Lamentations 3

א I am the man who has known affliction Under the rod of God’s wrath;

It is I who was driven on and on In unrelieved darkness;

On none but me God’s hand descends Again and again, without cease.

ב My flesh and skin has been worn away; My bones have been shattered.

All around me have been built Misery and hardship;

I am made to dwell in darkness, Like those long dead.

ג I have been walled in and I cannot break out; And am weighed down with chains.

And when I cry and plead, [God] shuts out my prayer—

Walling in my ways with hewn blocks, And making my paths a maze.

ד A lurking bear [God] is to me, A lion in hiding—

Forcing me off my way and mangling me, Leaving me numb.

[God] has bent the bow and made me The target of divine arrows—

ה Shooting into my vitals A quiver’s shafts.

I have become a laughingstock to all people, The butt of their gibes all day long.

I have been filled with bitterness, And sated with wormwood.

ו [God] has broken my teeth on gravel, Has ground me into the dust.

My life was bereft of peace, I forgot what happiness was.

I thought my strength and hope Had perished before GOD.

ז To recall my distress and my misery Was wormwood and poison;

Whenever I thought of them, I was bowed low.

But this do I call to mind, Therefore I have hope:

ח The kindness of GOD has not ended, And God’s mercies are not spent.

They are renewed every morning— Ample is Your grace!

“GOD is my portion,” I say with full heart; This is the One in whom I have hope.

ט Good comes to those who trust in GOD, To the one who seeks God’s presence;

It is good to wait patiently Till rescue comes from GOD.

It is good for a man, when young, To bear a yoke;

י Let him sit alone and be patient, When it is laid upon him.

Let him put his mouth to the dust— There may yet be hope.

Let him offer his cheek to the aggressor; Let him be surfeited with mockery.

כ For the Sovereign does not Reject forever,

But first afflicts, then pardons In abundant kindness.

For [God] does not willfully bring grief Or affliction to those involved,

ל Crushing underfoot All the prisoners of the earth.

To deny a man his rights In the presence of the Most High,

To wrong a man in his cause— This the Sovereign does not choose.

מ Whose decree was ever fulfilled, Unless the Sovereign willed it?

Is it not at the word of the Most High, That weal and woe befall?

Of what shall a living man complain? Each one of his own sins!

נ Let us search and examine our ways, And turn back to GOD;

Let us lift up our hearts with our hands To God in heaven:

We have transgressed and rebelled, And You have not forgiven.

ס You have clothed Yourself in anger and pursued us, You have slain without pity.

You have screened Yourself off with a cloud, That no prayer may pass through.

You have made us filth and refuse In the midst of the peoples.

פ All our enemies loudly Rail against us.

Panic and pitfall are our lot, Death and destruction.

My eyes shed streams of water Over the ruin of my poor people.

ע My eyes shall flow without cease, Without respite,

Until GOD looks down And beholds from heaven.

My eyes have brought me grief Over all the maidens of my city.

צ My foes have snared me like a bird, Without any cause.

They have ended my life in a pit And cast stones at me.

Waters flowed over my head; I said: I am lost!

ק I have called on Your name, O ETERNAL One, From the depths of the Pit.

Hear my plea; Do not shut Your ear To my groan, to my cry!

You have ever drawn nigh when I called You; You have said, “Do not fear!”

ר You championed my cause, O my Sovereign, You have redeemed my life.

You have seen, O ETERNAL One, the wrong done me; Oh, vindicate my right!

You have seen all their malice, All their designs against me;

ש You have heard, O ETERNAL One, their taunts, All their designs against me,

The mouthings and chattering of my adversaries Against me all day long.

See how, at their ease or at work, I am the butt of their gibes.

ת Give them, O ETERNAL One, their deserts According to their deeds.

Give them anguish of heart; Your curse be upon them!

Oh, pursue them in wrath and destroy them From under GOD’s heavens!