Lamentations 3:1-18

English Standard Version

Great Is Your Faithfulness

3 ^(A)I am the man who has seen affliction
    under the ^(B)rod of his wrath;
²he has driven and brought me
    ^(C)into darkness without any light;
³surely against me he turns his hand
    again and again the whole day long.

⁴He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
    ^(D)he has broken my bones;
⁵^(E)he has besieged and enveloped me
    with ^(F)bitterness and tribulation;
⁶^(G)he has made me dwell in darkness
    like the dead of long ago.

⁷^(H)He has walled me about so that ^(I)I cannot escape;
    he has made my chains heavy;
⁸though ^(J)I call and cry for help,
    he shuts out my prayer;
⁹^(K)he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
    he has made my paths crooked.

¹⁰^(L)He is a bear lying in wait for me,
    a lion in hiding;
¹¹^(M)he turned aside my steps and ^(N)tore me to pieces;
    ^(O)he has made me desolate;
¹²^(P)he bent his bow ^(Q)and set me
    as a target for his arrow.

¹³He drove into my kidneys
    ^(R)the arrows of his quiver;
¹⁴^(S)I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
    ^(T)the object of their taunts all day long.
¹⁵^(U)He has filled me with bitterness;
    he has sated me with ^(V)wormwood.

¹⁶^(W)He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
    and ^(X)made me cower in ashes;
¹⁷my soul is bereft of peace;
    I have forgotten what happiness^[a] is;
¹⁸^(Y)so I say, “My endurance has perished;
    so has my hope from the Lord.”

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Footnotes

Lamentations 3:17 Hebrew good

Lamentations 3:1-18

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.
²He has driven me and made me walk
In ^(B)darkness and not in light.
³Indeed, He has ^(C)turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.
⁴He has consumed my ^(D)flesh and my skin,
He has ^(E)broken my bones.
⁵He has ^[a]^(F)besieged and surrounded me with ^[b]^(G)bitterness and hardship.
⁶He has made me live in ^(H)dark places,
Like those who have long been dead.
⁷He has ^(I)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my ^[c]^(J)chain heavy.
⁸Even when I cry out and call for help,
He ^(K)shuts out my prayer.
⁹He has ^(L)blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has twisted my paths.
¹⁰He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
¹¹He has made my ways deviate, and ^(M)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
¹²He ^(N)bent His bow
And ^(O)took aim at me as a target for the arrow.
¹³He made the ^[d]arrows of His ^(P)quiver
Enter my ^[e]inward parts.
¹⁴I have become a ^(Q)laughingstock to all my people,
Their ^(R)song of ridicule all the day.
¹⁵He has ^(S)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink plenty of wormwood.
¹⁶He has also ^(T)made my teeth grind with ^(U)gravel;
He has made me cower in the ^(V)dust.
¹⁷My soul has been excluded ^(W)from peace;
I have forgotten ^[f]happiness.
¹⁸So I say, “My ^[g]strength has failed,
And so has my ^(X)hope from the Lord.”