Lamentations 3:19-66
World English Bible
19 Remember my affliction and my misery,
the wormwood and the bitterness.
20 My soul still remembers them,
and is bowed down within me.
21 This I recall to my mind;
therefore I have hope.
22 It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed,
because his compassion doesn’t fail.
23 They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness.
24 “Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul.
“Therefore I will hope in him.”
25 Yahweh is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that a man should hope
and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone and keep silence,
because he has laid it on him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust,
if it is so that there may be hope.
30 Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him.
Let him be filled full of reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 For though he causes grief,
yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
33 For he does not afflict willingly,
nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 to turn away the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord doesn’t approve.
37 Who is he who says, and it comes to pass,
when the Lord doesn’t command it?
38 Doesn’t evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?
39 Why does a living man complain,
a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways,
and turn again to Yahweh.
41 Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God[a] in the heavens.
42 “We have transgressed and have rebelled.
You have not pardoned.
43 “You have covered us with anger and pursued us.
You have killed.
You have not pitied.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud,
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us an off-scouring and refuse
in the middle of the peoples.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
47 Terror and the pit have come on us,
devastation and destruction.”
48 My eye runs down with streams of water,
for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eye pours down
and doesn’t cease,
without any intermission,
50 until Yahweh looks down,
and sees from heaven.
51 My eye affects my soul,
because of all the daughters of my city.
52 They have chased me relentlessly like a bird,
those who are my enemies without cause.
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon,
and have cast a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed over my head.
I said, “I am cut off.”
55 I called on your name, Yahweh,
out of the lowest dungeon.
56 You heard my voice:
“Don’t hide your ear from my sighing,
and my cry.”
57 You came near in the day that I called on you.
You said, “Don’t be afraid.”
58 Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul.
You have redeemed my life.
59 Yahweh, you have seen my wrong.
Judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance
and all their plans against me.
61 You have heard their reproach, Yahweh,
and all their plans against me,
62 the lips of those that rose up against me,
and their plots against me all day long.
63 You see their sitting down and their rising up.
I am their song.
64 You will pay them back, Yahweh,
according to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them hardness of heart,
your curse to them.
66 You will pursue them in anger,
and destroy them from under the heavens of Yahweh.
Footnotes
- 3:41 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
Lamentations 3:19-66
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!(A)
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.(B)
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,[a]
his mercies never come to an end;(C)
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(D)
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”(E)
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.(F)
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.(G)
27 It is good for one to bear
the yoke in youth,(H)
28 to sit alone in silence
when the Lord[b] has imposed it,(I)
29 to put one’s mouth to the dust
(there may yet be hope),
30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter
and be filled with insults.(J)
31 For the Lord will not
reject forever.(K)
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;(L)
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve anyone.(M)
34 When all the prisoners of the land
are crushed under foot,
35 when justice is perverted
in the presence of the Most High,(N)
36 when one’s case is subverted—
does the Lord not see it?(O)
37 Who can command and have it done,
if the Lord has not ordained it?(P)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that evil and good come?(Q)
39 Why should any who draw breath complain
about the punishment of their sins?(R)
40 Let us test and examine our ways
and return to the Lord.(S)
41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
to God in heaven.(T)
42 We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.(U)
43 You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
killing without pity;(V)
44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us filth and rubbish
among the peoples.(W)
46 All our enemies
have opened their mouths against us;(X)
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction.(Y)
48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of my people.[c]
49 My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,(Z)
50 until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.(AA)
51 My eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the young women in my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
have hunted me like a bird;(AB)
53 they flung me alive into a pit
and hurled stones on me;(AC)
54 water closed over my head;
I said, “I am lost.”(AD)
55 I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;(AE)
56 you heard my plea, “Do not close your ear
to my cry for help, but give me relief!”(AF)
57 You came near when I called on you;
you said, “Do not fear!”(AG)
58 You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
you have redeemed my life.(AH)
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their malice,
all their plots against me.(AI)
61 You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all their plots against me.
62 The whispers and murmurs of my assailants
are against me all day long.
63 Whether they sit or rise—see,
I am the object of their taunt songs.
64 Pay them back for their deeds, O Lord,
according to the work of their hands!
65 Give them anguish of heart;
your curse be on them!
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the Lord’s heavens.(AJ)
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