Lamentations 3
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1I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the LORD’s anger.1I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath;
2He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light.2he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;
3He has 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 has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones.4He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones;
5He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress.5he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;
6He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead.6he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.
7He has walled me in, and I cannot escape. He has bound me in heavy chains.7He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy;
8And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers.8though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;
9He has blocked my way with a high stone wall; he has made my road crooked.9he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked.
10He has hidden like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me.10He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding;
11He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces, leaving me helpless and devastated.11he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate;
12He has drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows.12he bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.
13He shot his arrows deep into my heart.13He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver;
14My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs.14I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long.
15He has filled me with bitterness and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.15He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood.
16He has made me chew on gravel. He has rolled me in the dust.16He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;
17Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is.17my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;
18I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!”18so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.”
19The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.19Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!
20I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.20My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
21Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:21But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
22The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease.22The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
23Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.23they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will 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 depend on him, to those who search for him.25The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
26So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.26It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
27And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline:27It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28Let them sit alone in silence beneath the LORD’s demands.28Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;
29Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last.29let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope;
30Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies.30let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.
31For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever.31For the Lord will not cast off forever,
32Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.32but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.33for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.
34If people crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,34To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
35if they deprive others of their rights in defiance of the Most High,35to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High,
36if they twist justice in the courts— doesn’t the Lord see all these things?36to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve.
37Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission?37Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?
38Does not the Most High send both calamity and good?38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?
39Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?39Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us 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 and say,41Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:
42“We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us.42“We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
43“You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down, and slaughtered us without mercy.43“You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity;
44You have hidden yourself in a cloud so our prayers cannot reach you.44you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.
45You have discarded us as refuse and garbage among the nations.45You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples.
46“All our enemies have spoken out against us.46“All our enemies open their mouths against us;
47We are filled with fear, for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”47panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction;
48Tears stream from my eyes because of the destruction of my people!48my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49My tears flow endlessly; they will not stop49“My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite,
50until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.50until the LORD from heaven looks down and sees;
51My heart is breaking over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.51my eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
52My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird.52“I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause;
53They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me.53they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me;
54The water rose over my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!”54water closed over my head; I said, ‘I am lost.’
55But I called on your name, LORD, from deep within the pit.55“I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit;
56You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!”56you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’
57Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”57You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’
58Lord, you have come to my defense; you have redeemed my life.58“You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.
59You have seen the wrong they have done to me, LORD. Be my judge, and prove me right.59You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; judge my cause.
60You have seen the vengeful plots my enemies have laid against me.60You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me.
61LORD, you have heard the vile names they call me. You know all about the plans they have made.61“You have heard their taunts, O LORD, all their plots against me.
62My enemies whisper and mutter as they plot against me all day long.62The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long.
63Look at them! Whether they sit or stand, I am the object of their mocking songs.63Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the object of their taunts.
64Pay them back, LORD, for all the evil they have done.64“You will repay them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.
65Give them hard and stubborn hearts, and then let your curse fall on them!65You will give them dullness of heart; your curse will be on them.
66Chase them down in your anger, destroying them beneath the LORD’s heavens.66You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under your heavens, O LORD.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 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.
Lamentations 2
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