The Prophet’s Afflictions

1Ia am the man who has seen affliction

under the rod of God’s wrath.

2He has driven me away and made me walk

in darkness instead of light.

3Indeed, He keeps turning His hand

against me all day long.

4He has worn away my flesh and skin;

He has shattered my bones.

5He has besieged me and surrounded me

with bitterness and hardship.

6He has made me dwell in darkness

like those dead for ages.

7He has walled me in so I cannot escape;

He has weighed me down with chains.

8Even when I cry out and plead for help,

He shuts out my prayer.

9He has barred my ways with cut stones;

He has made my paths crooked.

10He is a bear lying in wait,

a lion hiding in ambush.

11He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces;

He left me without help.

12He bent His bow

and set me as the target for His arrow.

13He pierced my kidneys

with His arrows.

14I am a laughingstock to all my people;

they mock me in song all day long.

15He has filled me with bitterness;

He has intoxicated me with wormwood.

16He has ground my teeth with gravel

and trampled me in the dust.

17My soul has been deprived of peace;

I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18So I say, “My strength has perished,

along with my hope from the LORD.”

The Prophet’s Hope

19Remember my affliction and wandering,

the wormwood and the gall.

20Surely my soul remembers

and is humbled within me.

21Yet I call this to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

22Because of the loving devotionb of the LORD we are not consumed,

for His mercies never fail.

23They are new every morning;

great is Your faithfulness!

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.

26It is good to wait quietly

for the salvation of the LORD.

27It is good for a man to bear the yoke

while he is still young.

28Let him sit alone in silence,

for the LORD has laid it upon him.

29Let him bury his face in the dust—

perhaps there is still hope.

30Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him;

let him be filled with reproach.

31For the Lord will not

cast us off forever.

32Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion

according to His abundant loving devotion.

33For He does not willingly afflict

or grieve the sons of men.

34To crush underfoot

all the prisoners of the land,

35to deny a man justice

before the Most High,

36to subvert a man in his lawsuit—

of these the Lord does not approve.

God’s Justice

37Who has spoken and it came to pass,

unless the Lord has ordained it?

38Do not both adversity and good

come from the mouth of the Most High?

39Why should any mortal man complain,

in view of his sins?

40Let us examine and test our ways,

and turn back to the LORD.

41Let us lift up our hearts and hands

to God in heaven:

42“We have sinned and rebelled;

You have not forgiven.”

43You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us;

You have killed without pity.

44You have covered Yourself with a cloud

that no prayer can pass through.

45You have made us scum and refuse

among the nations.

46All our enemies

open their mouths against us.

47Panic and pitfall have come upon us—

devastation and destruction.

48Streams of tears flow from my eyes

over the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49My eyes overflow unceasingly,

without relief,

50until the LORD

looks down from heaven and sees.

51My eyes bring grief to my soul

because of all the daughters of my city.

52Without cause my enemies

hunted me like a bird.

53They dropped me alive into a pit

and cast stones upon me.

54The waters flowed over my head,

and I thought I was going to die.

55I called on Your name, O LORD,

out of the depths of the Pit.

56You heard my plea:

“Do not ignore my cry for relief.”

57You drew near when I called on You;

You said, “Do not be afraid.”

58You defend my cause, O Lord;

You redeem my life.

59You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me;

vindicate my cause!

60You have seen all their malice,

all their plots against me.

61O LORD, You have heard their insults,

all their plots against me—

62the slander and murmuring of my assailants

against me all day long.

63When they sit and when they rise,

see how they mock me in song.

64You will pay them back what they deserve, O LORD,

according to the work of their hands.

65Put a veil of anguish over their hearts;

may Your curse be upon them!

66You will pursue them in anger and exterminate them

from under Your heavens, O LORD.