Lamentations 3:19-66
Legacy Standard Bible
The Lord Will Not Reject Forever
Zayin
19 Remember my affliction and my [a]homelessness, the (A)wormwood and gall.
20 Surely (B)my soul remembers
And is (C)bowed down within me.
21 This I will return to my heart;
Therefore I will (D)wait in hope.
Heth
22 The (E)lovingkindnesses of Yahweh [b]indeed never cease,
(F)For His compassions never fail.
23 They are new (G)every morning;
Great is (H)Your faithfulness.
24 “Yahweh is my (I)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I (J)wait for Him.”
Teth
25 Yahweh is good to those who (K)hope in Him,
To the soul who (L)seeks Him.
26 It is good that he (M)waits silently
For the salvation of Yahweh.
27 It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
Yodh
28 Let him (N)sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
29 Let him [c]put his mouth in the (O)dust;
Perhaps there is (P)hope.
30 Let him give his (Q)cheek to the one who strikes him;
Let him be saturated with reproach.
Kaph
31 For the Lord will (R)not reject forever,
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have (S)compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
33 For He (T)does not afflict from His heart
Or grieve the sons of men.
Lamedh
34 To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the [d]land,
35 To [e]deprive a man of (U)justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36 To [f](V)defraud a man in his legal case—
These things the Lord does not see with approval.
Mem
37 Who is [g]there who speaks and it (W)happens,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That (X)both calamities and [h]good go forth?
39 Why should any living [i]person or any man
(Y)Complain because of his sins?
Nun
40 Let us (Z)search out and examine our ways,
And let us return to Yahweh.
41 We (AA)lift up our heart to our hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have (AB)transgressed and rebelled;
You have (AC)not pardoned.
Samekh
43 You have covered Yourself with (AD)anger
And (AE)pursued us;
You have killed and (AF)have not spared.
44 You have (AG)covered Yourself with a cloud
So that (AH)no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere (AI)scum and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
Pe
46 All our enemies have (AJ)opened their mouths against us.
47 (AK)Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My [j](AL)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Ayin
49 My eyes pour down (AM)unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until Yahweh (AN)looks down
And sees from heaven.
51 My eyes deal severely with my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
Tsadhe
52 My enemies (AO)without cause
Hunted me down (AP)like a bird;
53 They have silenced my life (AQ)in the pit
And have [k](AR)placed a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed (AS)over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”
Qoph
55 I (AT)called on Your name, O Yahweh,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (AU)heard my voice,
“(AV)Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You (AW)drew near when I called on You;
You said, “(AX)Do not fear!”
Resh
58 O Lord, You (AY)have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have (AZ)redeemed my life.
59 O Yahweh, You have (BA)seen my oppression;
(BB)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (BC)purposes against me.
Sin/ Shin
61 You have heard their (BD)reproach, O Yahweh,
All their purposes against me.
62 The (BE)lips of those who rise against me and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63 Look on their (BF)sitting and their rising;
(BG)I am their mocking song.
Tav
64 You will (BH)recompense them, O Yahweh,
According to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them [l](BI)dullness of heart;
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (BJ)pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the (BK)heavens of Yahweh!
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:19 Or bitterness
- Lamentations 3:22 Or that we are not consumed
- Lamentations 3:29 Lit give
- Lamentations 3:34 Or earth
- Lamentations 3:35 Or turn aside a man’s case
- Lamentations 3:36 Lit make crooked
- Lamentations 3:37 Lit this
- Lamentations 3:38 Lit the good
- Lamentations 3:39 Or human being
- Lamentations 3:48 Lit eye brings
- Lamentations 3:53 Or cast stones
- Lamentations 3:65 Or insolence
Lamentations 3:19-66
New Living Translation
19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.[a]
20 I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
21 Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends![b]
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”
25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
26 So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.
27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age
to the yoke of his discipline:
28 Let them sit alone in silence
beneath the Lord’s demands.
29 Let them lie face down in the dust,
for there may be hope at last.
30 Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them
and accept the insults of their enemies.
31 For no one is abandoned
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion
because of the greatness of his unfailing love.
33 For he does not enjoy hurting people
or causing them sorrow.
34 If people crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the land,
35 if they deprive others of their rights
in defiance of the Most High,
36 if they twist justice in the courts—
doesn’t the Lord see all these things?
37 Who can command things to happen
without the Lord’s permission?
38 Does not the Most High
send both calamity and good?
39 Then why should we, mere humans, complain
when we are punished for our sins?
40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways.
Let us turn back to the Lord.
41 Let us lift our hearts and hands
to God in heaven and say,
42 “We have sinned and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven us.
43 “You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down,
and slaughtered us without mercy.
44 You have hidden yourself in a cloud
so our prayers cannot reach you.
45 You have discarded us as refuse and garbage
among the nations.
46 “All our enemies
have spoken out against us.
47 We are filled with fear,
for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”
48 Tears stream from my eyes
because of the destruction of my people!
49 My tears flow endlessly;
they will not stop
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.
51 My heart is breaking
over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.
52 My enemies, whom I have never harmed,
hunted me down like a bird.
53 They threw me into a pit
and dropped stones on me.
54 The water rose over my head,
and I cried out, “This is the end!”
55 But I called on your name, Lord,
from deep within the pit.
56 You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!
Hear my cry for help!”
57 Yes, you came when I called;
you told me, “Do not fear.”
58 Lord, you have come to my defense;
you have redeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong they have done to me, Lord.
Be my judge, and prove me right.
60 You have seen the vengeful plots
my enemies have laid against me.
61 Lord, you have heard the vile names they call me.
You know all about the plans they have made.
62 My enemies whisper and mutter
as they plot against me all day long.
63 Look at them! Whether they sit or stand,
I am the object of their mocking songs.
64 Pay them back, Lord,
for all the evil they have done.
65 Give them hard and stubborn hearts,
and then let your curse fall on them!
66 Chase them down in your anger,
destroying them beneath the Lord’s heavens.
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