Old/New Testament
Jeremiah’s Heavy Chain
Aleph
3 I am the man who has (A)seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2 He has driven me and made me walk
In (B)darkness and not in light.
3 Surely against me He has (C)turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
Beth
4 He has caused my (D)flesh and my skin to waste away;
He has (E)broken my bones.
5 He has (F)besieged and encompassed me with (G)gall and hardship.
6 (H)Dark places He has made me inhabit,
Like those who have long been dead.
Gimel
7 He has (I)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my [a](J)chain heavy.
8 Even when I cry out and call for help,
He (K)shuts out my prayer.
9 He has (L)blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
Daleth
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11 He has turned aside my ways and (M)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He (N)bent His bow
And (O)set me as a target for the arrow.
He
13 He made the [b]arrows of His (P)quiver
To enter into my [c]inward parts.
14 I have become a (Q)laughingstock to all my people,
Their (R)music of mockery all the day.
15 He has (S)saturated me with bitterness;
He has sated me with wormwood.
Vav
16 He has (T)broken my teeth with (U)gravel;
He has made me cower in the (V)dust.
17 My soul has been rejected (W)from peace;
I have forgotten goodness.
18 So I say, “My strength has perished,
As well as my (X)hopeful waiting which comes from Yahweh.”
The Lord Will Not Reject Forever
Zayin
19 Remember my affliction and my [d]homelessness, the (Y)wormwood and gall.
20 Surely (Z)my soul remembers
And is (AA)bowed down within me.
21 This I will return to my heart;
Therefore I will (AB)wait in hope.
Heth
22 The (AC)lovingkindnesses of Yahweh [e]indeed never cease,
(AD)For His compassions never fail.
23 They are new (AE)every morning;
Great is (AF)Your faithfulness.
24 “Yahweh is my (AG)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I (AH)wait for Him.”
Teth
25 Yahweh is good to those who (AI)hope in Him,
To the soul who (AJ)seeks Him.
26 It is good that he (AK)waits silently
For the salvation of Yahweh.
27 It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
Yodh
28 Let him (AL)sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
29 Let him [f]put his mouth in the (AM)dust;
Perhaps there is (AN)hope.
30 Let him give his (AO)cheek to the one who strikes him;
Let him be saturated with reproach.
Kaph
31 For the Lord will (AP)not reject forever,
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have (AQ)compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
33 For He (AR)does not afflict from His heart
Or grieve the sons of men.
Lamedh
34 To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the [g]land,
35 To [h]deprive a man of (AS)justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36 To [i](AT)defraud a man in his legal case—
These things the Lord does not see with approval.
Mem
37 Who is [j]there who speaks and it (AU)happens,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That (AV)both calamities and [k]good go forth?
39 Why should any living [l]person or any man
(AW)Complain because of his sins?
Nun
40 Let us (AX)search out and examine our ways,
And let us return to Yahweh.
41 We (AY)lift up our heart to our hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have (AZ)transgressed and rebelled;
You have (BA)not pardoned.
Samekh
43 You have covered Yourself with (BB)anger
And (BC)pursued us;
You have killed and (BD)have not spared.
44 You have (BE)covered Yourself with a cloud
So that (BF)no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere (BG)scum and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
Pe
46 All our enemies have (BH)opened their mouths against us.
47 (BI)Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My [m](BJ)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Ayin
49 My eyes pour down (BK)unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until Yahweh (BL)looks down
And sees from heaven.
51 My eyes deal severely with my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
Tsadhe
52 My enemies (BM)without cause
Hunted me down (BN)like a bird;
53 They have silenced my life (BO)in the pit
And have [n](BP)placed a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed (BQ)over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”
Qoph
55 I (BR)called on Your name, O Yahweh,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (BS)heard my voice,
“(BT)Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You (BU)drew near when I called on You;
You said, “(BV)Do not fear!”
Resh
58 O Lord, You (BW)have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have (BX)redeemed my life.
59 O Yahweh, You have (BY)seen my oppression;
(BZ)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (CA)purposes against me.
Sin / Shin
61 You have heard their (CB)reproach, O Yahweh,
All their purposes against me.
62 The (CC)lips of those who rise against me and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63 Look on their (CD)sitting and their rising;
(CE)I am their mocking song.
Tav
64 You will (CF)recompense them, O Yahweh,
According to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them [o](CG)dullness of heart;
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (CH)pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the (CI)heavens of Yahweh!
Yahweh’s Wrath Spent
Aleph
4 How (CJ)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At the head of every street.
Beth
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as (CK)earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
Gimel
3 Even (CL)jackals offer the breast;
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become (CM)cruel
Like (CN)ostriches in the wilderness.
Daleth
4 The (CO)tongue of the nursing baby cleaves
To the roof of its mouth because of (CP)thirst;
The infants (CQ)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
He
5 Those who ate (CR)delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those [p]reared in crimson
Embrace ash pits.
Vav
6 So the [q]iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the [r](CS)sin of Sodom,
Which was (CT)overthrown as in a moment,
And no hands [s]whirled toward her.
Zayin
7 Her [t]Nazirites were (CU)purer than snow;
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in [u]body than corals,
Their polishing was like [v](CV)lapis lazuli.
