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.
Lamentations 3:19-66
Lexham English Bible
19 Remember my misery and bitterness,
the wormwood[a] and venom!
20 Surely my soul remembers
and bows down within me.
21 This I have reminded myself,[b]
therefore I will hope.
22 The loyal love of Yahweh does not cease;
his compassions do not come to an end.
23 They are new in the morning,
great is your faithfulness.
24 “Yahweh is my portion,”
says my soul,
“Thus I will hope on him.”
25 Yahweh is good to those who wait on him,
to the person that seeks him.
26 It is good to wait in silence
for the salvation of Yahweh.
27 It is good for a man who carries
the yoke of his childhood.
28 Let him sit alone and be silent
when he[c] has laid it on him.
29 Let him put[d] his mouth in the dust;
perhaps there is hope.
30 Let him give a cheek to his smiter,
let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For the Lord will not reject
forever.
32 For even though he causes grief he has compassion
according to the greatness of his royal love.
33 He does not afflict willingly,[e]
or grieve anyone.[f]
34 To crush under his feet
all the prisoners of the earth;
35 to deprive one of justice[g]
before the face of the Most High;
36 to subvert a person in a legal dispute
—the Lord has not found delight in these things.
37 Who can speak[h] and it will happen
if the Lord has not commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that disaster and good will come?
39 Why should any living person complain
about his sin?
40 Let us test and examine our ways;
let us return to Yahweh.
41 Let us lift up our hearts with our hands
to God in the heavens.
42 We ourselves have transgressed and rebelled,
you have not forgiven.
43 You have covered yourself in anger[i] and pursued us,
you have slain and not shown mercy.
44 You have covered yourself in a cloud
so that prayer cannot pass through.[j]
45 You have made us scum and refuse
in the midst of the nations.
46 All our enemies
have opened their mouth against us.
47 Fear and a pit have come upon us,
desolation and destruction.
48 Channels of water run down my eyes
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes have poured down unceasingly
without respite,
50 until Yahweh looks down
and sees from heaven.
51 My eyes inflict my soul
because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies hunt me without cause,
like a bird.
53 They have silenced me in a pit,[k]
they have thrown a stone at me.
54 Water has flown over my head,
I said, “I am cut off.”
55 I have called your name, O Yahweh,
from the depths of the pit.
56 You have heard my cry, “Do not shut your ear
to my cry for help, for my relief!”
57 You came near on a day when I called you,
you said, “Do not fear!”
58 O Lord, you have pleaded for my cause,[l]
you have redeemed my life.
59 You have seen my injustice, O Yahweh;
judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all there plans against me.
61 You have heard their disgrace, O Yahweh,
all their plans against me.
62 The lips and meditation of my assailants
are against me all day long.
63 Look at their sitting and their standing,
I am their mocking song.
64 Return to them what is deserved, O Yahweh,
according to the work of their hands.
65 Give them a stubborn heart;
curse them!
66 Pursue them in anger[m] and destroy them
from under the heavens of Yahweh.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:19 Or “the bitter substance”
- Lamentations 3:21 Literally “I have brought back to my heart”
- Lamentations 3:28 Yahweh
- Lamentations 3:29 Literally “him give”
- Lamentations 3:33 Literally “afflict from the heart”
- Lamentations 3:33 Literally “the sons of men”
- Lamentations 3:35 Literally “to turn aside the judgment of a man”
- Lamentations 3:37 Literally “Who is this that speaks”
- Lamentations 3:43 Literally “in the nose”
- Lamentations 3:44 Literally “from a passing prayer”
- Lamentations 3:53 Literally “they have put to silence my life in a pit”
- Lamentations 3:58 Literally “the legal disputes of my soul”
- Lamentations 3:66 Literally “in nose”
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