The Prophet’s Anguish and Hope

I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.

He has aged (A)my flesh and my skin,
And (B)broken my bones.
He has besieged me
And surrounded me with bitterness and [a]woe.
(C)He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.

(D)He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.
Even (E)when I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.
He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.

10 (F)He has been to me a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in [b]ambush.
11 He has turned aside my ways and (G)torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He has bent His bow
And (H)set me up as a target for the arrow.

13 He has caused (I)the [c]arrows of His quiver
To pierce my [d]loins.
14 I have become the (J)ridicule of all my people—
(K)Their taunting song all the day.
15 (L)He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink wormwood.

16 He has also broken my teeth (M)with gravel,
And [e]covered me with ashes.
17 You have moved my soul far from peace;
I have forgotten [f]prosperity.
18 (N)And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from the Lord.”

19 Remember my affliction and roaming,
(O)The wormwood and the [g]gall.
20 My soul still remembers
And [h]sinks within me.
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have (P)hope.

22 (Q)Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions (R)fail not.
23 They are new (S)every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my (T)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I (U)hope in Him!”

25 The Lord is good to those who (V)wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should (W)hope (X)and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 (Y)It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.

28 (Z)Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
29 (AA)Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
30 (AB)Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.

31 (AC)For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
33 For (AD)He does not afflict [i]willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.

34 To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
36 Or subvert a man in his cause—
(AE)The Lord does not approve.

37 Who is he (AF)who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That (AG)woe and well-being proceed?
39 (AH)Why should a living man [j]complain,
(AI)A man for the punishment of his sins?

40 Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the Lord;
41 (AJ)Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.
42 (AK)We have transgressed and rebelled;
You have not pardoned.

43 You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and not pitied.
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
That prayer should not pass through.
45 You have made us an (AL)offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.

46 (AM)All our enemies
Have opened their mouths against us.
47 (AN)Fear and a snare have come upon us,
(AO)Desolation and destruction.
48 (AP)My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49 (AQ)My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,
50 Till the Lord from heaven
(AR)Looks down and sees.
51 My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.

52 My enemies (AS)without cause
Hunted me down like a bird.
53 They [k]silenced my life (AT)in the pit
And (AU)threw [l]stones at me.
54 (AV)The waters flowed over my head;
(AW)I said, “I am cut off!”

55 (AX)I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest (AY)pit.
56 (AZ)You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
57 You (BA)drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, (BB)“Do not fear!”

58 O Lord, You have (BC)pleaded the case for my soul;
(BD)You have redeemed my life.
59 O Lord, You have seen [m]how I am wronged;
(BE)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (BF)schemes against me.

61 You have heard their reproach, O Lord,
All their schemes against me,
62 The lips of my enemies
And their whispering against me all the day.
63 Look at their (BG)sitting down and their rising up;
I am their taunting song.

64 (BH)Repay them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
65 Give them [n]a veiled heart;
Your curse be upon them!
66 In Your anger,
Pursue and destroy them
(BI)From under the heavens of the (BJ)Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 3:5 hardship or weariness
  2. Lamentations 3:10 Lit. secret places
  3. Lamentations 3:13 Lit. sons of
  4. Lamentations 3:13 Lit. kidneys
  5. Lamentations 3:16 Lit. bent me down in
  6. Lamentations 3:17 Lit. good
  7. Lamentations 3:19 bitterness
  8. Lamentations 3:20 Lit. bowed down
  9. Lamentations 3:33 Lit. from His heart
  10. Lamentations 3:39 Or murmur
  11. Lamentations 3:53 LXX put to death
  12. Lamentations 3:53 Lit. a stone on
  13. Lamentations 3:59 Lit. my wrong
  14. Lamentations 3:65 A Jewish tradition sorrow of

Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Misery

I am the man who has (A)seen misery
Because of the rod of His wrath.
He has driven me and made me walk
In (B)darkness and not in light.
Indeed, He has (C)turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.
He has consumed my (D)flesh and my skin,
He has (E)broken my bones.
He has [a](F)besieged and surrounded me with [b](G)bitterness and hardship.
He has made me live in (H)dark places,
Like those who have long been dead.
He has (I)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my [c](J)chain heavy.
Even when I cry out and call for help,
He (K)shuts out my prayer.
He has (L)blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has twisted my paths.
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11 He has made my ways deviate, and (M)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He (N)bent His bow
And (O)took aim at me as a target for the arrow.
13 He made the [d]arrows of His (P)quiver
Enter my [e]inward parts.
14 I have become a (Q)laughingstock to all my people,
Their (R)song of ridicule all the day.
15 He has (S)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink plenty of wormwood.
16 He has also (T)made my teeth grind with (U)gravel;
He has made me cower in the (V)dust.
17 My soul has been excluded (W)from peace;
I have forgotten [f]happiness.
18 So I say, “My [g]strength has failed,
And so has my (X)hope from the Lord.”

Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy

19 Remember my misery and my homelessness, the (Y)wormwood and [h]bitterness.
20 (Z)My soul certainly remembers,
And [i]is (AA)bent over within me.
21 I recall this to my mind,
Therefore I [j](AB)wait.
22 [k]The Lords (AC)acts of mercy indeed do not end,
(AD)For His compassions do not fail.
23 They are new (AE)every morning;
Great is (AF)Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my (AG)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I [l](AH)wait for Him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who [m](AI)await Him,
To the [n]person who (AJ)seeks Him.
26 It is good that he (AK)waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him (AL)sit alone and keep quiet,
Since He has laid it on him.
29 Let him [o]put his mouth in the (AM)dust;
Perhaps there is (AN)hope.
30 Let him give his (AO)cheek to the one who is going to strike him;
Let him be filled with shame.
31 For the Lord will (AP)not reject forever,
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have (AQ)compassion
In proportion to His abundant mercy.
33 For He (AR)does not [p]afflict [q]willingly
Or [r]grieve the sons of mankind.
34 To crush under [s]one’s feet
All the prisoners of the [t]land,
35 To [u]deprive a man of (AS)justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36 To [v](AT)defraud someone in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does not [w]approve.
37 Who is [x]there who speaks and it (AU)comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That [y](AV)both adversity and good proceed?

39 Of what can any living [z]mortal, or any man,
(AW)Complain [aa]in view of his sins?
40 Let’s (AX)examine and search out our ways,
And let’s return to the Lord.
41 We (AY)raise our heart [ab]and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have (AZ)done wrong and rebelled;
You have (BA)not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with (BB)anger
And (BC)pursued us;
You have slain and (BD)have not spared.
44 You have (BE)veiled Yourself with a cloud
So that (BF)no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere (BG)refuse and rubbish
In the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies have (BH)opened their mouths against us.
47 (BI)Panic and pitfall have come upon us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My [ac](BJ)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes flow (BK)unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until the Lord (BL)looks down
And sees from heaven.
51 My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies (BM)without reason
Hunted me down (BN)like a bird;
53 They have silenced [ad]me (BO)in the pit
And have [ae](BP)thrown stones on me.
54 Waters flowed (BQ)over my head;
I said, “I am [af]cut off!”
55 I (BR)called on Your name, Lord,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (BS)heard my voice,
(BT)Do not cover Your ear from my plea for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You (BU)came near on the day I called to You;
You said, “(BV)Do not fear!”
58 Lord, You (BW)have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have (BX)redeemed my life.
59 Lord, You have (BY)seen my oppression;
(BZ)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (CA)schemes against me.
61 You have heard their (CB)reproach, Lord,
All their schemes against me.
62 The (CC)lips of my assailants and their talk
Are against me all day long.
63 Look at their [ag](CD)sitting and their rising;
(CE)I am their mocking song.
64 You will (CF)repay them, Lord,
In accordance with the work of their hands.
65 You will give them [ah](CG)shamelessness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (CH)pursue them in anger and eliminate them
From under the (CI)heavens of the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 3:5 Lit built against
  2. Lamentations 3:5 Lit poison
  3. Lamentations 3:7 Lit bronze piece
  4. Lamentations 3:13 Lit sons
  5. Lamentations 3:13 Lit kidneys
  6. Lamentations 3:17 Lit good
  7. Lamentations 3:18 Or splendor
  8. Lamentations 3:19 Lit poison
  9. Lamentations 3:20 Or bows down
  10. Lamentations 3:21 Lit have hope
  11. Lamentations 3:22 As in ancient versions; MT It is...mercy that we do not end
  12. Lamentations 3:24 Or hope in
  13. Lamentations 3:25 Or hope in
  14. Lamentations 3:25 Lit soul
  15. Lamentations 3:29 Lit give
  16. Lamentations 3:33 Or oppress
  17. Lamentations 3:33 Lit from His heart
  18. Lamentations 3:33 Or torment
  19. Lamentations 3:34 Lit his
  20. Lamentations 3:34 Or earth
  21. Lamentations 3:35 Or turn aside a man’s case
  22. Lamentations 3:36 Lit bend
  23. Lamentations 3:36 Lit see
  24. Lamentations 3:37 Lit this
  25. Lamentations 3:38 Lit the evil things and the good
  26. Lamentations 3:39 Or human being
  27. Lamentations 3:39 Or on the basis of
  28. Lamentations 3:41 Lit toward our
  29. Lamentations 3:48 Lit eye goes down
  30. Lamentations 3:53 Lit my life
  31. Lamentations 3:53 Or thrown a stone
  32. Lamentations 3:54 Or destroyed
  33. Lamentations 3:63 I.e., daily activities
  34. Lamentations 3:65 Or insanity

Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Affliction

I am [Jeremiah] the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.