Heth
8 Their form is (CW)blacker than soot;
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their (CX)skin is shriveled on their bones;
It is withered, it has become like wood.
Teth
9 Better are those (CY)pierced through with the sword
Than those pierced through with hunger;
For their life (CZ)flows away, being stricken
For lack of the produce of [w]the field.
Yodh
10 The hands of compassionate women
(DA)Boiled their own children;
They became (DB)food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Kaph
11 Yahweh has (DC)spent His wrath;
He has poured out His burning anger;
And He has (DD)kindled a fire in Zion
Which has devoured its foundations.
Lamedh
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of (DE)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could (DF)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
Mem
13 Because of the sins of her (DG)prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The (DH)blood of the righteous;
Nun
14 They wandered, (DI)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with (DJ)blood
So that no one could touch their (DK)garments.
Samekh
15 “Depart! (DL)Unclean!” [x]they cried of themselves.
“Depart, depart, do not touch!”
So they (DM)fled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to sojourn with us.”
Pe
16 The presence of Yahweh has eradicated them;
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not [y](DN)honor the priests;
They did not favor the elders.
Ayin
17 Yet our eyes were spent,
Looking for [z]help was (DO)vanity;
In our watching we have watched
For a (DP)nation that could not save.
Tsadhe
18 They (DQ)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our open squares;
Our (DR)end drew near,
Our days were [aa]finished,
For our end had come.
Qoph
19 Our pursuers were (DS)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They hotly pursued us on the mountains;
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
Resh
20 The (DT)breath of our nostrils, the (DU)anointed of Yahweh,
Was (DV)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “Under his (DW)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
Sin
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of (DX)Edom,
Who inhabits the land of Uz;
But the (DY)cup will pass on to you as well;
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
Tav
22 The punishment of your iniquity has come (DZ)to an end, O daughter of Zion;
He will exile you no longer.
But He (EA)will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!
O Yahweh, Remember Us!
5 Remember, O Yahweh, what has happened to us;
Look, and see our (EB)reproach!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to (EC)strangers,
Our (ED)houses to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans (EE)without a father;
Our mothers are like widows.
4 We drink our (EF)water by means of silver;
Our wood comes to us at a price.
5 [ab]Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out; there is (EG)no rest for us.
6 We have given over our [ac]hands to (EH)Egypt and Assyria [ad]to get enough bread.
7 Our (EI)fathers sinned; they are no more;
It is we who have borne their iniquities.
8 (EJ)Slaves rule over us;
There is (EK)no one to tear us away from their hand.
9 We get our bread [ae]at the (EL)risk of our lives
[af]Because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin has become as (EM)hot as an oven
Because of [ag]the burning heat of famine.
11 They violated the (EN)women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hung by their hands;
[ah](EO)Elders were not respected.
13 Young men (EP)lifted up the stone at the grinding mill,
And youths (EQ)stumbled down under loads of wood.
14 Elders have ceased from being at the gate,
Young men from their (ER)music.
15 The joy of our hearts has (ES)ceased;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
16 The (ET)crown has fallen from our head;
(EU)Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our (EV)heart is faint;
Because of these things our (EW)eyes are dim;
18 Because of (EX)Mount Zion which lies desolate,
(EY)Foxes walk about in it.
19 (EZ)You, O Yahweh, sit enthroned forever;
Your (FA)throne is from generation to generation.
20 Why do You (FB)forget us forever?
Why do You forsake us [ai]so long?
21 (FC)Cause us to return to You, O Yahweh, that we may be returned;
Renew (FD)our days as of old,
22 Even if (FE)You have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly (FF)angry with us.
A New and Living Way
19 Therefore, brothers, since we (A)have confidence to (B)enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by (C)a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through (D)the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have (E)a great priest (F)over the house of God, 22 let us (G)draw near with a [a]sincere heart in (H)full assurance of faith, having our hearts (I)sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies (J)washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the (K)confession of our (L)hope without wavering, for (M)He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how (N)to stimulate one another to love and (O)good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own (P)assembling together, as is the habit of some, but (Q)encouraging one another, and all the more as you see (R)the day drawing near.
Warning Against Willful Sin
26 For if we go on (S)sinning willfully after receiving (T)the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of (U)judgment and (V)the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 (W)Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy by the mouth of two or three witnesses. 29 (X)How much worse punishment do you think he will deserve (Y)who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as defiled (Z)the blood of the covenant (AA)by which he was sanctified, and has (AB)insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “(AC)Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “(AD)The [b]Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a (AE)terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the (AF)living God.
32 But remember (AG)the former days, [c]when, after being (AH)enlightened, you endured a great (AI)conflict of sufferings, 33 partly by being (AJ)made a public spectacle through reproaches and afflictions, and partly by becoming (AK)sharers with those who were so treated. 34 For you also (AL)showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted with (AM)joy the seizure of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves (AN)a better and lasting possession. 35 Therefore, do not throw away that (AO)confidence of yours, which has a great (AP)reward. 36 For you have need of (AQ)endurance, so that when you have (AR)done the will of God, you may (AS)receive the promise.
37 (AT)For yet in a very little while,
(AU)He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
38 (AV)But My righteous one shall live by faith,
And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
39 But [d]we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the [e]preserving of the soul.
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