Old/New Testament
The Meaning of Suffering
3 I am a man who has seen much trouble.
God beat us with a stick, and I saw it happen.
2 He led and brought me
into darkness, not light.
3 He turned his hand against me.
He did this again and again, all day.
4 He wore out my flesh and skin.
He broke my bones.
5 He built up bitterness and trouble against me.
He surrounded me with bitterness and trouble.
6 He put me in the dark,
like someone who died long ago.
7 He shut me in, so I could not get out.
He put heavy chains on me.
8 Even when I cry out and ask for help,
he does not listen to my prayer.
9 He has blocked up my path with stones.
He has made my path crooked.
10 He is like a bear about to attack me,
like a lion that is in a hiding place.
11 He led me off my path.
He tore me to pieces and ruined me.
12 He made his bow ready.
He made me the target for his arrows.
13 He shot me in the stomach
with his arrows.
14 I have become a joke to all my people.
All day long they sing songs about me and make fun of me.
15 He gave me this poison to drink.
He filled me with this bitter drink.
16 He pushed my teeth into rocky ground.
He pushed me into the dirt.
17 I thought I would never have peace again.
I forgot about good things.
18 I said to myself, “I no longer have any hope
that the Lord will help me.”
19 Remember, I am very sad,
and I have no home.
Remember the bitter poison that you gave me.
20 I remember well all my troubles,
and I am very sad.
21 But then I think about this,
and I have hope:
22 We are still alive because
the Lord’s faithful love never ends.
23 Every morning he shows it in new ways!
You are so very true and loyal!
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my God,
and I trust him.”[a]
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him.
He is good to those who look for him.
26 It is good to wait quietly
for the Lord to save them.
27 It is good for a man to wear his yoke
from the time he is young.
28 He should sit alone and be quiet
when the Lord puts his yoke on him.
29 He should bow down to the Lord.
Maybe there is still hope.
30 He should turn his cheek to the one who hits him
and let people insult him.
31 He should remember that
the Lord does not reject people forever.
32 When he punishes, he also has mercy.
He has mercy because of his great love and kindness.
33 He does not enjoy causing people pain.
He does not like to make anyone unhappy.
34 He does not like any prisoner on earth
to be trampled down.
35 He does not like anyone to be unfair to another person.
Some people will do such things right in front of God Most High.
36 The Lord does not like anyone to cheat another person.
He does not like any of these things.
37 No one can say something and make it happen,
unless the Lord orders it.
38 God Most High commands
both good and bad things to happen.
39 No one alive can complain
when he punishes them for their sins.
40 Let us check and see what we have done.
Then let us turn back to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to the God of heaven.
42 Let us say to him, “We have sinned and have been stubborn.
Because of this, you have not forgiven us.
43 You wrapped yourself with anger.
You chased us.
You killed us without mercy!
44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud
so that no prayer could get through.
45 You made us like garbage and dirt
to the other nations.
46 All of our enemies
speak angrily against us.
47 We have been frightened.
We have fallen into a pit.
We have been badly hurt.
We have been broken.”
48 My eyes flow with streams of tears.
I cry because of the destruction of my people.
49 My eyes will flow without stopping.
I will keep on crying.
50 I will continue to cry
until you look down and see us, Lord!
I will continue to cry
until you see us from heaven.
51 My eyes make me sad, when I see
what happened to the young women in my city.
52 For no reason,
my enemies hunted me like a bird.
53 They threw me alive into a pit
and then threw stones at me.
54 Water came up over my head.
I said to myself, “I am finished.”
55 Lord, I called your name
from the bottom of the pit.
56 You heard my voice.
You didn’t close your ears.
You didn’t refuse to rescue me.
57 You came to me on the day that I called out to you.
You said to me, “Don’t be afraid.”
58 You defended me
and brought me back to life.
59 Lord, you have seen my trouble.
Now judge my case for me.
60 You have seen how my enemies have hurt me.
You have seen all the evil plans that they made against me.
61 You heard them insult me, Lord.
You have heard all the evil plans that they made against me.
62 The words and the thoughts of my enemies
are against me all the time—
63 when they sit down and when they stand up.
Look how they make fun of me!
64 Give them back what they deserve, Lord.
Pay them back for what they have done.
65 Make them stubborn
and then curse them.
66 Chase them in anger and destroy them.
Wipe them off the face of the earth, Lord!
The Horrors of the Attack on Jerusalem
4 See how the gold has grown dark,
how the pure gold has changed.
There are jewels[b] scattered all around
at every street corner.
2 The precious people of Zion
were once worth more than gold.
But now they are treated like something worthless,
like the cheap clay jars a potter makes.
3 Even a wild dog feeds her babies.
Even the jackal lets her pups suck at her breast.
But the daughter of my people[c] is cruel.
She is like the ostrich in the desert that forgets its eggs in the sand.
4 Babies are so thirsty
their tongues stick to the roof of their mouths.
Young children ask for bread,
but no one gives them any.
5 Those who ate rich food
are now dying in the streets.
Those who grew up wearing nice red clothes
now pick through garbage piles.
6 The sin of the daughter of my people was very great.
Their sin was greater than the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed suddenly.
No human hand caused their destruction.[d]
7 Some of the men of Judah were dedicated to God in a special way.
They were very pure.
They were whiter than snow,
and whiter than milk.
Their bodies were red like coral
and their beards like sapphire stones.
8 But now their faces are blacker than soot.
No one even recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin is wrinkled over their bones.
Their skin is like wood.
9 It was better for those who were killed by the sword
than for those who died of hunger.
Those starving people were sad and hurt.
They died because they got no food from the field.
10 Then even nice women
cooked their own children.
