Lamentations 3:1-9

New International Version

3 ^[a]I am the man who has seen affliction^(A)
    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.^(B)
²He has driven me away and made me walk
    in darkness^(C) rather than light;
³indeed, he has turned his hand against me^(D)
    again and again, all day long.

⁴He has made my skin and my flesh grow old^(E)
    and has broken my bones.^(F)
⁵He has besieged me and surrounded me
    with bitterness^(G) and hardship.^(H)
⁶He has made me dwell in darkness
    like those long dead.^(I)

⁷He has walled me in so I cannot escape;^(J)
    he has weighed me down with chains.^(K)
⁸Even when I call out or cry for help,^(L)
    he shuts out my prayer.^(M)
⁹He has barred^(N) my way with blocks of stone;
    he has made my paths crooked.^(O)

Read full chapter

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 3:19-24

New International Version

¹⁹I remember my affliction and my wandering,
    the bitterness^(A) and the gall.^(B)
²⁰I well remember them,
    and my soul is downcast^(C) within me.^(D)
²¹Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

²²Because of the Lord’s great love^(E) we are not consumed,^(F)
    for his compassions never fail.^(G)
²³They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.^(H)
²⁴I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;^(I)
    therefore I will wait for him.”