Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹ O Eternal One, please do not scold me in Your anger;
    though Your wrath is just, do not correct me in Your fury.
² The arrows from Your bow have penetrated my flesh;
    Your hand has come down hard on me.

³ Because Your anger has infected the depths of my being and stolen my health,
    my flesh is ill.
My bones are no longer sound
    because of all the sins I have committed.
⁴ My guilt has covered me; it’s more than I can handle;
    this burden is too heavy for me to carry.

⁵ Now sores cover me—infected and putrid sores,
    because of all the foolish things I have done.
⁶ I am bent down, cowering in fear, prostrate on the ground;
    I spend the day in mourning, guilty tears stinging and burning my eyes.
⁷ My back aches. I’m full of fever;
    my body is no longer whole, no longer well.
⁸ I am completely numb, totally spent, hopelessly crushed.
    The agitation of my heart makes me groan.

⁹ O Lord, You know all my desires;
    nothing escapes You; You hear my every moan.
¹⁰ My heart pounds against my chest; my vigor is completely drained;
    my eyes were once bright, but now the brightness is all gone.
¹¹ Even my friends and loved ones turn away when they see this marked man;
    those closest to me are no longer close at all.

¹² Those who want me dead lay traps upon my path;
    those who desire my downfall threaten—my end is near—
    they spend their days plotting against me.

¹³ Like one who is deaf, my ears do not hear.
    Like one who is mute, my tongue cannot speak.
¹⁴ The truth is this: I am like one who cannot hear;
    I cannot even protest against them.

¹⁵ Still I wait expectantly for You, O Eternal One—
    knowing You will answer me in some way, O Lord, my True God.
¹⁶ I only asked, “When I stumble on the narrow path,
    don’t let them boast or celebrate my failure.”

¹⁷ I am prepared for what may come; my time must be short;
    my pain and suffering a constant companion.
¹⁸ I confess, “I have sinned,”
    and I regret the wrong I have done.
¹⁹ My enemies are alive and well,
    they are powerful and on the increase,
    and for no reason, they hate me.
²⁰ When I do good, my opponents reward me with evil;
    though I pursue what is right, they stand against me.

²¹ Eternal One, do not leave me to their mercy;
    my True God, don’t be far from me when they are near.
²² I need Your help now—not later.
    O Lord, be my Rescuer.

5 Remember, Eternal One; don’t forget what happened.
    Just look at how we are demeaned, disgraced.
² All that You gave to us has been handed over to strangers.
    Even our houses foreigners have taken for their own.
³ Abandoned too early and on our own, we are like fatherless children;
    and our mothers, now widows, have nothing either.
⁴ The most basic necessities, food and water,
    shelter and warmth, we must pay dearly for.
⁵ Those pursuing us breathe down the backs of our heavily-yoked necks,
    driving us relentlessly.
Like overworked oxen, we are exhausted and without rest.
⁶ So what else could we do? We succumbed to agreements with Egypt and Assyria
    just so we could get enough to eat and survive.
⁷ Our fathers sinned and got us into this.
    Now they’ve passed on, and we suffer for it and bear their deeds.
⁸ Those less capable and less deserving slaves rule;
    they are actually in charge of us—
Your chosen ones—and nobody sets it right.
    Nobody comes to rescue us from their cruel hand.
⁹ At risk of life and limb, we seek our daily food
    despite threats of sword and danger in the wild places.
¹⁰ We are feverish with hunger.
    Famine’s scorching heat burns our flesh like an oven.
¹¹ In the place where God should be—
    Zion and the surrounding towns of Judah—
Women, young and old alike,
    are brutally raped and violated.
¹² Our leaders are made an example, hung by their hands,
    and our elders are treated with contempt.
¹³ Our best youths are forced to grind grain relentlessly;
    and boys stagger, bent under burdens of wood too heavy.
¹⁴ Gone from the gates are debate, trade, and the wisdom of sages.
    The streets, too, are silent—the young neglect their music.
¹⁵ The joy from our hearts is gone, utterly gone.
    Our once-dancing feet now plod along mournfully.
¹⁶ The wreath that crowned our head has slipped and fallen; now it’s crushed.
    O how we’ve sinned! Pity us for the punishment we brought on ourselves.
¹⁷ We’re sick at heart about it all,
    blind with the sorrow and grief we caused.
¹⁸ God’s heaven on earth, our Mount Zion, is desolate
    except for the jackals who haunt only ruins.

¹⁹ But You, Eternal One, despite all this,
    You will abide and rule forever, from generation to generation.
²⁰ Why, then, have You completely forgotten about us?
    Why have You turned Your back on us through so many dark days?
²¹ We are so sorry and have suffered for it.
    Eternal One, take us back again,
That we may be restored to You and You to us,
    just as it used to be.
²² Or are You so very angry that You’ve rejected us,
    that You’ve given up on us completely?