Old/New Testament
The Meaning of Suffering
3 I am a man who has seen the suffering
that comes from the rod of the Lord’s anger.
2 He led me
into darkness, not light.
3 He turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.
4 He caused my flesh and skin to wear out.
He broke my bones.
5 He surrounded me and attacked me
with sadness and grief.
6 He made me sit in the dark,
like someone who has been dead a long time.
7 He shut me in so I could not get out.
He put heavy chains on me.
8 I cry out and beg for help.
But he ignores my prayer.
9 He has blocked my way with stones.
He has made my life difficult.
10 The Lord is like a bear ready to attack me.
He is like a lion in hiding.
11 He led me the wrong way and tore me to pieces.
He left me without help.
12 He prepared to shoot his bow.
He made me the target for his arrows.
13 He shot me in the kidneys
with the arrows from his arrow bag.
14 I have become a joke to all my people.
All day long they make fun of me with songs.
15 The Lord filled me with misery.
He filled me with suffering.
16 The Lord broke my teeth with gravel.
He crushed me into the dirt.
17 I have no more peace.
I have forgotten what happiness is.
18 I said, “My strength is gone.
I have no more hope that the Lord will help me.”
19 Lord, remember my suffering and how I have no home.
Remember the misery and suffering.
20 I remember them well.
And I am very sad.
21 But I have hope
when I think of this:
22 The Lord’s love never ends.
His mercies never stop.
23 They are new every morning.
Lord, your loyalty is great.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is what I have left.
So I have hope.”
25 The Lord is good to those who put their hope in him.
He is good to those who look to him for help.
26 It is good to wait quietly
for the Lord to save.
27 It is good for a man to work hard
while he is young.
28 He should sit alone and be quiet
because the Lord has given him hard work to do.
29 He should bow to the Lord with his face to the ground.
Maybe there is still hope.
30 He should offer his cheek if someone wants to hit him.
He should be filled with shame.
31 The Lord will not reject
his people forever.
32 Although the Lord brings sorrow, he also has mercy.
His love is great.
33 The Lord does not like to punish people
or make them sad.
34 The Lord sees if any prisoner of the earth
is crushed under his feet.
35 He sees if someone is treated unfairly
before the Most High God.
36 The Lord sees
if someone is cheated in his case in court.
37 Nobody can speak and have it happen
unless the Lord commands it.
38 Both bad and good things
come by the command of the Most High God.
39 No man should complain
when he is punished for his sins.
40 Let us examine and look at what we have done.
Then let us return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hands and pray from our hearts.
Let us say to God in heaven,
42 “We have sinned and turned against you.
And you have not forgiven us.
43 “You wrapped yourself in anger and chased us.
You killed us without mercy.
44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud.
No prayer could get through.
45 You made us like scum and trash
among the other nations.
46 “All of our enemies
open their mouths and say things against us.
47 We have been frightened and fearful.
We have been ruined and destroyed.”
48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes
because my people are destroyed.
49 My tears flow continually,
without stopping,
50 until the Lord looks down
and sees from heaven.
51 I am sad when I see
what has happened to all the women of my city.
52 Those who are my enemies for no reason
hunted me like a bird.
53 They threw me alive into a pit.
They threw stones at me.
54 Water came up over my head.
I said to myself, “I am going to die.”
55 I called out to you, Lord,
from the bottom of the pit.
56 You heard me calling, “Do not close your ears.
Do not ignore my cry for help.”
57 You came close when I called out to you.
You said, “Don’t be afraid.”
58 Lord, you have taken my case.
You have given me back my life.
59 Lord, you have seen how I have been wronged.
Now judge my case for me.
60 You have seen how my enemies took revenge on me.
You have seen all their evil plans against me.
61 Lord, you have heard their insults
and all their evil plans against me.
62 The words and thoughts of my enemies
are against me all the time.
63 Look! In everything they do
they make fun of me with songs.
64 Punish them as they should be punished, Lord.
Pay them back for what they have done.
65 Make them stubborn.
Put your curse on them.
66 Chase them in anger.
Destroy them from the Lord’s earth.
The Attack on Jerusalem
4 See how the gold has lost its shine!
See how the good gold has changed!
The stones of the Temple are scattered
at every street corner.
2 The precious people of Jerusalem
were more valuable than gold.
But now they are thought of as clay jars
made by the hands of a potter.
3 Even wild dogs give their milk
to feed their young.
But my people are cruel
like ostriches in the desert.
4 The baby is so thirsty
that his tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth.
Children beg for bread.
But no one breaks off a piece to share with them.
5 Those who once ate fine foods
are now starving in the streets.
The people who grew up wearing nice clothes
now pick through trash piles.
6 My people have been punished
more than Sodom was.
Sodom was destroyed suddenly.
No hands reached out to help her.
7 Our princes were purer than snow.
They were whiter than milk.
Their bodies were redder than rubies.
Their faces shined like sapphires.
8 But now they are blacker than coal.
No one even recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin is stretched over their bones.
It is as dry as wood.
9 Those people who were killed by the sword had it better
than those killed by hunger.
They starved in pain and died
because there was no food from the field.
