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 King James Version
The Prophet’s Anguish and Hope
3 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
2 He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3 Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.
4 He has aged (A)my flesh and my skin,
And (B)broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me
And surrounded me with bitterness and [a]woe.
6 (C)He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.
7 (D)He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8 Even (E)when I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10 (F)He has been to me a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in [b]ambush.
11 He has turned aside my ways and (G)torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He has bent His bow
And (H)set me up as a target for the arrow.
13 He has caused (I)the [c]arrows of His quiver
To pierce my [d]loins.
14 I have become the (J)ridicule of all my people—
(K)Their taunting song all the day.
15 (L)He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink wormwood.
16 He has also broken my teeth (M)with gravel,
And [e]covered me with ashes.
17 You have moved my soul far from peace;
I have forgotten [f]prosperity.
18 (N)And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and roaming,
(O)The wormwood and the [g]gall.
20 My soul still remembers
And [h]sinks within me.
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have (P)hope.
22 (Q)Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions (R)fail not.
23 They are new (S)every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my (T)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I (U)hope in Him!”
25 The Lord is good to those who (V)wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should (W)hope (X)and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 (Y)It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 (Z)Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
29 (AA)Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
30 (AB)Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.
31 (AC)For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
33 For (AD)He does not afflict [i]willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
36 Or subvert a man in his cause—
(AE)The Lord does not approve.
37 Who is he (AF)who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That (AG)woe and well-being proceed?
39 (AH)Why should a living man [j]complain,
(AI)A man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the Lord;
41 (AJ)Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.
42 (AK)We have transgressed and rebelled;
You have not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and not pitied.
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
That prayer should not pass through.
45 You have made us an (AL)offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46 (AM)All our enemies
Have opened their mouths against us.
47 (AN)Fear and a snare have come upon us,
(AO)Desolation and destruction.
48 (AP)My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 (AQ)My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,
50 Till the Lord from heaven
(AR)Looks down and sees.
51 My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies (AS)without cause
Hunted me down like a bird.
53 They [k]silenced my life (AT)in the pit
And (AU)threw [l]stones at me.
54 (AV)The waters flowed over my head;
(AW)I said, “I am cut off!”
55 (AX)I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest (AY)pit.
56 (AZ)You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
57 You (BA)drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, (BB)“Do not fear!”
58 O Lord, You have (BC)pleaded the case for my soul;
(BD)You have redeemed my life.
59 O Lord, You have seen [m]how I am wronged;
(BE)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (BF)schemes against me.
61 You have heard their reproach, O Lord,
All their schemes against me,
62 The lips of my enemies
And their whispering against me all the day.
63 Look at their (BG)sitting down and their rising up;
I am their taunting song.
64 (BH)Repay them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
65 Give them [n]a veiled heart;
Your curse be upon them!
66 In Your anger,
Pursue and destroy them
(BI)From under the heavens of the (BJ)Lord.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:5 hardship or weariness
- Lamentations 3:10 Lit. secret places
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit. sons of
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit. kidneys
- Lamentations 3:16 Lit. bent me down in
- Lamentations 3:17 Lit. good
- Lamentations 3:19 bitterness
- Lamentations 3:20 Lit. bowed down
- Lamentations 3:33 Lit. from His heart
- Lamentations 3:39 Or murmur
- Lamentations 3:53 LXX put to death
- Lamentations 3:53 Lit. a stone on
- Lamentations 3:59 Lit. my wrong
- Lamentations 3:65 A Jewish tradition sorrow of
Lamentations 3
Revised Standard Version
God’s Steadfast Love Endures
3 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away,
and broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has put heavy chains on me;
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones,
he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding;
11 he led me off my way and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
12 he bent his bow and set me
as a mark for his arrow.
13 He drove into my heart
the arrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
the burden of their songs all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness,
he has sated me with wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace,
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “Gone is my glory,
and my expectation from the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and my bitterness,[a]
the wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,[b]
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is thy faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone in silence
when he has laid it on him;
29 let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30 let him give his cheek to the smiter,
and be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not
cast off for ever,
32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve the sons of men.
34 To crush under foot
all the prisoners of the earth,
35 to turn aside the right of a man
in the presence of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his cause,
the Lord does not approve.
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!’[c]
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.
59 Thou hast seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
judge thou my cause.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance, all their devices against me.
61 “Thou hast heard their taunts, O Lord,
all their devices against me.
62 The lips and thoughts of my assailants
are against me all the day long.
63 Behold their sitting and their rising;
I am the burden of their songs.
64 “Thou wilt requite them, O Lord,
according to the work of their hands.
65 Thou wilt give them dullness of heart;
thy curse will be on them.
66 Thou wilt pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under thy heavens, O Lord.”[d]
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:19 Cn: Heb wandering
- Lamentations 3:22 Syr Tg: Heb we are not cut off
- Lamentations 3:56 Heb uncertain
- Lamentations 3:66 Syr Compare Gk Vg: Heb the heavens of the Lord
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Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.