Old/New Testament
Chapter 3
The Voice of a Suffering Individual[a]
1 I am one who has known affliction
under the rod of God’s anger,(A)
2 One whom he has driven and forced to walk
in darkness, not in light;
3 Against me alone he turns his hand—
again and again all day long.
4 He has worn away my flesh and my skin,
he has broken my bones;(B)
5 He has besieged me all around
with poverty and hardship;
6 He has left me to dwell in dark places
like those long dead.(C)
7 He has hemmed me in with no escape,
weighed me down with chains;
8 Even when I cry for help,
he stops my prayer;(D)
9 He has hemmed in my ways with fitted stones,
and made my paths crooked.
10 He has been a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding!(E)
11 He turned me aside and tore me apart,
leaving me ravaged.(F)
12 He bent his bow, and set me up
as a target for his arrow.(G)
13 He pierced my kidneys
with shafts from his quiver.(H)
14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
their taunt all day long;(I)
15 He has sated me with bitterness,
filled me with wormwood.(J)
16 He has made me eat gravel,
trampled me into the dust;
17 My life is deprived of peace,
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 My enduring hope, I said,
has perished before the Lord.
19 The thought of my wretched homelessness
is wormwood and poison;
20 Remembering it over and over,
my soul is downcast.
21 But this I will call to mind;[b]
therefore I will hope:
22 The Lord’s acts of mercy are not exhausted,
his compassion is not spent;(K)
23 They are renewed each morning—
great is your faithfulness!
24 The Lord is my portion, I tell myself,
therefore I will hope in him.(L)
25 The Lord is good to those who trust in him,
to the one that seeks him;(M)
26 It is good to hope in silence
for the Lord’s deliverance.
27 It is good for a person, when young,
to bear the yoke,
28 To sit alone and in silence,
when its weight lies heavy,
29 To put one’s mouth in the dust—[c]
there may yet be hope—
30 To offer one’s cheek to be struck,
to be filled with disgrace.(N)
31 For the Lord does not
reject forever;(O)
32 Though he brings grief, he takes pity,
according to the abundance of his mercy;(P)
33 He does not willingly afflict
or bring grief to human beings.(Q)
34 That someone tramples underfoot
all the prisoners in the land,
35 Or denies justice to anyone
in the very sight of the Most High,
36 Or subverts a person’s lawsuit—
does the Lord not see?
37 Who speaks so that it comes to pass,
unless the Lord commands it?
38 Is it not at the word of the Most High
that both good and bad take place?(R)
39 What should the living complain about?
about their sins!
40 [d]Let us search and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord!(S)
41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
toward God in heaven!
42 We have rebelled and been obstinate;
you have not forgiven us.
43 You wrapped yourself in wrath and pursued us,
killing without pity;(T)
44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud,
which no prayer could pierce.
45 You have made us filth and rubbish
among the peoples.(U)
46 They have opened their mouths against us,
all our enemies;
47 Panic and the pit have been our lot,
desolation and destruction;(V)
48 [e]My eyes stream with tears over the destruction
of the daughter of my people.(W)
49 My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without rest,
50 Until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.
51 I am tormented by the sight
of all the daughters of my city.
52 Without cause, my enemies snared me
as though I were a bird;
53 They tried to end my life in the pit,
pelting me with stones.
54 The waters flowed over my head:
and I said, “I am lost!”(X)
55 I have called upon your name, O Lord,(Y)
from the bottom of the pit;
56 You heard me call, “Do not let your ear be deaf
to my cry for help.”
57 You drew near on the day I called you;
you said, “Do not fear!”
58 You pleaded my case, Lord,
you redeemed my life.
59 You see, Lord, how I am wronged;
do me justice!(Z)
60 You see all their vindictiveness,
all their plots against me.
61 You hear their reproach, Lord,
all their plots against me,
62 The whispered murmurings of my adversaries,
against me all day long;
63 Look! Whether they sit or stand,
I am the butt of their taunt.
64 Give them what they deserve, Lord,
according to their deeds;
65 Give them hardness of heart;
your curse be upon them;(AA)
66 Pursue them in wrath and destroy them
from under the Lord’s heaven!
Chapter 4
Miseries of the Besieged City[f]
1 How the gold has lost its luster,
the noble metal changed;
Jewels[g] lie scattered
at the corner of every street.
2 And Zion’s precious children,
worth their weight in gold—
How they are treated like clay jugs,
the work of any potter!(AB)
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people is as cruel
as the ostrich[h] in the wilderness.(AC)
4 The tongue of the infant cleaves
to the roof of its mouth in thirst;
Children beg for bread,
but no one gives them a piece.
5 Those who feasted on delicacies
are abandoned in the streets;
Those who reclined on crimson[i]
now embrace dung heaps.(AD)
6 The punishment of the daughter of my people
surpassed the penalty of Sodom,
Which was overthrown in an instant
with no hand laid on it.(AE)
7 Her princes were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk,
Their bodies more ruddy than coral,
their beauty like the sapphire.
