Lamentations 3:1-18
Legacy Standard Bible
Jeremiah’s Heavy Chain
Aleph
3 I am the man who has (A)seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2 He has driven me and made me walk
In (B)darkness and not in light.
3 Surely against me He has (C)turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
Beth
4 He has caused my (D)flesh and my skin to waste away;
He has (E)broken my bones.
5 He has (F)besieged and encompassed me with (G)gall and hardship.
6 (H)Dark places He has made me inhabit,
Like those who have long been dead.
Gimel
7 He has (I)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my [a](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 made my paths crooked.
Daleth
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11 He has turned aside my ways and (M)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He (N)bent His bow
And (O)set me as a target for the arrow.
He
13 He made the [b]arrows of His (P)quiver
To enter into my [c]inward parts.
14 I have become a (Q)laughingstock to all my people,
Their (R)music of mockery all the day.
15 He has (S)saturated me with bitterness;
He has sated me with wormwood.
Vav
16 He has (T)broken my teeth with (U)gravel;
He has made me cower in the (V)dust.
17 My soul has been rejected (W)from peace;
I have forgotten goodness.
18 So I say, “My strength has perished,
As well as my (X)hopeful waiting which comes from Yahweh.”
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:7 Lit bronze piece
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit sons
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit kidneys
Lamentations 3:1-18
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Hope through God’s Mercy
א Alef
3 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s wrath.
2 He has driven me away and forced me to walk
in darkness instead of light.(A)
3 Yes, He repeatedly turns His hand
against me all day long.
ב Bet
4 He has worn away my flesh and skin;(B)
He has shattered my bones.(C)
5 He has laid siege against me,(D)
encircling me with bitterness and hardship.(E)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those who have been dead for ages.(F)
ג Gimel
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;(G)
He has weighed me down with chains.
8 Even when I cry out and plead for help,
He rejects my prayer.(H)
9 He has walled in my ways with cut stones;(I)
He has made my paths crooked.(J)
ד Dalet
10 He is[a] a bear waiting in ambush,
a lion in hiding.(K)
11 He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces;
He left me desolate.
12 He strung His bow(L)
and set me as the target for His arrow.
ה He
13 He pierced my kidneys
with His arrows.(M)
14 I am a laughingstock(N) to all my people,[b]
mocked by their songs(O) all day long.
15 He filled me with bitterness,
satiated me with wormwood.(P)
ו Vav
16 He ground my teeth on gravel(Q)
and made me cower[c] in the dust.
17 My soul has been deprived[d] of peace;(R)
I have forgotten what happiness is.
18 Then I thought: My future[e] is lost,
as well as my hope from the Lord.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:10 Lit is to me
- Lamentations 3:14 Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg; other Hb mss, Syr read all peoples
- Lamentations 3:16 Or and trampled me
- Lamentations 3:17 Syr, Vg; MT reads You deprived my soul
- Lamentations 3:18 Or splendor
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