Lamentations 3
Hope through God’s Mercy
א Alef
1 I am the man who has seen afflictionunder the rod of God’s wrath.
2 He has driven me away and forced me to walk
in darkness instead of light. a
3 Yes, He repeatedly turns His hand
against me all day long.
ב Bet
4 He has worn away my flesh and skin; b
He has shattered my bones. c
5 He has laid siege against me, d
encircling me with bitterness and hardship. e
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those who have been dead for ages. f
ג Gimel
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape; g
He has weighed me down with chains.
8 Even when I cry out and plead for help,
He rejects my prayer. h
9 He has walled in my ways with cut stones; i
He has made my paths crooked. j
ד Dalet
10 He is ▼
▼Lit is to me
a bear waiting in ambush,a lion in hiding. l
11 He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces;
He left me desolate.
12 He strung His bow m
and set me as the target for His arrow.
ה He
13 He pierced my kidneys
with His arrows. n
14 I am a laughingstock o to all my people, ▼
▼Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg; other Hb mss, Syr read all peoples
mocked by their songs q all day long.
15 He filled me with bitterness,
satiated me with ▼
▼wormwood: A small shrub used as a medicinal herb, noted for its bitter taste
wormwood. s ו Vav
16 He ground my teeth on gravel t
and made me cower ▼
▼Or and trampled me
in the dust. 17 My soul has been deprived ▼
▼Syr, Vg; MT reads You deprived my soul
of peace; wI have forgotten what happiness is.
18 Then I thought: My future ▼
▼Or splendor
is lost,as well as my hope from the Lord.
ז Zayin
19 Remember ▼
▼Or I remember
my affliction and my homelessness, zthe wormwood and the poison. aa
20 I continually remember them
and have become depressed. ▼
▼Ancient Jewish tradition reads and You cause me to collapse
,
ac 21 Yet I call this to mind,
and therefore I have hope: ad
ח Khet
22 Because of the Lord’s faithful love ae
we do not perish, ▼
▼One Hb mss, Syr, Tg read The Lord’s faithful love, indeed, does not perish
for His mercies never end.
23 They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness! ag
24 I say: The Lord is my portion, ah
therefore I will put my hope in Him.
ט Tet
25 The Lord is good to those who wait ai for Him,
to the person who seeks Him.
26 It is good to wait quietly aj
for deliverance from the Lord. ak
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke al
while he is still young.
י Yod
28 Let him sit alone and be silent, am
for God has disciplined him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust an –
perhaps there is still hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek
to the one who would strike him; ao
let him be filled with shame.
כ Kaf
31 For the Lord
will not reject us forever.
32 Even if He causes suffering,
He will show compassion
according to His abundant, faithful love. ap
33 For He does not enjoy bringing affliction aq
or suffering on ▼
▼mankind: Literally sons of man or sons of Adam
mankind. ל Lamed
34 Crushing all the prisoners of the land ▼
▼Or earth
beneath one’s feet,
35 denying justice to a man at
in the presence of the ▼
▼Most High: The Hebrew word is Elyon. It is often used with other names of God, such as El (God) or Yahweh (Lord); it is used to refer to God as the supreme being.
Most High, 36 or suppressing a person’s lawsuit av –
the Lord does not approve of these things.
מ Mem
37 Who is there who speaks and it happens,
unless the Lord has ordained it? aw
38 Do not both adversity and good
come from the mouth of the Most High? ax
39 Why should any living person complain,
any man, because of the punishment for his sins?
נ Nun
40 Let us search out and examine our ways,
and turn back to the Lord. ay
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands az
to God in heaven:
42 We have sinned and rebelled;
You have not forgiven. ba
ס Samek
43 You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us;
You have killed without compassion. bb
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through. bc
45 You have made us disgusting filth
among the peoples. bd
פ Pe
46 All our enemies
open their mouths against us. be
47 We have experienced panic and pitfall, bf
devastation and destruction.
48 My eyes flow with streams of tears
because of the destruction of my dear people.
ע Ayin
49 My eyes overflow unceasingly,
without end, bg
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees. bh
51 My eyes bring me grief
because of the fate of all the women in my city.
צ Tsade
52 For no apparent reason, my enemies ▼
▼Or Those who were my enemies for no reason
hunted me like a bird. bj
53 They dropped me alive into ▼
▼Or They ended my life in; Hb obscure
a pit bland threw stones at me.
54 Water flooded over my head, bm
and I thought: I’m going to die! bn
ק Qof
55 I called on Your name, ▼
▼Yahweh/Yah: Or The Lord; the personal name of God in Hebrew; "Yah" is the shortened form of the name.
Yahweh,from the depths of the ▼
▼Pit: Either the grave or the realm of the dead
Pit. bq 56 You hear my plea:
Do not ignore my cry for relief.
57 You come near when I call on You;
You say: “Do not be afraid.”
ר Resh
58 You defend my cause, Lord; br
You redeem my life. bs
59 Lord, You see the wrong done to me;
judge my case.
60 You see all their malice,
all their plots against me. bt
ׂש Sin/ ׁש Shin
61 Lord, You hear their insults, bu
all their plots against me.
62 The slander ▼
▼Lit lips
and murmuring of my opponentsattack me all day long.
63 When they sit and when they rise, look,
I am mocked by their songs. bw
ת Tav
64 You will pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
according to the work of their hands. bx
65 You will give them a heart filled with anguish. ▼
▼Or them an obstinate heart; Hb obscure
,
bzMay Your curse be on them!
66 You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
under Your heavens. ▼
▼LXX, Syr, Vg read heavens, Lord
,
▼▼Lit under the Lord’s heavens
,
cc
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