Lamentations, 3

1. I am the man familiar with misery under the rod of his fury.

1. I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath;

2. He has led and guided me into darkness, not light.

2. he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;

3. Against none but me does he turn his hand, again and again, all day.

3. surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.

4. He has wasted my flesh and skin away, has broken my bones.

4. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones;

5. He has besieged me and made hardship a circlet round my head.

5. he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;

6. He has forced me to dwell where all is dark, like those long-dead in their everlasting home.

6. he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.

7. He has walled me in so that I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains;

7. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me;

8. even when I shout for help, he shuts out my prayer.

8. though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;

9. He has closed my way with blocks of stone, he has obstructed my paths.

9. he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked.

10. For me he is a lurking bear, a lion in hiding.

10. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding;

11. Heading me off, he has torn me apart, leaving me shattered.

11. he led me off my way and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate;

12. He has bent his bow and used me as a target for his arrows.

12. he bent his bow and set me as a mark for his arrow.

13. He has shot deep into me with shafts from his quiver.

13. He drove into my heart the arrows of his quiver;

14. I have become a joke to all my own people, their refrain all day long.

14. I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the burden of their songs all day long.

15. He has given me my fill of bitterness, he has made me drunk with wormwood.

15. He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood.

16. He has broken my teeth with gravel, he has fed me on ashes.

16. He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;

17. I have been deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is

17. my soul is bereft of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is;

18. and thought, 'My lasting hope in Yahweh is lost.'

18. so I say, "Gone is my glory, and my expectation from the LORD."

19. Bring to mind my misery and anguish; it is wormwood and gall!

19. Remember my affliction and my bitterness, the wormwood and the gall!

20. My heart dwells on this continually and sinks within me.

20. My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.

21. This is what I shall keep in mind and so regain some hope:

21. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

22. Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love not exhausted;

22. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;

23. every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness!

23. they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.

24. 'Yahweh is all I have,' I say to myself, 'and so I shall put my hope in him.'

24. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

25. Yahweh is good to those who trust him, to all who search for him.

25. The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

26. It is good to wait in silence for Yahweh to save.

26. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

27. It is good for someone to bear the yoke from a young age,

27. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28. to sit in solitude and silence when it weighs heavy,

28. Let him sit alone in silence when he has laid it on him;

29. to lay one's head in the dust -- maybe there is hope-

29. let him put his mouth in the dust -- there may yet be hope;

30. to offer one's cheek to the striker, to have one's fill of disgrace!

30. let him give his cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults.

31. For the Lord will not reject anyone for ever.

31. For the Lord will not cast off for ever,

32. If he brings grief, he will have pity out of the fullness of his faithful love,

32. but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

33. for it is not for his own pleasure that he torments and grieves the human race.

33. for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men.

34. When all the prisoners in a country are crushed underfoot,

34. To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,

35. when human rights are overridden in defiance of the Most High,

35. to turn aside the right of a man in the presence of the Most High,

36. when someone is cheated of justice, does not the Lord see it?

36. to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord does not approve.

37. Who has only to speak and it is so done? Who commands, if not the Lord?

37. Who has commanded and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?

38. From where, if not from the mouth of the Most High, do evil and good come?

38. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and evil come?

39. Why then should anyone complain? Better to be bold against one's sins.

39. Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?

40. Let us examine our path, let us ponder it and return to Yahweh.

40. Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!

41. Let us raise our hearts and hands to God in heaven.

41. Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

42. We are the ones who have sinned, who have rebelled, and you have not forgiven.

42. "We have transgressed and rebelled, and thou hast not forgiven.

43. You have enveloped us in anger, pursuing us, slaughtering without pity.

43. "Thou hast wrapped thyself with anger and pursued us, slaying without pity;

44. You have wrapped yourself in a cloud too thick for prayer to pierce.

44. thou hast wrapped thyself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.

45. You have reduced us to rubbish and refuse among the nations.

45. Thou hast made us offscouring and refuse among the peoples.

46. Our enemies open their mouths in chorus against us.

46. "All our enemies rail against us;

47. Terror and pitfall have been our lot, ravage and ruin.

47. panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction;

48. My eyes dissolve in torrents of tears at the ruin of my beloved people.

48. my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49. My eyes will weep ceaselessly, without relief,

49. "My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite,

50. until Yahweh looks down and sees from heaven.

50. until the LORD from heaven looks down and sees;

51. My eyes have grown sore over all the daughters of my city.

51. my eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the maidens of my city.

52. Unprovoked, my enemies hunted me down like a bird.

52. "I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause;

53. They shut me finally in a pit, they closed me in with a stone.

53. they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me;

54. The waters rose over my head; I thought, 'I am lost!'

54. water closed over my head; I said, `I am lost.'

55. Yahweh, I called on your name from the deep pit.

55. "I called on thy name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit;

56. You heard my voice, do not close your ear to my prayer, to my cry.

56. thou didst hear my plea, `Do not close thine ear to my cry for help!'

57. You are near when I call to you. You said, 'Do not be afraid!'

57. Thou didst come near when I called on thee; thou didst say, `Do not fear!'

58. Lord, you defended my cause, you have redeemed my life.

58. "Thou hast taken up my cause, O Lord, thou hast redeemed my life.

59. Yahweh, you have seen the wrong done to me, grant me redress.

59. Thou hast seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; judge thou my cause.

60. You have seen their vindictiveness, all their plots against me.

60. Thou hast seen all their vengeance, all their devices against me.

61. You have heard their insults, Yahweh, all their plots against me,

61. "Thou hast heard their taunts, O LORD, all their devices against me.

62. the whispering and murmuring of my enemies against me all day long.

62. The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long.

63. Look, whether they sit or stand, I am their refrain.

63. Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the burden of their songs.

64. Yahweh, repay them as their deeds deserve.

64. "Thou wilt requite them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.

65. Lay hardness of heart as your curse on them.

65. Thou wilt give them dullness of heart; thy curse will be on them.

66. Angrily pursue them, root them out from under your heavens!

66. Thou wilt pursue them in anger and destroy them from under thy heavens, O LORD."