8 Now their appearance is blacker than soot,
they go unrecognized in the streets;
Their skin has shrunk on their bones,
and become dry as wood.(AF)
9 Better for those pierced by the sword
than for those pierced by hunger,
Better for those who bleed from wounds
than for those who lack food.
10 The hands of compassionate women
have boiled their own children!
They became their food
when the daughter of my people was shattered.(AG)
11 The Lord has exhausted his anger,
poured out his blazing wrath;
He has kindled a fire in Zion
that has consumed her foundations.(AH)
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the world’s inhabitants,
That foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Except for the sins of her prophets
and the crimes of her priests,
Who poured out in her midst
the blood of the just.(AI)
14 They staggered blindly in the streets,
defiled with blood,
So that people could not touch
even their garments:(AJ)
15 “Go away! Unclean!” they cried to them,
“Away, away, do not touch!”
If they went away and wandered,
it would be said among the nations,
“They can no longer live here!
16 The presence of the Lord was their portion,
but he no longer looks upon them.
The priests are shown no regard,
the elders, no mercy.
17 Even now our eyes are worn out,
searching in vain for help;
From our watchtower we have watched
for a nation[j] unable to save.
18 They dogged our every step,
we could not walk in our squares;
Our end drew near, our time was up;
yes, our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles in the sky,
In the mountains they were hot on our trail,
they ambushed us in the wilderness.(AK)
20 The Lord’s anointed—our very lifebreath!—[k]
was caught in their snares,
He in whose shade we thought
to live among the nations.(AL)
21 Rejoice and gloat, daughter Edom,
dwelling in the land of Uz,[l]
The cup will pass to you as well;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself naked!(AM)
22 Your punishment is completed, daughter Zion,
the Lord will not prolong your exile;
The Lord will punish your iniquity, daughter Edom,
will lay bare your sins.(AN)
Chapter 5
The Community’s Lament to the Lord
1 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us,
pay attention, and see our disgrace:
2 Our heritage is turned over to strangers,
our homes, to foreigners.(AO)
3 We have become orphans, without fathers;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We pay money to drink our own water,
our own wood comes at a price.
5 With a yoke on our necks, we are driven;
we are worn out, but allowed no rest.
6 We extended a hand to Egypt and Assyria,
to satisfy our need of bread.[m]
7 Our ancestors, who sinned, are no more;
but now we bear their guilt.
8 Servants[n] rule over us,
with no one to tear us from their hands.
9 We risk our lives just to get bread,
exposed to the desert heat;(AP)
10 Our skin heats up like an oven,
from the searing blasts of famine.(AQ)
11 Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the cities of Judah;(AR)
12 Princes have been hanged by them,
elders shown no respect.(AS)
13 Young men carry millstones,
boys stagger under loads of wood;
14 The elders have abandoned the gate,[o]
the young men their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased,
dancing has turned into mourning;(AT)
16 The crown has fallen from our head:
woe to us that we sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts grow sick,
at this our eyes grow dim:
18 Because of Mount Zion, lying desolate,
and the jackals roaming there!
19 But you, Lord, are enthroned forever;
your throne stands from age to age.(AU)
20 [p]Why have you utterly forgotten us,
forsaken us for so long?(AV)
21 Bring us back to you, Lord, that we may return:
renew our days as of old.(AW)
22 For now you have indeed rejected us
and utterly turned your wrath against us.(AX)
19 Therefore, brothers, since through the blood of Jesus we have confidence of entrance into the sanctuary(A) 20 [a]by the new and living way he opened for us through the veil,(B) that is, his flesh, 21 [b](C)and since we have “a great priest over the house of God,” 22 let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience[c] and our bodies washed in pure water.(D) 23 Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy.(E) 24 We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. 25 We should not stay away from our assembly,[d] as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.(F)
26 [e](G)If we sin deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains sacrifice for sins 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment and a flaming fire that is going to consume the adversaries.(H) 28 Anyone who rejects the law of Moses[f] is put to death without pity on the testimony of two or three witnesses.(I) 29 Do you not think that a much worse punishment is due the one who has contempt for the Son of God, considers unclean the covenant-blood by which he was consecrated, and insults the spirit of grace?(J) 30 We know the one who said:
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay,”
and again:
“The Lord will judge his people.”(K)
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.(L)
32 Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened,[g] you endured a great contest of suffering.(M) 33 At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and affliction; at other times you associated yourselves with those so treated.(N) 34 You even joined in the sufferings of those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you had a better and lasting possession.(O) 35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense.(P) 36 You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.(Q)
37 “For, after just a brief moment,[h]
he who is to come shall come;
he shall not delay.(R)
38 But my just one shall live by faith,
and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him.”(S)
39 We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.