Lamentations 3
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1I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD's wrath.1I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the LORD’s anger.
2He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light;2He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light.
3indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.3He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.
4He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones.4He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones.
5He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.5He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress.
6He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.6He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead.
7He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains.7He has walled me in, and I cannot escape. He has bound me in heavy chains.
8Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.8And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers.
9He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.9He has blocked my way with a high stone wall; he has made my road crooked.
10Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding,10He has hidden like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me.
11he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help.11He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces, leaving me helpless and devastated.
12He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.12He has drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows.
13He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver.13He shot his arrows deep into my heart.
14I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long.14My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs.
15He has filled me with bitter herbs and given me gall to drink.15He has filled me with bitterness and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.
16He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust.16He has made me chew on gravel. He has rolled me in the dust.
17I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.17Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD."18I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!”
19I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.19The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.
20I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.20I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.
21Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:21Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
22Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.22The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease.
23They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.23Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."24I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
25The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;25The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.
26it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.26So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.
27It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.27And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline:
28Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him.28Let them sit alone in silence beneath the LORD’s demands.
29Let him bury his face in the dust-- there may yet be hope.29Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last.
30Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.30Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies.
31For no one is cast off by the Lord forever.31For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever.
32Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.32Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.
33For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.33For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.
34To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land,34If people crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,
35to deny people their rights before the Most High,35if they deprive others of their rights in defiance of the Most High,
36to deprive them of justice-- would not the Lord see such things?36if they twist justice in the courts— doesn’t the Lord see all these things?
37Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?37Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission?
38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?38Does not the Most High send both calamity and good?
39Why should the living complain when punished for their sins?39Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?
40Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.40Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD.
41Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say:41Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say,
42"We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven.42“We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us.
43"You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity.43“You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down, and slaughtered us without mercy.
44You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.44You have hidden yourself in a cloud so our prayers cannot reach you.
45You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.45You have discarded us as refuse and garbage among the nations.
46"All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us.46“All our enemies have spoken out against us.
47We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction."47We are filled with fear, for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”
48Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed.48Tears stream from my eyes because of the destruction of my people!
49My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief,49My tears flow endlessly; they will not stop
50until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.50until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.
51What I see brings grief to my soul because of all the women of my city.51My heart is breaking over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.
52Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me like a bird.52My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird.
53They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me;53They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me.
54the waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to perish.54The water rose over my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!”
55I called on your name, LORD, from the depths of the pit.55But I called on your name, LORD, from deep within the pit.
56You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears to my cry for relief."56You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!”
57You came near when I called you, and you said, "Do not fear."57Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”
58You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life.58Lord, you have come to my defense; you have redeemed my life.
59LORD, you have seen the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause!59You have seen the wrong they have done to me, LORD. Be my judge, and prove me right.
60You have seen the depth of their vengeance, all their plots against me.60You have seen the vengeful plots my enemies have laid against me.
61LORD, you have heard their insults, all their plots against me--61LORD, you have heard the vile names they call me. You know all about the plans they have made.
62what my enemies whisper and mutter against me all day long.62My enemies whisper and mutter as they plot against me all day long.
63Look at them! Sitting or standing, they mock me in their songs.63Look at them! Whether they sit or stand, I am the object of their mocking songs.
64Pay them back what they deserve, LORD, for what their hands have done.64Pay them back, LORD, for all the evil they have done.
65Put a veil over their hearts, and may your curse be on them!65Give them hard and stubborn hearts, and then let your curse fall on them!
66Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.66Chase them down in your anger, destroying them beneath the LORD’s heavens.
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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.
Lamentations 2
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