Lamentations 3
3
Israel’s Affliction
1I am a man who has seen misery,
under the rod of his wrath.
2He has driven me along, he brought
darkness and not light.
3Surely he has turned his hand against me,
all day long.
4He has worn out my flesh and skin,
he has broken my bones.
5He has besieged#Literally “he has built against” and engulfed me
with bitterness and hardship.
6In darkness he has let me dwell
like the dead of long ago.
7He has built a wall around me, I cannot go out;
he has made my bronze fetters heavy.
8Though I cry out for help,
he shuts out my prayers.
9He has blocked my ways with dressed stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10To me he is like a bear lying in wait,
a lion in hiding.
11He has forsaken my way and torn me to pieces;
he has caused me desolation.
12He has bent his bow and set me
as the target for the arrow.
13He shot the arrows of his quiver#Literally “the offspring of his arrow quiver”
into my kidneys.
14I have become a laughingstock for all the people,
their mocking song all day long.
15He has filled me with bitterness,
he has drenched me with wormwood.
16He has broken my teeth on grit,
he has trampled me down in ash.
17My life has been removed from peace,
I have forgotten goodness.
18And I have said, “My glory is ruined,
my expectation from Yahweh.”
19Remember my misery and bitterness,
the wormwood#Or “the bitter substance” and venom!
20Surely my soul remembers
and bows down within me.
21This I have reminded myself,#Literally “I have brought back to my heart”
therefore I will hope.
22The loyal love of Yahweh does not cease;
his compassions do not come to an end.
23They are new in the morning,
great is your faithfulness.
24“Yahweh is my portion,”
says my soul,
“Thus I will hope on him.”
25Yahweh is good to those who wait on him,
to the person that seeks him.
26It is good to wait in silence
for the salvation of Yahweh.
27It is good for a man who carries
the yoke of his childhood.
28Let him sit alone and be silent
when he#Yahweh has laid it on him.
29Let him put#Literally “him give” his mouth in the dust;
perhaps there is hope.
30Let him give a cheek to his smiter,
let him be filled with disgrace.
31For the Lord will not reject
forever.
32For even though he causes grief he has compassion
according to the greatness of his royal love.
33He does not afflict willingly,#Literally “afflict from the heart”
or grieve anyone.#Literally “the sons of men”
34To crush under his feet
all the prisoners of the earth;
35to deprive one of justice#Literally “to turn aside the judgment of a man”
before the face of the Most High;
36to subvert a person in a legal dispute
—the Lord has not found delight in these things.
37Who can speak#Literally “Who is this that speaks” and it will happen
if the Lord has not commanded it?
38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that disaster and good will come?
39Why should any living person complain
about his sin?
40Let us test and examine our ways;
let us return to Yahweh.
41Let us lift up our hearts with our hands
to God in the heavens.
42We ourselves have transgressed and rebelled,
you have not forgiven.
43You have covered yourself in anger#Literally “in the nose” and pursued us,
you have slain and not shown mercy.
44You have covered yourself in a cloud
so that prayer cannot pass through.#Literally “from a passing prayer”
45You have made us scum and refuse
in the midst of the nations.
46All our enemies
have opened their mouth against us.
47Fear and a pit have come upon us,
desolation and destruction.
48Channels of water run down my eyes
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49My eyes have poured down unceasingly
without respite,
50until Yahweh looks down
and sees from heaven.
51My eyes inflict my soul
because of all the daughters of my city.
52My enemies hunt me without cause,
like a bird.
53They have silenced me in a pit,#Literally “they have put to silence my life in a pit”
they have thrown a stone at me.
54Water has flown over my head,
I said, “I am cut off.”
55I have called your name, O Yahweh,
from the depths of the pit.
56You have heard my cry, “Do not shut your ear
to my cry for help, for my relief!”
57You came near on a day when I called you,
you said, “Do not fear!”
58O Lord, you have pleaded for my cause,#Literally “the legal disputes of my soul”
you have redeemed my life.
59You have seen my injustice, O Yahweh;
judge my case.
60You have seen all their vengeance,
all there plans against me.
61You have heard their disgrace, O Yahweh,
all their plans against me.
62The lips and meditation of my assailants
are against me all day long.
63Look at their sitting and their standing,
I am their mocking song.
64Return to them what is deserved, O Yahweh,
according to the work of their hands.
65Give them a stubborn heart;
curse them!
66Pursue them in anger#Literally “in nose” and destroy them
from under the heavens of Yahweh.
Currently Selected:
Lamentations 3: LEB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
2010 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
Lamentations 3
3
Punishment, Repentance, and Hope
1I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God.
2He drove me deeper and deeper into darkness
3And beat me again and again with merciless blows.
4He has left my flesh open and raw, and has broken my bones.
5He has shut me in a prison of misery and anguish.
6He has forced me to live in the stagnant darkness of death.
7He has bound me in chains; I am a prisoner with no hope of escape.
8I cry aloud for help, but God refuses to listen;
9I stagger as I walk; stone walls block me wherever I turn.
10He waited for me like a bear; he pounced on me like a lion.
11He chased me off the road, tore me to pieces, and left me.
12He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.
13He shot his arrows deep into my body.
14People laugh at me all day long; I am a joke to them all.
15Bitter suffering is all he has given me for food and drink.
16He rubbed my face in the ground and broke my teeth on the gravel.
17I have forgotten what health and peace and happiness are.
18I have not much longer to live; my hope in the LORD is gone.
19The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison;
20I think of it constantly and my spirit is depressed.
21Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing:
22The LORD's unfailing love and mercy still continue,
23Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.
24The LORD is all I have, and so I put my hope in him.
25The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him,
26So it is best for us to wait in patience — to wait for him to save us —
27And it is best to learn this patience in our youth.
28When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience;
29We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope.
30Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all.
31The Lord is merciful and will not reject us for ever.
32He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.
33He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.
34The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison;
35He knows when we are denied the rights he gave us;
36When justice is perverted in court, he knows.
37The will of the Lord alone is always carried out.#3.37 The will… out; or No one can make anything happen unless the LORD is willing.
38Good and evil alike take place at his command.
39Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?#3.39 Why should… sin?; or Why should we complain about being punished for sin, as long as we are still alive?
40Let us examine our ways and turn back to the LORD.
41Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray,
42“We have sinned and rebelled, and you, O LORD, have not forgiven us.
43“You pursued us and killed us; your mercy was hidden by your anger,
44By a cloud of fury too thick for our prayers to get through.
45You have made us the refuse heap of the world.
46“We are insulted and mocked by all our enemies.
47We have been through disaster and ruin; we live in danger and fear.
48My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people.
49“My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream
50Until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees us.
51My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women of the city.
52“I was trapped like a bird by enemies who had no cause to hate me.
53They threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone.
54Water began to close over me, and I thought death was near.
55“From the bottom of the pit, O LORD, I cried out to you,
56And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard.
57You answered me and told me not to be afraid.
58“You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life.
59Judge in my favour; you know the wrongs done against me.
60You know how my enemies hate me and how they plot against me.
61“You have heard them insult me, O LORD; you know all their plots.
62All day long they talk about me and make their plans.
63From morning till night they jeer at me.
64“Punish them for what they have done, O LORD;
65Curse them and fill them with despair!
66Hunt them down and wipe them off the earth!”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.