Lamentations 3:1-18
Expanded Bible
The Meaning of Suffering
3 I am a man [C symbolizing Jerusalem] who has seen the ·suffering [affliction]
that comes from the rod of ·the Lord’s [L his] anger.
2 He ·led [L guided and brought] me
into darkness, not light.
3 He turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long [Jer. 21:5].
4 He ·wore out [wasted away] my flesh and skin
and broke my bones.
5 He ·surrounded me with sadness
and attacked me with grief [L has built up and besieged me with bitterness/or poverty and hardship].
6 He made me sit in the dark,
like those who have been dead a long time.
7 He ·shut me [L walled me] in so I could not get out;
he put heavy chains on me.
8 I cry out and beg for help,
but he ·ignores [obstructs] my prayer.
9 He ·blocked [L walled in] my way with ·a stone wall [L cut stones]
and ·led me in the wrong direction [L twisted my paths; Job 19:7–12].
10 He is like a bear ready to ·attack [ambush] me,
like a lion in hiding [Hos. 13:8; Amos 5:19].
11 He led me the wrong way and ·let me stray [or tore me to pieces]
and left me ·without help [desolate].
12 He ·prepared to shoot [has drawn] his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
13 He shot me in the kidneys
with the arrows from his ·bag [quiver; Job 16:13].
14 I was a joke to all my people,
who make fun of me with ·songs [mocking songs] all day long [Ps. 22:7; 69:12; 119:51].
15 ·The Lord [L He] filled me with ·misery [bitterness];
he made me drunk with ·suffering [affliction; L wormwood; gall; C a bitter-tasting herb].
16 He ·broke [made me gnash] my teeth with gravel
and trampled me into the ·dirt [dust; ashes].
17 ·I have no more peace [L My life/soul is rejected from peace].
I have forgotten ·what happiness is [prosperity; L good].
18 I said, “My ·strength [luster; or endurance] ·is gone [has perished],
and I have no hope in the Lord.”
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