Lamentations 3:1-18

Christian Standard Bible

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.

⁴ He has worn away my flesh and skin;^(B)
he has broken 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)

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot get out;^(G)
he has weighed me down with chains.
⁸ Even when I cry out and plead for help,
he blocks out my prayer.^(H)
9 He has walled in my ways with blocks of stone;^(I)
he has made my paths crooked.^(J)

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.

¹³ He pierced my kidneys
with shafts from his quiver.^(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)

¹⁶ He ground my teeth with gravel^(Q)
and made me cower^[c] in the dust.
¹⁷ I have been deprived^[d] of peace;^(R)
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
¹⁸ Then I thought, “My future^[e] is lost,
as well as my hope from the Lord.”