 2 and more on the suffering of an individual. The identity of the individual is never given, and one probably should not search for a specific identification of the speaker. The figure of the representative sufferer makes concrete the pain of the people in a way similar to the personification of Zion as a woman in chaps. 1 and 2. Indeed, in vv. 40–48 the individual voice gives way to a communal voice, returning in vv. 49–66 to the individual sufferer.
- 3:21–24 In the midst of a description of suffering, the speaker offers this brief but compelling statement of hope in God’s ultimate mercy. It is a hard-won and precarious hope, nearly submerged by the volume and intensity of the surrounding lament, but it is hope nonetheless.
- 3:29 To put one’s mouth in the dust: a sign of humiliation and submission; cf. v. 16; Ps 72:9.
- 3:40–66 The plural voice in this lament suggests that a communal lament begins here; it then continues in the singular voice in vv. 55–66.
- 3:48–51 These verses are more appropriate on the lips of the poet, who speaks of “my city” (v. 51). Daughters of my city: here as elsewhere “daughter” may refer to villages dependent on a larger city.
Lamentations 3
New International Version
Lamentations 3
New International Version
3 [a]I am the man who has seen affliction(A)
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.(B)
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness(C) rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me(D)
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old(E)
and has broken my bones.(F)
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness(G) and hardship.(H)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.(I)
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;(J)
he has weighed me down with chains.(K)
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,(L)
he shuts out my prayer.(M)
9 He has barred(N) my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.(O)
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion(P) in hiding,(Q)
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled(R) me
and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow(S)
and made me the target(T) for his arrows.(U)
13 He pierced(V) my heart
with arrows from his quiver.(W)
14 I became the laughingstock(X) of all my people;(Y)
they mock me in song(Z) all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.(AA)
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;(AB)
he has trampled me in the dust.(AC)
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”(AD)
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness(AE) and the gall.(AF)
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast(AG) within me.(AH)
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love(AI) we are not consumed,(AJ)
for his compassions never fail.(AK)
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(AL)
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;(AM)
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;(AN)
26 it is good to wait quietly(AO)
for the salvation of the Lord.(AP)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,(AQ)
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust(AR)—
there may yet be hope.(AS)
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,(AT)
and let him be filled with disgrace.(AU)
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.(AV)
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.(AW)
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.(AX)
34 To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
35 to deny people their rights
before the Most High,(AY)
36 to deprive them of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?(AZ)
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?(BA)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?(BB)
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?(BC)
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,(BD)
and let us return to the Lord.(BE)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven,(BF) and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled(BG)
and you have not forgiven.(BH)
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued(BI) us;
you have slain without pity.(BJ)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud(BK)
so that no prayer(BL) can get through.(BM)
45 You have made us scum(BN) and refuse
among the nations.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide(BO) against us.(BP)
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,(BQ)
ruin and destruction.(BR)”
48 Streams of tears(BS) flow from my eyes(BT)
because my people are destroyed.(BU)
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,(BV)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.(BW)
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.(BX)
53 They tried to end my life in a pit(BY)
and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,(BZ)
and I thought I was about to perish.(CA)
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths(CB) of the pit.(CC)
56 You heard my plea:(CD) “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near(CE) when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”(CF)
58 You, Lord, took up my case;(CG)
you redeemed my life.(CH)
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.(CI)
Uphold my cause!(CJ)
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.(CK)
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter.
Lamentations 3
New American Standard Bible
Lamentations 3
New American Standard Bible
Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Misery
3 I am the man who has (A)seen misery
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2 He has driven me and made me walk
In (B)darkness and not in light.
3 Indeed, He has (C)turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.
4 He has consumed my (D)flesh and my skin,
He has (E)broken my bones.
5 He has [a](F)besieged and surrounded me with [b](G)bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me live in (H)dark places,
Like those who have long been dead.
7 He has (I)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my [c](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 twisted my paths.
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11 He has made my ways deviate, and (M)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He (N)bent His bow
And (O)took aim at me as a target for the arrow.
13 He made the [d]arrows of His (P)quiver
Enter my [e]inward parts.
14 I have become a (Q)laughingstock to all my people,
Their (R)song of ridicule all the day.
15 He has (S)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink plenty of wormwood.
16 He has also (T)made my teeth grind with (U)gravel;
He has made me cower in the (V)dust.
