Lamentations 3
1 I AM [Jeremiah] the man who has seen affliction under the rod of His wrath.2 He has led me and brought me into darkness and not light.3 Surely He has turned away from me; His hand is against me all the day.4 My flesh and my skin has He worn out and made old; He has shattered my bones.5 He has built up [siege mounds] against me and surrounded me with bitterness, tribulation, and anguish.6 He has caused me to dwell in dark places like those long dead.7 He walled me in so that I cannot get out; He has weighted down my chain.8 Even when I cry and shout for help, He shuts out my prayer.9 He has enclosed my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait, and like a lion [hiding] in secret places.11 He has turned me off my ways and pulled me in pieces; He has made me desolate.12 He has bent His bow and set me as a mark for the arrow.13 He has caused the arrows of His quiver to enter into my heart [the seat of my affections and desires].14 I have become a derision to all my people, and [the subject of] their singsong all the day.15 He has filled me with bitterness; He has made me drink to excess and until drunken with wormwood [bitterness].16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel (stones); He has covered me with ashes.17 And You have bereaved my soul and cast it off far from peace; I have forgotten what good and happiness are. 18 And I say, Perished is my strength and my expectation from the Lord.19 [O Lord] remember [earnestly] my affliction and my misery, my wandering and my outcast state, the wormwood and the gall.20 My soul has them continually in remembrance and is bowed down within me.21 But this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation:22 It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness. 24 The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. 25 The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God’s word].26 It is good that one should hope in and wait quietly for the salvation (the safety and ease) of the Lord.27 It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke [of divine disciplinary dealings] in his youth.28 Let him sit alone uncomplaining and keeping silent [in hope], because [God] has laid [the yoke] upon him [for his benefit]. 29 Let him put his mouth in the dust [in abject recognition of his unworthiness]--there may yet be hope. 30 Let him give his cheek to the One Who smites him [even through His human agents]; let him be filled [full] with [men’s] reproach [in meekness].31 For the Lord will not cast off forever! 32 But though He causes grief, yet will He be moved to compassion according to the multitude of His loving-kindness and tender mercy.33 For He does not willingly and from His heart afflict or grieve the children of men. 34 To trample and crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,35 To turn aside and deprive a man of his rights before the face of the Most High or a superior [acting as God’s representative],36 To subvert a man in his cause--[of these things] the Lord does not approve.37 Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, if the Lord has not authorized and commanded it?38 Is it not out of the mouth of the Most High that evil and good both proceed [adversity and prosperity, physical evil or misfortune and physical good or happiness]?39 Why does a living man sigh [one who is still in this life’s school of discipline]? [And why does] a man complain for the punishment of his sins?40 Let us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord!41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands [and then with them mount up in prayer] to God in heaven:42 We have transgressed and rebelled and You have not pardoned.43 You have covered Yourself with wrath and pursued and afflicted us; You have slain without pity.44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.45 You have made us offscouring and refuse among the nations.46 All our enemies have gaped at us and railed against us.47 Fear and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction.48 My eyes overflow with streams of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.49 My eyes overflow continually and will not cease50 Until the Lord looks down and sees from heaven.51 My eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the maidens [and the daughter-towns] of my city [Jerusalem].52 I have been hunted down like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause.53 They [thought they had] destroyed my life in the dungeon (pit) and cast a stone [over it] above me. 54 The waters ran down on my head; I said, I am gone.55 I called upon Your name, O Lord, out of the depths [of the mire] of the dungeon. 56 You heard my voice [then]: [Oh] hide not Your ear [now] at my prayer for relief.57 You drew near on the day I called to You; You said, Fear not. 58 O Lord, You have pleaded the causes of my soul [You have managed my affairs and You have protected my person and my rights]; You have rescued and redeemed my life!59 O Lord, You have seen my wrong [done to me]; judge and maintain my cause.60 You have seen all their vengeance, all their devices against me.61 You have heard their reproach and revilings, O Lord, and all their devices against me--62 The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all day long.63 Look at their sitting down and their rising up [their movements, doings, and secret counsels]; I am their singsong [the subject of their derision and merriment]. 64 Render to them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.65 You will give them hardness and blindness of heart; Your curse will be upon them.66 You will pursue and afflict them in anger and destroy them from under Your heavens, O Lord.
Lamentations 3
Chapter 3
Hope in the LORD’s Faithfulness
1 I am the one who has seen the afflictions
that come from the rod of the LORD’s anger.2 He has led me into darkness,
shutting out all light.3 He has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.4 He has made my skin and flesh grow old.
He has broken my bones.5 He has besieged and surrounded me
with anguish and distress.6 He has buried me in a dark place,
like those long dead.7 He has walled me in, and I cannot escape.
He has bound me in heavy chains.8 And though I cry and shout,
he has shut out my prayers.9 He has blocked my way with a high stone wall;
he has made my road crooked.10 He has hidden like a bear or a lion,
waiting to attack me.11 He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces,
leaving me helpless and devastated.12 He has drawn his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.13 He shot his arrows
deep into my heart.14 My own people laugh at me.
All day long they sing their mocking songs.15 He has filled me with bitterness
and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.16 He has made me chew on gravel.
He has rolled me in the dust.17 Peace has been stripped away,
and I have forgotten what prosperity is.18 I cry out, “My splendor is gone!
Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!”19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.t20 I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.21 Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:22 The faithful love of the LORD never ends!t
His mercies never cease.23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”25 The LORD is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.26 So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the LORD.27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age
to the yoke of his discipline:28 Let them sit alone in silence
beneath the LORD’s demands.29 Let them lie face down in the dust,
for there may be hope at last.30 Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them
and accept the insults of their enemies.31 For no one is abandoned
by the Lord forever.32 Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion
because of the greatness of his unfailing love.33 For he does not enjoy hurting people
or causing them sorrow.34 If people crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the land,35 if they deprive others of their rights
in defiance of the Most High,36 if they twist justice in the courts—
doesn’t the Lord see all these things?37 Who can command things to happen
without the Lord’s permission?38 Does not the Most High
send both calamity and good?39 Then why should we, mere humans, complain
when we are punished for our sins?40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways.
Let us turn back to the LORD.41 Let us lift our hearts and hands
to God in heaven and say,42 “We have sinned and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven us.43 “You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down,
and slaughtered us without mercy.44 You have hidden yourself in a cloud
so our prayers cannot reach you.45 You have discarded us as refuse and garbage
among the nations.46 “All our enemies
have spoken out against us.47 We are filled with fear,
for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”48 Tears stream from my eyes
because of the destruction of my people!49 My tears flow endlessly;
they will not stop50 until the LORD looks down
from heaven and sees.51 My heart is breaking
over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.52 My enemies, whom I have never harmed,
hunted me down like a bird.53 They threw me into a pit
and dropped stones on me.54 The water rose over my head,
and I cried out, “This is the end!”55 But I called on your name, LORD,
from deep within the pit.56 You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!
Hear my cry for help!”57 Yes, you came when I called;
you told me, “Do not fear.”58 Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case!
For you have redeemed my life.59 You have seen the wrong they have done to me, LORD.
Be my judge, and prove me right.60 You have seen the vengeful plots
my enemies have laid against me.61 LORD, you have heard the vile names they call me.
You know all about the plans they have made.62 My enemies whisper and mutter
as they plot against me all day long.63 Look at them! Whether they sit or stand,
I am the object of their mocking songs.64 Pay them back, LORD,
for all the evil they have done.65 Give them hard and stubborn hearts,
and then let your curse fall on them!66 Chase them down in your anger,
destroying them beneath the LORD’s heavens.