1[1] I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.2He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light;3indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.4He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones.5He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.6He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.7He has walled me in so that I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains.8Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.9He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.10Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding,11he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help.12He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.13He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver.14I became the laughing-stock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long.15He has filled me with bitter herbs and given me gall to drink.16He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust.17I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.18So I say, ‘My splendour is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.’19I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.20I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.21Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:22Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.23They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.24I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’25The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;26it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.27It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.28Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him.29Let him bury his face in the dust – there may yet be hope.30Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.31For no-one is cast off by the Lord for ever.32Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.33For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.34To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land,35to deny people their rights before the Most High,36to deprive them of justice – would not the Lord see such things?37Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?39Why should the living complain when punished for their sins?40Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.41Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say:42‘We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven.43‘You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity.44You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.45You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.46‘All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us.47We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction.’48Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed.49My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief,50until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees.51What I see brings grief to my soul because of all the women of my city.52Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me like a bird.53They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me;54the waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to perish.55I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit.56You heard my plea: ‘Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.’57You came near when I called you, and you said, ‘Do not fear.’58You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life.59Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause!60You have seen the depth of their vengeance, all their plots against me.61Lord, you have heard their insults, all their plots against me –62what my enemies whisper and mutter against me all day long.63Look at them! Sitting or standing, they mock me in their songs.64Pay them back what they deserve, Lord, for what their hands have done.65Put a veil over their hearts, and may your curse be on them!66Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.
Lamentations 3
English Standard Version
Great Is Your Faithfulness
1I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; (Ps 2:9; Jer 20:18)2he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; (Isa 5:30)3surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.4He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; (Ps 51:8; Isa 38:13; Jer 50:17)5he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; (De 29:18; Job 19:12; La 3:19)6he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. (Ps 143:3)7He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; (Job 19:8; Ps 88:8)8though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; (Job 19:7; Job 30:20; Ps 22:2)9he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked. (La 3:7)10He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; (Ho 13:8)11he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; (Jer 18:15; La 1:13; La 3:10)12he bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow. (Job 16:12; La 2:4)13He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver; (Job 6:4; Ps 38:2)14I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long. (Job 30:9; Ps 69:12; Jer 20:7; La 3:63)15He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood. (Isa 51:17; Isa 51:21; Jer 9:15)16He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; (Pr 20:17; Jer 6:26)17my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness[1] is;18so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” (Ps 9:18)19Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! (La 1:9; La 1:11; La 1:20; La 3:5; La 3:15)20My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. (Ps 42:6; Ps 44:25)21But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: (Ps 42:5; Ps 42:11)22The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[2] his mercies never come to an end; (Mal 3:6)23they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Job 7:18; Ps 36:5)24“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Ps 16:5; Ps 73:26; La 3:21)25The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. (Ps 130:6; Isa 30:18)26It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Ps 130:5; Ps 130:7; Mic 7:7)27It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. (Ec 12:1; Mt 11:29)28Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; (Isa 3:26; La 1:1; La 2:10)29let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope; (Job 42:6)30let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. (Isa 50:6; Mt 5:39)31For the Lord will not cast off forever, (Ps 103:9)32but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; (Ps 103:8; Ps 106:45; La 1:5)33for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. (Heb 12:6; Heb 12:10; Heb 12:11)34To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, (Ps 107:10)35to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, (Hab 1:13)36to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve. (La 3:35)37Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? (Ps 33:9)38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? (Isa 45:7; Am 3:6)39Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? (Pr 19:3)40Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! (Joe 2:12)41Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: (Ps 25:1; Ps 119:48)42“We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. (Ps 78:17; Da 9:5)43“You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; (La 2:2; La 2:17; La 2:21)44you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. (La 2:1; La 3:8)45You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples. (1Co 4:13)46“All our enemies open their mouths against us; (La 2:16)47panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction; (Isa 24:17; Isa 51:19; Jer 48:43)48my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. (Jer 13:17; La 1:16)49“My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite, (La 3:48)50until the Lord from heaven looks down and sees; (Ps 14:2; Isa 63:15)51my eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the daughters of my city.52“I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause; (Ps 11:1; Ps 35:19; La 4:18)53they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me; (Jer 37:16; Jer 38:6; Jer 38:9; Da 6:17)54water closed over my head; I said, ‘I am lost.’ (Ps 69:2; Ps 88:5; Eze 37:11)55“I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; (Ps 130:1)56you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’ (Ps 130:2)57You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’ (Jos 1:9; Jas 4:8)58“You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life. (1Sa 24:15; Ps 119:154)59You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; judge my cause. (Ps 35:22)60You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me. (Jer 11:19)61“You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their plots against me. (La 3:60; La 5:1)62The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long. (Ps 18:39; Ps 18:48)63Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the object of their taunts. (Ps 139:2; La 3:14)64“You will repay them,[3] O Lord, according to the work of their hands. (Ps 28:4; Jer 11:20; 2Ti 4:14)65You will give them[4] dullness of heart; your curse will be[5] on them.66You will pursue them[6] in anger and destroy them from under your heavens, O Lord.”[7] (De 25:19; Ps 8:3; Jer 10:11)