17 My soul has been excluded (W)from peace;
I have forgotten [f]happiness.
18 So I say, “My [g]strength has failed,
And so has my (X)hope from the Lord.”
Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy
19 Remember my misery and my homelessness, the (Y)wormwood and [h]bitterness.
20 (Z)My soul certainly remembers,
And [i]is (AA)bent over within me.
21 I recall this to my mind,
Therefore I [j](AB)wait.
22 [k]The Lord’s (AC)acts of mercy indeed do not end,
(AD)For His compassions do not fail.
23 They are new (AE)every morning;
Great is (AF)Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my (AG)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I [l](AH)wait for Him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who [m](AI)await Him,
To the [n]person who (AJ)seeks Him.
26 It is good that he (AK)waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him (AL)sit alone and keep quiet,
Since He has laid it on him.
29 Let him [o]put his mouth in the (AM)dust;
Perhaps there is (AN)hope.
30 Let him give his (AO)cheek to the one who is going to strike him;
Let him be filled with shame.
31 For the Lord will (AP)not reject forever,
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have (AQ)compassion
In proportion to His abundant mercy.
33 For He (AR)does not [p]afflict [q]willingly
Or [r]grieve the sons of mankind.
34 To crush under [s]one’s feet
All the prisoners of the [t]land,
35 To [u]deprive a man of (AS)justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36 To [v](AT)defraud someone in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does not [w]approve.
37 Who is [x]there who speaks and it (AU)comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That [y](AV)both adversity and good proceed?
39 Of what can any living [z]mortal, or any man,
(AW)Complain [aa]in view of his sins?
40 Let’s (AX)examine and search out our ways,
And let’s return to the Lord.
41 We (AY)raise our heart [ab]and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have (AZ)done wrong and rebelled;
You have (BA)not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with (BB)anger
And (BC)pursued us;
You have slain and (BD)have not spared.
44 You have (BE)veiled Yourself with a cloud
So that (BF)no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere (BG)refuse and rubbish
In the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies have (BH)opened their mouths against us.
47 (BI)Panic and pitfall have come upon us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My [ac](BJ)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes flow (BK)unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until the Lord (BL)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 (BM)without reason
Hunted me down (BN)like a bird;
53 They have silenced [ad]me (BO)in the pit
And have [ae](BP)thrown stones on me.
54 Waters flowed (BQ)over my head;
I said, “I am [af]cut off!”
55 I (BR)called on Your name, Lord,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (BS)heard my voice,
“(BT)Do not cover Your ear from my plea for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You (BU)came near on the day I called to You;
You said, “(BV)Do not fear!”
58 Lord, You (BW)have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have (BX)redeemed my life.
59 Lord, You have (BY)seen my oppression;
(BZ)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (CA)schemes against me.
61 You have heard their (CB)reproach, Lord,
All their schemes against me.
62 The (CC)lips of my assailants and their talk
Are against me all day long.
63 Look at their [ag](CD)sitting and their rising;
(CE)I am their mocking song.
64 You will (CF)repay them, Lord,
In accordance with the work of their hands.
65 You will give them [ah](CG)shamelessness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (CH)pursue them in anger and eliminate them
From under the (CI)heavens of the Lord!
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:5 Lit built against
- Lamentations 3:5 Lit poison
- Lamentations 3:7 Lit bronze piece
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit sons
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit kidneys
- Lamentations 3:17 Lit good
- Lamentations 3:18 Or splendor
- Lamentations 3:19 Lit poison
- Lamentations 3:20 Or bows down
- Lamentations 3:21 Lit have hope
- Lamentations 3:22 As in ancient versions; MT It is...mercy that we do not end
- Lamentations 3:24 Or hope in
- Lamentations 3:25 Or hope in
- Lamentations 3:25 Lit soul
- Lamentations 3:29 Lit give
- Lamentations 3:33 Or oppress
- Lamentations 3:33 Lit from His heart
- Lamentations 3:33 Or torment
- Lamentations 3:34 Lit his
- Lamentations 3:34 Or earth
- Lamentations 3:35 Or turn aside a man’s case
- Lamentations 3:36 Lit bend
- Lamentations 3:36 Lit see
- 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 goes down
- Lamentations 3:53 Lit my life
- Lamentations 3:53 Or thrown a stone
- Lamentations 3:54 Or destroyed
- Lamentations 3:63 I.e., daily activities
- Lamentations 3:65 Or insanity
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
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