| New King James Version | New International Version |
| 1I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. | 1I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD's wrath. |
| 2He has led me and made me walk In darkness and not in light. | 2He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; |
| 3Surely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day. | 3indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. |
| 4He has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones. | 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 woe. | 5He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. |
| 6He has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago. | 6He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. |
| 7He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy. | 7He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains. |
| 8Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer. | 8Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. |
| 9He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked. | 9He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked. |
| 10He has been to me a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in ambush. | 10Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding, |
| 11He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; He has made me desolate. | 11he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help. |
| 12He has bent His bow And set me up as a target for the arrow. | 12He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. |
| 13He has caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins. | 13He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. |
| 14I have become the ridicule of all my people— Their taunting song all the day. | 14I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long. |
| 15He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood. | 15He has filled me with bitter herbs and given me gall to drink. |
| 16He has also broken my teeth with gravel, And covered me with ashes. | 16He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust. |
| 17You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity. | 17I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. |
| 18And I said, “My strength and my hope Have perished from the LORD.” | 18So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD." |
| 19Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. | 19I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. |
| 20My soul still remembers And sinks within me. | 20I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. |
| 21This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. | 21Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: |
| 22Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. | 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. | 23They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. |
| 24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” | 24I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." |
| 25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. | 25The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; |
| 26It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD. | 26it is good to 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 to bear the yoke while he is young. |
| 28Let him sit alone and keep silent, Because God has laid it on him; | 28Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him. |
| 29Let him put his mouth in the dust— There may yet be hope. | 29Let him bury his face 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 offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. |
| 31For the Lord will not cast off forever. | 31For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. |
| 32Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies. | 32Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. |
| 33For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men. | 33For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. |
| 34To crush under one’s feet All the prisoners of the earth, | 34To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, |
| 35To turn aside the justice due a man Before the face of the Most High, | 35to deny people their rights before the Most High, |
| 36Or subvert a man in his cause— The Lord does not approve. | 36to deprive them of justice-- would not the Lord see such things? |
| 37Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, When the Lord has not commanded it? | 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 woe and well-being proceed? | 38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? |
| 39Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins? | 39Why should the living complain when punished for their sins? |
| 40Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD; | 40Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. |
| 41Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven. | 41Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: |
| 42We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned. | 42"We have sinned 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 covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity. |
| 44You have covered Yourself with a cloud, That prayer should not pass through. | 44You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through. |
| 45You have made us an offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples. | 45You have made us scum and refuse among the nations. |
| 46All our enemies Have opened their mouths against us. | 46"All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us. |
| 47Fear and a snare have come upon us, Desolation and destruction. | 47We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction." |
| 48My eyes overflow with rivers of water For the destruction of the daughter of my people. | 48Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed. |
| 49My eyes flow and do not cease, Without interruption, | 49My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief, |
| 50Till the LORD from heaven Looks down and sees. | 50until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees. |
| 51My eyes bring suffering to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city. | 51What I see brings grief to my soul because of all the women of my city. |
| 52My enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird. | 52Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me like a bird. |
| 53They silenced my life in the pit And threw stones at me. | 53They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me; |
| 54The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!” | 54the waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to perish. |
| 55I called on Your name, O LORD, From the lowest pit. | 55I called on your name, 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 ears to my cry for relief." |
| 57You drew near on the day I called on You, And said, “Do not fear!” | 57You came near when I called you, and you said, "Do not fear." |
| 58O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life. | 58You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life. |
| 59O LORD, You have seen how I am wronged; Judge my case. | 59LORD, you have seen the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause! |
| 60You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me. | 60You have seen the depth of their vengeance, all their plots against me. |
| 61You have heard their reproach, O LORD, All their schemes against me, | 61LORD, you have heard their insults, all their plots against me-- |
| 62The lips of my enemies And their whispering against me all the day. | 62what my enemies whisper and mutter against me all day long. |
| 63Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I am their taunting song. | 63Look at them! Sitting or standing, they mock me in their songs. |
| 64Repay them, O LORD, According to the work of their hands. | 64Pay them back what they deserve, LORD, for what their hands have done. |
| 65Give them a veiled heart; Your curse be upon them! | 65Put a veil over their hearts, and may your curse be on them! |
| 66In Your anger, Pursue and destroy them From under the heavens of the LORD. | 66Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
|
