Lamentations3

¹I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger.

²He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light.

³He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.

⁴He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones.

⁵He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress.

⁶He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead.

⁷He has walled me in, and I cannot escape. He has bound me in heavy chains.

⁸And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers.

⁹He has blocked my way with a high stone wall; he has made my road crooked.

¹⁰He has hidden like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me.

¹¹He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces, leaving me helpless and devastated.

¹²He has drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows.

¹³He shot his arrows deep into my heart.

¹⁴My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs.

¹⁵He has filled me with bitterness and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.

¹⁶He has made me chew on gravel. He has rolled me in the dust.

¹⁷Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is.

¹⁸I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!”

¹⁹The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.

²⁰I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

²¹Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:

²²The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.

²³Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

²⁴I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

²⁵The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.

²⁶So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.

²⁷And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline:

²⁸Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord’s demands.

²⁹Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last.

³⁰Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies.

³¹For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever.

³²Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.

³³For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.

³⁴If people crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,

³⁵if they deprive others of their rights in defiance of the Most High,

³⁶if they twist justice in the courts— doesn’t the Lord see all these things?

³⁷Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission?

³⁸Does not the Most High send both calamity and good?

³⁹Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?

⁴⁰Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord.

⁴¹Let 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.

⁴⁴You have hidden yourself in a cloud so our prayers cannot reach you.

⁴⁵You have discarded us as refuse and garbage among the nations.

⁴⁶“All our enemies have spoken out against us.

⁴⁷We are filled with fear, for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”

⁴⁸Tears stream from my eyes because of the destruction of my people!

⁴⁹My tears flow endlessly; they will not stop

⁵⁰until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees.

⁵¹My heart is breaking over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.

⁵²My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird.

⁵³They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me.

⁵⁴The water rose over my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!”

⁵⁵But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit.

⁵⁶You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!”

⁵⁷Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”

⁵⁸Lord, you have come to my defense; you have redeemed my life.

⁵⁹You have seen the wrong they have done to me, Lord. Be my judge, and prove me right.

⁶⁰You have seen the vengeful plots my enemies have laid against me.

⁶¹Lord, you have heard the vile names they call me. You know all about the plans they have made.

⁶²My enemies whisper and mutter as they plot against me all day long.

⁶³Look at them! Whether they sit or stand, I am the object of their mocking songs.

⁶⁴Pay them back, Lord, for all the evil they have done.

⁶⁵Give them hard and stubborn hearts, and then let your curse fall on them!

⁶⁶Chase them down in your anger, destroying them beneath the Lord’s heavens.