Lamentations 3:1-18
World English Bible
3 I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath.
2 He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness,
and not in light.
3 Surely he turns his hand against me
again and again all day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin old.
He has broken my bones.
5 He has built against me,
and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me dwell in dark places,
as those who have been long dead.
7 He has walled me about, so that I can’t go out.
He has made my chain heavy.
8 Yes, when I cry, and call for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has walled up my ways with cut stone.
He has made my paths crooked.
10 He is to me as a bear lying in wait,
as a lion in secret places.
11 He has turned away my ways,
and pulled me in pieces.
He has made me desolate.
12 He has bent his bow,
and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys.
14 I have become a derision to all my people,
and their song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness.
He has stuffed me with wormwood.
16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel.
He has covered me with ashes.
17 You have removed my soul far away from peace.
I forgot prosperity.
18 I said, “My strength has perished,
along with my expectation from Yahweh.”
Lamentations 3:1-18
Common English Bible
An individual’s complaint
3 I am someone[a] who saw the suffering caused by God’s[b] angry rod.
2 He drove me away, forced me to walk in darkness, not light.
3 He turned his hand even against me, over and over again, all day long.
4 He wore out my flesh and my skin; he broke my bones.
5 He besieged me, surrounding me with bitterness and weariness.
6 He made me live in dark places like those who’ve been dead a long time.
7 He walled me in so I couldn’t escape; he made my chains heavy.
8 Even though I call out and cry for help, he silences my prayer.
9 He walled in my paths with stonework; he made my routes crooked.
10 He is a bear lurking for me, a lion in hiding.
11 He took me from my path[c] and tore me apart; he made me desolate.
12 He drew back his bow, made me a shooting target for arrows.
13 He shot the arrows of his quiver into my inside parts.
14 I have become a joke to all my people, the object of their song of ridicule all day long.
15 He saturated me with grief, made me choke on bitterness.
16 He crushed my teeth into the gravel; he pressed me down into the ashes.
17 I’ve[d] rejected peace; I’ve forgotten what is good.
18 I thought: My future is gone, as well as my hope from the Lord.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:1 Or the man; also in 3:27, 35, 39
- Lamentations 3:1 Or his
- Lamentations 3:11 Heb uncertain
- Lamentations 3:17 Or my spirit; also in 3:20, 24, 25, 51, 58
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