New King James Version

English Standard Version

1I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.

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

2He has led me and made me walk In darkness and not in light.

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

3Surely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day.

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

4He has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones.

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

5He has besieged me And surrounded me with bitterness and woe.

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

6He has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago.

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

7He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy.

7He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy;

8Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer.

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

9He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.

9he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked.

10He has been to me a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in ambush.

10He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding;

11He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; He has made me desolate.

11he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate;

12He has bent His bow And set me up as a target for the arrow.

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

13He has caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins.

13He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver;

14I have become the ridicule of all my people— Their taunting song all the day.

14I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long.

15He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood.

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

16He has also broken my teeth with gravel, And covered me with ashes.

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

17You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.

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

18And I said, “My strength and my hope Have perished from the LORD.”

18so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.”

19Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall.

19Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!

20My soul still remembers And sinks within me.

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

21This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.

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

22Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.

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 my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope 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 soul who seeks Him.

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

26It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.

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

27It is good for a man to bear The yoke in his youth.

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

28Let him sit alone and keep silent, Because God has laid it on him;

28Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;

29Let him put his mouth in the dust— There may yet be hope.

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

30Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, And be full of reproach.

30let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.

31For the Lord will not cast off forever.

31For the Lord will not cast off forever,

32Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies.

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

33For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men.

33for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.

34To crush under one’s feet All the prisoners of the earth,

34To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,

35To turn aside the justice due a man Before the face of the Most High,

35to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High,

36Or subvert a man in his cause— The Lord does not approve.

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

37Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, When the Lord has not commanded it?

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

38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed?

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

39Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins?

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

40Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD;

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

41Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.

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

42We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned.

42“We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.

43You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and not pitied.

43“You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity;

44You have covered Yourself with a cloud, That prayer should not pass through.

44you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.

45You have made us an offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples.

45You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples.

46All our enemies Have opened their mouths against us.

46“All our enemies open their mouths against us;

47Fear and a snare have come upon us, Desolation and destruction.

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

48My eyes overflow with rivers of water For the destruction of the daughter of my people.

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

49My eyes flow and do not cease, Without interruption,

49“My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite,

50Till the LORD from heaven Looks down and sees.

50until the LORD from heaven looks down and sees;

51My eyes bring suffering to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city.

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

52My enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird.

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

53They silenced my life in the pit And threw stones at me.

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

54The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!”

54water closed over my head; I said, ‘I am lost.’

55I called on Your name, O LORD, From the lowest pit.

55“I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit;

56You have heard my voice: “Do not hide Your ear From my sighing, from my cry for help.”

56you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’

57You drew near on the day I called on You, And said, “Do not fear!”

57You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’

58O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.

58“You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.

59O LORD, You have seen how I am wronged; Judge my case.

59You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; judge my cause.

60You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me.

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

61You have heard their reproach, O LORD, All their schemes against me,

61“You have heard their taunts, O LORD, all their plots against me.

62The lips of my enemies And their whispering against me all the day.

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

63Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I am their taunting song.

63Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the object of their taunts.

64Repay them, O LORD, According to the work of their hands.

64“You will repay them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.

65Give them a veiled heart; Your curse be upon them!

65You will give them dullness of heart; your curse will be on them.

66In Your anger, Pursue and destroy them From under the heavens of the LORD.

66You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under your heavens, O LORD.”

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

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.