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

Surely He has turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.

He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away;
He has shattered my bones.

He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

He has made me live in dark places
Like those who have long been dead.

He walled me in so that I cannot get out;
He has weighted down my chain.

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

He has blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10 
He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
And like a lion [hiding] in secret places.
11 
He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 
He has bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow.
13 
He has caused the arrows of His quiver
To enter my inner parts.
14 
I have become the [object of] ridicule to all my people,
And [the subject of] their mocking song all the day.
15 
He has filled me with bitterness;
He has made me drunk with wormwood (bitterness).
16 
He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has [covered me with ashes and] made me cower in the dust.
17 
My soul has been cast far away from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
18 
So I say, “My strength has perished
And so has my hope and expectation from the Lord.”

Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy

19 
Remember [O Lord] my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall (bitterness).
20 
My soul continually remembers them
And is bowed down within me.
21 
But this I call to mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22 
It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed,
Because His [tender] compassions never fail.(A)
23 
They are new every morning;
Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.(B)
24 
“The Lord is my portion and my inheritance,” says my soul;
“Therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.”(C)
25 
The Lord is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him,
To those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].
26 
It is good that one waits quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 
It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke [of godly discipline] in his youth.
28 
Let him sit alone [in hope] and keep quiet,
Because God has laid it on him [for his benefit].(D)
29 
Let him put his mouth in the dust [in recognition of his unworthiness];
There may yet be hope.(E)
30 
Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him;
Let him be filled with reproach.
31 
For the Lord will not reject forever,(F)
32 
For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness and tender mercy.
33 
For He does not afflict willingly and from His heart
Or grieve the children of men.(G)
34 
To trample and crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,
35 
To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36 
To defraud a man in his lawsuit—
The Lord does not approve of these things.
37 
Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has authorized and commanded it?
38 
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both adversity (misfortune) and good (prosperity, happiness) proceed?

39 
Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Complain [of punishment] in view of his sins?
40 
Let us test and examine our ways,
And let us return to the Lord.
41 
Let us lift up our hearts and our hands [in prayer]
Toward God in heaven;
42 
We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned.
43 
You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain [without pity] and have not spared.
44 
You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.
45 
You have made us scum and refuse
Among the peoples (Gentile nations).
46 
All our enemies have gaped at us.
47 
Panic and pitfall (traps, danger) have come on us,
Devastation and destruction.
48 
My eyes overflow with streams of tears
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people (Jerusalem).
49 
My eyes overflow unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 
Until the Lord looks down
And sees from heaven.
51 
My eyes [see things that] bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 
Without cause my enemies
Hunted me down like a bird;
53 
They silenced me in the pit
And placed a stone over me.(H)
54 
The waters ran down on my head;
I said, “I am cut off (destroyed)!”
55 
I called on Your name, O Lord,
Out of the lowest pit.(I)
56 
You have heard my voice,
“Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 
You drew near on the day I called to You;
You said, “Do not fear.”(J)
58 
O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause [You have guided my way and protected me];
You have rescued and redeemed my life.
59 
O Lord, You have seen the wrong [done to me];
Judge my case.
60 
You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.
61 
You have heard their reproach, O Lord,
And all their schemes against me.
62 
The lips and whispering of my assailants
Are against me all day long.
63 
Look at their sitting and their rising [their actions and secret counsels];
I am their mocking song [the subject of their ridicule].(K)
64 
You will repay them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
65 
You will harden their hearts;
Your curse will be upon them.
66 
You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the Lord.

I Am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.

My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.

He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.

He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.

12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.

15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.

16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.

17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.

18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord:

19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

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

22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.

29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.

30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.

31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:

32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth.

35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,

36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.

37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?

39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.

41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.

43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.

44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.

45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.

46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.

48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission.

50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven.

51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.

52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.

53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.

54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.

55 I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.

56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.

57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.

58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.

59 O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.

60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.

61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginations against me;

62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.

63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.

64 Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.

65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.

66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord.