Lamentations 3

¹I 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 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 laughingstock 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 splendor 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 forever.

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.