10 With their own hands kind women
cooked their own children.
The children became food for their parents.
This happened when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord turned loose all of his anger.
He poured out his strong anger.
He set fire to Jerusalem.
It burned down to the foundations.
12 Kings of the earth and people of the world
could not believe it.
They could not believe that enemies
could come through the gates of Jerusalem.
13 But it happened because her prophets had sinned.
And her priests had done evil.
They killed in the city
the people who did what was right.
14 They wandered in the streets
like blind men.
They became dirty with blood.
So no one could touch their clothes.
15 “Go away! You are unclean,” people shouted at them.
“Get away! Get away! Do not touch us!”
So they left and wandered around.
The other nations said, “Don’t stay here.”
16 The Lord himself scattered them.
He did not look after them anymore.
He did not respect the priests.
He showed no mercy to the elders.
17 Also, our eyes grew tired
looking for help that never came.
We kept watch from our towers
for a nation to save us.
18 Our enemies hunted us
so we could not even walk in the streets.
Our end came near. Our time was up.
Our end came.
19 The men who chased us
were faster than eagles in the sky.
They ran us into the mountains.
They ambushed us in the desert.
20 The Lord’s appointed king, who was our very breath,
was caught in their traps.
We had said about him, “We will be protected by him
among the nations.”
21 Be happy and glad, people of Edom,
you who live in the land of Uz.
But the Lord’s anger is like a cup of wine that you also will have to drink.
Then you will get drunk on it and make yourselves naked.
22 Your punishment is complete, Jerusalem.
He will not keep you in captivity any longer.
But the Lord will punish your wrongs, people of Edom.
He will uncover your sins.
A Prayer to the Lord
5 Remember, Lord, what happened to us.
Look and see our disgrace.
2 Our land has been turned over to strangers.
Our houses have been given to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans with no father.
Our mothers have become like widows.
4 We have to buy the water we drink.
We must pay for the wood for our fires.
5 They work us hard as if we were animals with a yoke on our necks.
We get tired and have no rest.
6 We made an agreement with Egypt
and with Assyria to get enough food.
7 Our ancestors sinned against you. But they are gone.
Now we must suffer because of their sins.
8 Slaves have become our rulers.
There is no one who can save us from them.
9 We risk our lives to get our food
because there are men with swords in the desert.
10 Our skin is hot like an oven.
We burn with fever because of the terrible hunger.
11 The enemy raped the women of Jerusalem
and the girls in the cities of Judah.
12 The enemy hung our princes by the hands.
They do not honor our elders.
13 The young men grind grain at the mill.
Boys stumble while carrying loads of wood.
14 The elders no longer sit at the city gates.
The young men no longer make music.
15 We have no more joy in our hearts.
Our dancing has turned into sadness.
16 The glory has gone from Jerusalem.
How terrible it is for us because we have sinned.
17 Because of this we are afraid.
Because of these things our eyes are dim.
18 Mount Zion is empty.
Now wild dogs wander around it.
19 But you rule forever, Lord.
You will be King from now on.
20 Why have you forgotten us for so long?
Why have you left us for so long?
21 Bring us back to you, Lord. We will return.
Make our days as they were before.
22 Or have you completely rejected us?
Will your anger never end?
Continue to Trust God
19 So, brothers, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place. We can do this without fear because of the blood of Jesus’ death. 20 We can enter through a new way that Jesus opened for us. It is a living way. It leads through the curtain—Christ’s body. 21 And we have a great priest over God’s house. 22 So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith. We have been cleansed and made free from feelings of guilt. And our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold firmly to the hope that we have confessed. We can trust God to do what he promised.
24 Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds. 25 You should not stay away from the church meetings, as some are doing. But you should meet together and encourage each other. Do this even more as you see the Day[a] coming.
26 If we decide to go on sinning after we have learned the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins. 27 There is nothing but fear in waiting for the judgment and the angry fire that will destroy all those who live against God. 28 Any person who refused to obey the law of Moses was found guilty from the proof given by two or three witnesses. He was put to death without mercy. 29 So what do you think should be done to a person who does not respect the Son of God? He looks at the blood of the agreement, the blood that made him holy, as no different from other men’s blood. He insults the Spirit of God’s grace. Surely he should have a much worse punishment. 30 We know that God said, “I will punish those who do wrong. I will repay them.”[b] And he also said, “The Lord will judge his people.”[c] 31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Remember those days in the past when you first learned the truth. You had a hard struggle with many sufferings, but you continued strong. 33 Sometimes you were hurt and persecuted before crowds of people. And sometimes you shared with those who were being treated that way. 34 You helped the prisoners. And you even had joy when all that you owned was taken from you. You were joyful because you knew that you had something better and more lasting.
35 So do not lose the courage that you had in the past. It has a great reward. 36 You must hold on, so you can do what God wants and receive what he has promised. 37 For in a very short time,
“The One who is coming will come.
He will not be late.
38 The person who is right with me
will have life because of his faith.
But if he turns back with fear,
I will not be pleased with him.” Habakkuk 2:3-4
39 But we are not those who turn back and are lost. We are people who have faith and are saved.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.