Lamentations 3

New American Standard Bible

Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Misery

3 I am the man who has ^(A)seen misery
Because of the rod of His wrath.
²He has driven me and made me walk
In ^(B)darkness and not in light.
³Indeed, He has ^(C)turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.
⁴He has consumed my ^(D)flesh and my skin,
He has ^(E)broken my bones.
⁵He has ^[a]^(F)besieged and surrounded me with ^[b]^(G)bitterness and hardship.
⁶He has made me live in ^(H)dark places,
Like those who have long been dead.
⁷He has ^(I)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my ^[c]^(J)chain heavy.
⁸Even when I cry out and call for help,
He ^(K)shuts out my prayer.
⁹He has ^(L)blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has twisted my paths.
¹⁰He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
¹¹He has made my ways deviate, and ^(M)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
¹²He ^(N)bent His bow
And ^(O)took aim at me as a target for the arrow.
¹³He made the ^[d]arrows of His ^(P)quiver
Enter my ^[e]inward parts.
¹⁴I have become a ^(Q)laughingstock to all my people,
Their ^(R)song of ridicule all the day.
¹⁵He has ^(S)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink plenty of wormwood.
¹⁶He has also ^(T)made my teeth grind with ^(U)gravel;
He has made me cower in the ^(V)dust.
¹⁷My soul has been excluded ^(W)from peace;
I have forgotten ^[f]happiness.
¹⁸So I say, “My ^[g]strength has failed,
And so has my ^(X)hope from the Lord.”

Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy

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

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