Lamentations 3:1-18
Revised Standard Version
God’s Steadfast Love Endures
3 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away,
and broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has put heavy chains on me;
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones,
he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding;
11 he led me off my way and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
12 he bent his bow and set me
as a mark for his arrow.
13 He drove into my heart
the arrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
the burden of their songs all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness,
he has sated me with wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace,
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “Gone is my glory,
and my expectation from the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:1-18
American Standard Version
3 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
2 He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, [a]and not in light.
3 Surely against me he turneth his hand again and again all the day.
4 My flesh and my skin hath he [b]made old; he hath broken my bones.
5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
6 He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
7 He hath walled me about, that I cannot go forth; he hath made my chain heavy.
8 Yea, when I cry, and call for help, he shutteth out my prayer.
9 He hath walled up my ways with hewn stone; he hath made my paths crooked.
10 He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He hath caused the [c]shafts of his quiver to enter into my reins.
14 I am become a derision to all my people, and their song all the day.
15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath sated me with wormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones; he hath covered me with ashes.
17 And thou hast [d]removed my soul far off from peace; I forgat prosperity.
18 And I said, My strength is perished, and mine expectation from Jehovah.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:2 Or, without light
- Lamentations 3:4 Or, worn out
- Lamentations 3:13 Hebrew sons.
- Lamentations 3:17 Or, cast off
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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