New King James Version

Christian Standard Bible

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 God's wrath.

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

2He has driven me away and forced me to walk in darkness instead of light.

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

3Yes, he repeatedly turns his hand against me all day long.

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

4He has worn away my flesh and skin; he has broken my bones.

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

5He has laid siege against me, encircling 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 who have been dead for ages.

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 get out; he has weighed me down with chains.

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

8Even when I cry out and plead for help, he blocks out my prayer.

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

9He has walled in my ways 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.

10He is a bear waiting in ambush, a lion in hiding.

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

11He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces; he left me desolate.

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

12He strung his bow and set me as the target for his arrow.

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

13He pierced my kidneys with shafts from his quiver.

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

14I am a laughingstock to all my people, mocked by their songs all day long.

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

15He filled me with bitterness, satiated me with wormwood.

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

16He ground my teeth with gravel and made me cower 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.”

18Then I thought, "My future is lost, as well as my hope from the LORD."

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

19Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison.

20My soul still remembers And sinks within me.

20I continually remember them and have become depressed.

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

21Yet I call this 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 faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never 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!”

24I say, "The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my 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 person 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 salvation from 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 still young.

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

28Let him sit alone and be silent, for God has disciplined him.

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

29Let him put his mouth in the dust--perhaps there is still hope.

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

30Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with disgrace.

31For the Lord will not cast off forever.

31For the Lord will not reject us forever.

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

32Even if he causes suffering, he will show compassion according to the abundance of his faithful love.

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

33For he does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.

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

34Crushing all the prisoners of the land beneath one's feet,

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

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

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

36or subverting a person in his lawsuit--the Lord does not approve of these things.

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

37Who is there who speaks and it happens, unless the Lord has ordained it?

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

38Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?

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

39Why should any living person complain, any man, because of the punishment for his sins?

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

40Let us examine and probe our ways, and turn back 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:

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

42"We have sinned and rebelled; you have not forgiven.

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

43"You have covered yourself in anger and pursued us; you have killed without compassion.

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 disgusting filth 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.

47We have experienced panic and pitfall, devastation and destruction."

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

48My eyes flow with streams of tears because of the destruction of my dear people.

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

49My eyes overflow unceasingly, without end,

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.

51My eyes bring me grief because of the fate of all the women in my city.

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

52For no reason, my enemies hunted me like a bird.

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

53They smothered my life in a pit and threw stones on me.

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

54Water flooded over my head, and I thought, "I'm going to die!"

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 ignore my cry for relief.

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

57You came near whenever I called you; you said, "Do not be afraid."

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

58You championed my cause, Lord; you redeemed my life.

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

59LORD, you saw the wrong done to me; judge my case.

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

60You saw all their vengefulness, all their plots against me.

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

61LORD, you heard their insults, all their plots against me.

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

62The slander and murmuring of my opponents attack me all day long.

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

63When they sit and when they rise, look, I am mocked by their songs.

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

64You will pay them back what they deserve, LORD, according to the work of their hands.

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

65You will give them a heart filled with anguish. May your curse 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 under your heavens.

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

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.