Lamentations 3
3
There Is Still Hope
The Prophet Speaks:
1I have suffered much
because God was angry.
2He chased me into a dark place,
where no light could enter.
3I am the only one he punishes
over and over again,
without ever stopping.
4God caused my skin and flesh
to waste away,
and he crushed my bones.
5He attacked and surrounded me
with hardships and trouble;
6he forced me to sit in the dark
like someone long dead.
7God built a fence around me
that I cannot climb over,
and he chained me down.
8Even when I shouted
and prayed for help,
he refused to listen.
9God put big rocks in my way
and made me follow
a crooked path.
10God was like a bear or a lion
waiting in ambush for me;
11he dragged me from the road,
then tore me to shreds.#3.11 shreds: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 11.
12God took careful aim
and shot his arrows
13straight through my heart.
14I am a joke to everyone—
no one ever stops
making fun of me.
15God has turned my life sour.
16He made me eat gravel
and rubbed me in the dirt.
17I cannot find peace
or remember happiness.
18I tell myself, “I am finished!
I can't count on the Lord
to do anything for me.”
19Just thinking of my troubles
and my lonely wandering
makes me miserable.
20That's all I ever think about,
and I am depressed.#3.20 I am depressed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
21Then I remember something
that fills me with hope.
22The Lord's kindness never fails!
If he had not been merciful,
we would have been destroyed.#3.22 destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 22.
23The Lord can always be trusted
to show mercy each morning.
24Deep in my heart I say,
“The Lord is all I need;
I can depend on him!”
25The Lord is kind to everyone
who trusts and obeys him.
26It is good to wait patiently
for the Lord to save us.
27When we are young,
it is good to struggle hard
28and to sit silently alone,
if this is what
the Lord intends.
29Being rubbed in the dirt
can teach us a lesson;#3.29 lesson: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 29.
30we can also learn from insults
and hard knocks.
31The Lord won't always reject us!
32He causes a lot of suffering,
but he also has pity
because of his great love.
33The Lord doesn't enjoy
sending grief or pain.
34Don't trample prisoners
under your feet
35or cheat anyone out of
what is rightfully theirs.
God Most High sees everything,
36and he knows when you refuse
to give someone a fair trial.
37No one can do anything
without the Lord's approval.
38Good and bad each happen
at the command
of God Most High.
39We're still alive!
We shouldn't complain
when we are being punished
for our sins.
40Instead, we should think
about the way we are living,
and turn back to the Lord.
41When we lift our hands
in prayer to God in heaven,
we should offer him our hearts
and say, 42“We've sinned!
We've rebelled against you,
and you haven't forgiven us!
43Anger is written all over you,
as you pursue and slaughter us
without showing pity.
44You are behind a wall of clouds
that blocks out our prayers.
45You allowed nations
to treat us like garbage;
46our enemies curse us.
47We are terrified and trapped,
caught and crushed.”
48My people are destroyed!
Tears flood my eyes,
49and they won't stop
50until the Lord looks down
from heaven and helps.
51I am horrified when I see
what enemies have done
to the young women of our city.
52No one had reason to hate me,
but I was hunted down
like a bird.
53Then they tried to kill me
by tossing me into a pit
and throwing stones at me.
54Water covered my head—
I thought I was gone.
55From the bottom of the pit,
I prayed to you, Lord.
56I begged you to listen.
“Help!” I shouted. “Save me!”
You answered my prayer
57and came when I was in need.
You told me, “Don't worry!”
58You rescued me
and saved my life.
59You saw them abuse me, Lord,
so make things right.
60You know every plot
they have made against me.
61Yes, you know their insults
and their evil plans.
62All day long they attack
with words and whispers.
63No matter what they are doing,
they keep on mocking me.
64Pay them back for everything
they have done, Lord!
65Put your curse on them
and make them suffer.#3.65 make them suffer: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
66Get angry and go after them
until not a trace is left
under the heavens.
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Lamentations 3: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Lamentations 3
3
An individual’s complaint
1I am someone#3.1 Or the man; also in 3:27, 35, 39 who saw the suffering caused by God’s#3.1 Or his angry rod.
2He drove me away, forced me to walk in darkness, not light.
3He turned his hand even against me, over and over again, all day long.
