| International Standard Version | English Standard Version |
| 1I am a man familiar with affliction— under the rod of God's anger. | 1I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; |
| 2He has led me—brought me into darkness, not into light. | 2he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; |
| 3He truly turned his hand against me, again and again, all day long. | 3surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. |
| 4He made my flesh and skin prematurely old; he broke my bones. | 4He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; |
| 5He laid siege against me, surrounding me with bitterness and suffering. | 5he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; |
| 6He has forced me to live in darkness, like those who are long dead. | 6he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. |
| 7He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he placed heavy chains on me. | 7He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; |
| 8Indeed, when I cry out, calling for help, he shuts out my prayer. | 8though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; |
| 9He impeded my way with blocks of stone, making my paths uneven. | 9he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked. |
| 10He is like a bear that lies in wait for me, a lion in hiding. | 10He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; |
| 11He forced me off my path, tearing me to pieces and making me desolate. | 11he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; |
| 12He bent his bow, aiming at me with his arrow. | 12he bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow. |
| 13He caused his war arrows to pierce my vital organs. | 13He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver; |
| 14I have become a laughingstock to all my people, the object of their taunts throughout the day. | 14I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long. |
| 15He has filled me with bitterness, making me drink wormwood. | 15He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood. |
| 16He broke my teeth on gravel, covering me with dust. | 16He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; |
| 17You have removed peace from my life; I have forgotten what prosperity is. | 17my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; |
| 18So I say, "My strength is gone as is my hope in the LORD." | 18so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.” |
| 19Remember my affliction and homelessness— wormwood and gall! | 19Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! |
| 20My mind keeps reflecting on it, and I become depressed. | 20My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. |
| 21This is what comes to mind, and therefore I have hope: | 21But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: |
| 22Because of the LORD's gracious love we are not consumed, since his compassions never end. | 22The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; |
| 23They are new every morning— great is your faithfulness! | 23they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. |
| 24"The LORD is all I have," says my soul, "Therefore I will trust in him." | 24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” |
| 25The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the person who searches for him. | 25The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. |
| 26It is good to hope and wait patiently for the LORD's salvation. | 26It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. |
| 27It is good when a young man carries the yoke of discipline in his youth. | 27It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. |
| 28He is to sit apart and remain silent, because the LORD has laid it upon him. | 28Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; |
| 29Let him fall face down in the dust, so there may yet be hope. | 29let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope; |
| 30He will endure being slapped in the face, bringing him public disgrace. | 30let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. |
| 31Indeed, the Lord will not always reject us — | 31For the Lord will not cast off forever, |
| 32though he causes grief, his compassion abounds according to his gracious love. | 32but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; |
| 33For he does not deliberately hurt or grieve human beings. | 33for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. |
| 34When any of the prisoners of the earth are crushed underfoot, | 34To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, |
| 35when a person's rights are perverted in defiance of the Most High. | 35to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, |
| 36When a man is thwarted in his appeal, does the Lord condone it? | 36to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve. |
| 37Who can command, and it happens, without the Lord having ordered it? | 37Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? |
| 38Do not both good and evil things proceed from the mouth of the Most High? | 38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? |
| 39Why should anyone living complain, any mortal, about being punished for sin? | 39Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? |
| 40Let us examine our lifestyles, putting them to the test, and turn back to the LORD. | 40Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! |
| 41Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven. | 41Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: |
| 42As for us, we have sinned and rebelled; but you have not pardoned us. | 42“We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. |
| 43Clothing yourself with anger, you pursued us. You killed without pity, | 43“You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; |
| 44You covered yourself with a cloud that prayer cannot pierce. | 44you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. |
| 45You have reduced us to scum and garbage among the nations. | 45You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples. |
| 46All our enemies jeer at us with gaping mouths. | 46“All our enemies open their mouths against us; |
| 47Panic and pitfalls beset us, along with devastation and ruin. | 47panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction; |
| 48My eyes run with rivers of tears over the destruction of my cherished people. | 48my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. |
| 49My tears pour down ceaselessly; I am far from relief | 49“My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite, |
| 50until the LORD bends down to see from heaven. | 50until the LORD from heaven looks down and sees; |
| 51What I see grieves my soul because of all the young women of my city. | 51my eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the daughters of my city. |
| 52My enemies hunted me like a bird, viciously and without justification. | 52“I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause; |
| 53They dumped me alive into a pit, sealing me in with stone. | 53they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me; |
| 54Water closed over my head, and I said, "I'm a dead man." | 54water closed over my head; I said, ‘I am lost.’ |
| 55I called on your name, LORD, from the depths of the Pit, | 55“I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; |
| 56You heard my voice— don't close your ear to my sighs and cries. | 56you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’ |
| 57You drew near when I called out to you. You said, "Stop being afraid" | 57You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’ |
| 58Lord, you have defended my cause; you have redeemed my life. | 58“You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life. |
| 59LORD, you observed how I have been wronged; now make your ruling in my case. | 59You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; judge my cause. |
| 60You examined their plans for vengeance, all of their plots against me. | 60You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me. |
| 61LORD, you listened to their insults— all their plots against me, | 61“You have heard their taunts, O LORD, all their plots against me. |
| 62the whisperings of my opponents, their scheming against me all day long. | 62The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long. |
| 63Watch! Whether they sit down or stand up, they mock me with their songs. | 63Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the object of their taunts. |
| 64Pay them back, LORD, according to their actions. | 64“You will repay them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. |
| 65Give them an anguished heart; may your curse be upon them! | 65You will give them dullness of heart; your curse will be on them. |
| 66Pursue them in your anger and destroy them from under the LORD's heaven. | 66You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under your heavens, O LORD.” |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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