Lamentations 3

International Standard Version

⁴ He made my flesh and skin prematurely old;
    he broke my bones.
⁵ He laid siege against me,
    surrounding me with bitterness and suffering.
⁶ He has forced me to live in darkness,
    like those who are long dead.

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
    he placed heavy chains on me.
⁸ Indeed, when I cry out, calling for help,
    he shuts out my prayer.
⁹ He impeded my way with blocks of stone,
    making my paths uneven.

¹⁰ He is like^[b] a bear that lies in wait for me,
    a lion in hiding.
¹¹ He forced me off my path,
    tearing me to pieces and making me desolate.
¹² He bent his bow,
    aiming at me with his arrow.

¹³ He caused his war arrows^[c]
    to pierce my vital organs.
¹⁴ I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
    the object of their taunts throughout the day.
¹⁵ He has filled me with bitterness,
    making me drink wormwood.

¹⁶ He broke my teeth on gravel,
    covering me with dust.
¹⁷ You have removed peace from my life;
    I have forgotten what prosperity is.^[d]
18 So I say, “My strength is gone
    as is my hope in the Lord.”

¹⁹ Remember my affliction and homelessness—
    wormwood and gall!
²⁰ My mind keeps reflecting on it,
    and I become depressed.^[e]
21 This is what comes to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:
²² Because of the Lord’s gracious love we are not consumed,
    since his compassions never end.
²³ They are new every morning—
    great is your faithfulness!
²⁴ “The Lord is all I have,”^[f] says my soul,
    “Therefore I will trust in him.”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the person who searches for him.
²⁶ It is good to hope and wait patiently
    for the Lord’s salvation.
²⁷ It is good when a young man carries the yoke
    of discipline^[g] in his youth.

²⁸ He is to sit apart and remain silent,
    because the Lord^[h] has laid it upon him.
²⁹ Let him fall face down in the dust,
    so there may yet be hope.
³⁰ He will endure being slapped in the face,
    bringing him public disgrace.

³¹ Indeed, the Lord will not always
    reject us^[i]—
³² though he causes grief,
    his compassion abounds according to his gracious love.
³³ For he does not deliberately hurt
    or grieve human beings.
³⁴ When any of the prisoners of the earth
    are crushed underfoot,
³⁵ when a person’s rights are perverted
    in defiance of the Most High.
³⁶ When a man is thwarted in his appeal,
    does the Lord condone^[j] it?

³⁷ Who can command, and it happens,
    without the Lord having ordered it?
³⁸ Do not both good and evil things proceed
    from the mouth of the Most High?
³⁹ Why should anyone living complain,
    any mortal, about being punished for sin?

⁴⁰ Let us examine our lifestyles,
    putting them to the test,
        and turn back to the Lord.
⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts
    and our hands
        to God in heaven.
⁴² As for us, we have sinned and rebelled;
    but you have not pardoned us.^[k]
43 Clothing yourself with anger, you pursued us.
    You killed without pity,
⁴⁴ You covered yourself with a cloud
    that prayer cannot pierce.
⁴⁵ You have reduced us to scum and garbage
    among the nations.

⁴⁶ All our enemies
    jeer at us with gaping mouths.
⁴⁷ Panic and pitfalls beset us,
    along with devastation and ruin.
⁴⁸ My eyes run with rivers of tears
    over the destruction of my cherished^[l] people.

⁴⁹ My tears pour^[m] down ceaselessly;
    I am far from relief
⁵⁰ until the Lord bends down
    to see from heaven.
⁵¹ What I see^[n] grieves my soul
    because of all the young women^[o] of my city.

⁵² My enemies hunted me like a bird,
    viciously and without justification.
⁵³ They dumped me alive into a pit,
    sealing me in with stone.^[p]
54 Water closed over my head,
    and I said, “I’m a dead man.”^[q]
55 I called on your name, Lord,
    from the depths of the Pit,^[r]
56 You heard my voice—
    don’t close your ear to my sighs and cries.^[s]
57 You drew near when I called out to you.
    You said, “Stop being afraid”

⁵⁸ Lord, you have defended my cause;
    you have redeemed my life.
⁵⁹ Lord, you observed how I have been wronged;
    now make your ruling in my case.
⁶⁰ You examined their plans for vengeance,
    all of their plots against me.

⁶¹ Lord, you listened to their insults—
    all their plots against me,
⁶² the whisperings of my opponents,
    their scheming against me all day long.
⁶³ Watch! Whether they sit down or stand up,
    they mock me with their songs.

⁶⁴ Pay them back, Lord,
    according to their actions.
⁶⁵ Give them an anguished heart;
    may your curse be upon them!
⁶⁶ Pursue them in your anger
    and destroy them from under the Lord’s heaven.