The children were food for their mothers.
This happened when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord used all of his anger.
He poured out all his anger.
He made a fire in Zion
that burned it down to the foundations.
12 The kings of the earth could not believe what had happened.
The people of the world could not believe what had happened.
They could not believe that enemies
would be able to come through the city gates of Jerusalem.
13 This happened because the prophets
of Jerusalem sinned.
This happened because the priests
of Jerusalem did evil things.
They were shedding the blood of good people
in the city of Jerusalem.
14 The prophets and priests walked around
like blind men in the streets.
They had become dirty with blood.
No one could even touch their clothes because they were dirty.
15 People shouted, “Go away!
Go away! Don’t touch us.”
They wandered around and had no home.
People in other nations said,
“We don’t want them to live with us.”
16 The Lord himself destroyed them.
He didn’t look after them anymore.
He didn’t respect the priests.
He was not friendly to the elders of Judah.
17 We have worn out our eyes looking for help,
but no help comes.
We kept on looking for a nation to save us.
We kept watch from our watchtower,
but no nation came to us.
18 Our enemies hunted us all the time.
We could not even go out into 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 chased us into the mountains.
They hid in the desert to catch us.
20 The king was very important to us.
He was like the breath we breathe,
but he was trapped by them.
The Lord himself chose the king,
and we said this about the king,
“We will live in his shadow.
He protects us from the nations.”
21 Be happy, people of Edom.
Be happy, you who live in the land of Uz.
But remember, the cup of the Lord’s anger will come around to you too.
When you drink from that cup,
you will get drunk and strip off all your clothes.
22 Your punishment is complete, Zion.
You will not go into captivity again.
But the Lord will punish your sins, people of Edom.
He will uncover your sins.
A Prayer to the Lord
5 Remember, Lord, what happened to us.
Look and see our shame.
2 Our land has been turned over to strangers.
Our houses have been given to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans.
We have no father.
Our mothers have become like widows.
4 We have to buy the water that we drink.
We have to pay for the wood that we use.
5 We are forced to wear a yoke on our necks.
We get tired, and we have no rest.
6 We made an agreement with Egypt.
We also made an agreement with Assyria to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors sinned against you, and now they are dead.
And we are suffering because of their sins.
8 Slaves have become our rulers.
No one can save us from them.
9 We risk our lives to get food.
There are men in the desert with swords.
10 Our skin is hot like an oven.
We have a high fever because of our hunger.
11 The enemy raped the women of Zion.
They raped the women in the cities of Judah.
12 The enemy hanged our princes.
They didn’t honor our elders.
13 The enemy made our young men grind grain at the mill.
Our young men stumbled under loads of wood.
14 The elders no longer sit at the gates of the city.
The young men no longer make music.
15 We have no more joy in our hearts.
Our dancing has changed to crying for the dead.
16 The crown has fallen from our head.
Things have gone bad for us because we sinned.
17 For this reason, our hearts have become sick,
and our eyes cannot see clearly.
18 Mount Zion is a wasteland.
Foxes run around on Mount Zion.
19 But you rule forever, Lord.
Your kingly chair lasts forever and ever.
20 You seem to have forgotten us forever.
You seem to have left us alone for such a long time.
21 Bring us back to you, Lord.
We will gladly come back to you.
Make our lives as they were before.
22 You were very angry with us.
Have you completely rejected us?
Come Near to God
19 And so, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place.[a] We can do this without fear because of the blood sacrifice of Jesus. 20 We enter through a new way that Jesus opened for us. It is a living way that leads through the curtain—Christ’s body. 21 And we have a great priest who rules the house of God. 22 Sprinkled with the blood of Christ, our hearts have been made free from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. So come near to God with a sincere heart, full of confidence because of our faith in Christ. 23 We must hold on to the hope we have, never hesitating to tell people about it. We can trust God to do what he promised.
Help Each Other Be Strong
24 We should think about each other to see how we can encourage each other to show love and do good works. 25 We must not quit meeting together, as some are doing. No, we need to keep on encouraging each other. This becomes more and more important as you see the Day getting closer.
Don’t Turn Away From God’s Son
26 If we decide to continue sinning after we have learned the truth, then there is no other sacrifice that will take away sins. 27 If we continue sinning, all that is left for us is a fearful time of waiting for the judgment and the angry fire that will destroy those who live against God. 28 Whoever refused to obey the Law of Moses was found guilty from the testimony given by two or three witnesses. Such people were not forgiven. They were killed. 29 So think how much more punishment people deserve who show their hate for the Son of God—people who show they have no respect for the blood sacrifice that began the new agreement and once made them holy or who insult the Spirit of God’s grace. 30 We know that God said, “I will punish people for the wrongs they do; I will repay them.”[b] And he also said, “The Lord will judge his people.”[c] 31 It is a terrible thing to face punishment from the living God.
Keep the Courage and Patience You Had
32 Remember the days when you first learned the truth. You had a hard struggle with much suffering, but you continued strong. 33 Sometimes people said hateful things to you and mistreated you in public. And sometimes you helped others who were being treated that same way. 34 Yes, you helped them in prison and shared in their suffering. And you were still happy when everything you owned was taken away from you. You continued to be happy, because you knew that you had something much better—something that would continue forever.
35 So don’t lose the courage that you had in the past. Your courage will be rewarded richly. 36 You must be patient. After you have done what God wants, you will get what he promised you. 37 He says,
“Very soon now, the one who is coming
will come and will not be late.
38 The person who is right with me
will live by trusting in me.
But I will not be pleased with the one
who turns back in fear.” (A)
39 But we are not those who turn back and are lost. No, we are the people who have faith and are saved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International