4He wore out my flesh and my skin; he broke my bones.
5He besieged me, surrounding me with bitterness and weariness.
6He made me live in dark places like those who’ve been dead a long time.
7He walled me in so I couldn’t escape; he made my chains heavy.
8Even though I call out and cry for help, he silences my prayer.
9He walled in my paths with stonework; he made my routes crooked.
10He is a bear lurking for me, a lion in hiding.
11He took me from my path#3.11 Heb uncertain and tore me apart; he made me desolate.
12He drew back his bow, made me a shooting target for arrows.
13He shot the arrows of his quiver into my inside parts.
14I have become a joke to all my people, the object of their song of ridicule all day long.
15He saturated me with grief, made me choke on bitterness.
16He crushed my teeth into the gravel; he pressed me down into the ashes.
17I’ve#3.17 Or my spirit; also in 3:20, 24, 25, 51, 58 rejected peace; I’ve forgotten what is good.
18I thought: My future is gone, as well as my hope from the LORD.
19The memory of my suffering and homelessness is bitterness and poison.
20I#3.20 Or My spirit can’t help but remember and is depressed can’t help but remember and am depressed.
21I call all this to mind—therefore, I will wait.
22Certainly the faithful love of the LORD hasn’t ended;#3.22 Tg, Syr, and other ancient sources; MT we aren’t finished. certainly God’s compassion isn’t through!
23They are renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
24I think:#3.24 Or My spirit thinks The LORD is my portion! Therefore, I’ll wait for him.
25The LORD is good to those who hope in him, to the person#3.25 Or spirit who seeks him.
26It’s good to wait in silence for the LORD’s deliverance.
27It’s good for a man to carry a yoke in his youth.
28He should sit alone and be silent when God lays it on him.
29He should put his mouth in the dirt—perhaps there is hope.
30He should offer his cheek for a blow; he should be filled with shame.
31My Lord definitely#3.31 Or Because my Lord won’t reject forever won’t reject forever.
32Although he has caused grief, he will show compassion in measure with his covenant loyalty.
33He definitely doesn’t enjoy affliction,#3.33 Heb He does not afflict from his heart. making humans suffer.
34Now crushing underfoot all the earth’s prisoners,
35denying someone justice before the Most High,
36subverting a person’s lawsuit—doesn’t my Lord see all this?
37Who ever spoke and it happened if my Lord hadn’t commanded the same?
38From the mouth of the Most High evil things don’t come, but rather good!
39Why then does any living person complain; why should anyone complain about their sins?
40We must search and examine our ways; we must return to the LORD.
41We should lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
42We are the ones who did wrong; we rebelled. But you, God, have not forgiven.
43You wrapped yourself up in wrath and hunted us; you killed, showing no compassion.
44You wrapped yourself up in a cloud; prayers can’t make it through!
45You made us trash and garbage in front of all other people.
46All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47Terror and trap have come upon us, catastrophe and collapse!
48Streams of water pour from my eyes because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49My eyes flow and don’t stop. There is no relief
50until the LORD looks down from the heavens and notices.
51My eyes hurt me#3.51 Or my spirit because of what’s happened to my city’s daughters.
52My enemies hunted me down like a bird, relentlessly, for no reason.
53They caught me alive in a pit and threw stones at me;
54water flowed over my head. I thought: I’m finished.
55I call on your name, LORD, from the depths of the pit.
56Hear my voice. Don’t close your ear#3.56 Or You didn’t close your ear. to my need for relief, to my cry for help.#3.56 Or You have heard my voice.
57Come near to me on the day I call to you. Say to me, “Don’t be afraid.”
58My Lord! Plead my desperate case;#3.58 Or my spirit’s case or my spirit’s grievance redeem my life.
59 LORD, look at my mistreatment; judge my cause.
60Look at all of my enemies’ vengeance, all of their scheming against me.
61Hear their jeering, LORD, all of their scheming against me,
62the speech of those who rise up against me, their incessant gossiping about me.
63Whether sitting or standing, look at how I am the object of their song of ridicule.
64Pay them back fully, LORD, according to what they have done.
65Give them a tortured mind—put your curse on them!
66Angrily hunt them down; wipe them out from under the LORD’s heaven.
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