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Lamentations 3
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
Lamentations 3
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
3 I am [Jeremiah] the man who has seen affliction under the rod of His wrath.
2 He has led me and brought me into darkness and not light.
3 Surely He has turned away from me; His hand is against me all the day.
4 My flesh and my skin has He worn out and made old; He has shattered my bones.
5 He has built up [siege mounds] against me and surrounded me with bitterness, tribulation, and anguish.
6 He has caused me to dwell in dark places like those long dead.
7 He walled me in so that I cannot get out; He has weighted down my chain.
8 Even when I cry and shout for help, He shuts out my prayer.
9 He has enclosed my ways with hewn 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 me off my ways and pulled me in pieces; He has made me desolate.
12 He has bent His bow and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He has caused the arrows of His quiver to enter into my heart [the seat of my affections and desires].
14 I have become a derision to all my people, and [the subject of] their singsong all the day.
15 He has filled me with bitterness; He has made me drink to excess and until drunken with wormwood [bitterness].
16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel (stones); He has covered me with ashes.
17 And You have bereaved my soul and cast it off far from peace; I have forgotten what good and happiness are.
18 And I say, Perished is my strength and my expectation from the Lord.
19 [O Lord] remember [earnestly] my affliction and my misery, my wandering and my outcast state, the wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul has them continually in remembrance and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation:
22 It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.(A)
23 They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.(B)
24 The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.(C)
25 The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God’s word].
26 It is good that one should hope in and wait quietly for the salvation (the safety and ease) of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke [of divine disciplinary dealings] in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone uncomplaining and keeping silent [in hope], because [God] has laid [the yoke] upon him [for his benefit].(D)
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust [in abject recognition of his unworthiness]—there may yet be hope.(E)
30 Let him give his cheek to the One Who smites him [even through His human agents]; let him be filled [full] with [men’s] reproach [in meekness].
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever!(F)
32 But though He causes grief, yet will He be moved to compassion according to the multitude of His loving-kindness and tender mercy.
33 For He does not willingly and from His heart afflict or grieve the children of men.(G)
34 To trample and crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside and deprive a man of his rights before the face of the Most High or a superior [acting as God’s representative],
36 To subvert a man in his cause—[of these things] the Lord does not approve.
37 Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, if the Lord has not authorized and commanded it?
38 Is it not out of the mouth of the Most High that evil and good both proceed [adversity and prosperity, physical evil or misfortune and physical good or happiness]?
39 Why does a living man sigh [one who is still in this life’s school of discipline]? [And why does] a man complain for the punishment 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 [and then with them mount up in prayer] to God in heaven:
42 We have transgressed and rebelled and You have not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with wrath and pursued and afflicted us; You have slain without pity.
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us offscouring and refuse among the nations.
46 All our enemies have gaped at us and railed against us.
47 Fear and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction.
48 My eyes overflow with streams of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes overflow continually and will not cease
50 Until the Lord looks down and sees from heaven.
51 My eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the maidens [and the daughter-towns] of my city [Jerusalem].
52 I have been hunted down like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause.
53 They [thought they had] destroyed my life in the dungeon (pit) and cast a stone [over it] above me.(H)
54 The waters ran down on my head; I said, I am gone.
55 I called upon Your name, O Lord, out of the depths [of the mire] of the dungeon.(I)
56 You heard my voice [then]: [Oh] hide not Your ear [now] at my prayer for relief.
57 You drew near on the day I called to You; You said, Fear not.(J)
58 O Lord, You have pleaded the causes of my soul [You have managed my affairs and You have protected my person and my rights]; You have rescued and redeemed my life!
59 O Lord, You have seen my wrong [done to me]; judge and maintain my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance, all their devices against me.
61 You have heard their reproach and revilings, O Lord, and all their devices against me—
62 The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all day long.
63 Look at their sitting down and their rising up [their movements, doings, and secret counsels]; I am their singsong [the subject of their derision and merriment].(K)
64 Render to them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them hardness and blindness of heart; Your curse will be upon them.
66 You will pursue and afflict them in anger and destroy them from under Your heavens, O Lord.
Lamentations 3
The Voice
Lamentations 3
The Voice
3 Afflicted, I have seen and know what it’s like
to feel the rod of God’s anger:
2 An absence of light and only darkness.
Darkness—that’s where God has driven me.
3 Against me and me alone, over and over,
God raises His hand incessantly.
4 Bones are broken, skin rubbed off, and my flesh wasted;
this is God’s doing:
5 Besieged in hardship,
wrapped in a husk of bitter poison and trouble;
6 Brought to darkness like those dead and decaying,
and left there alone to live.
7 Cut off from every avenue of escape, God has fenced me in
and tied me up with heavy chains.
8 Crying and carrying on do me no good;
God shuts out my prayer.
9 Closed in and blocked by walls of cut stone,
what paths I have left, He has twisted and confused my steps.
10 Dangerous as a stalking lion or a lurking bear,
God lies in wait for me.
11 Dragging me off the path and tearing me up,
He has left me desolate.
12 Drawing back His bow, God aims
straight at me with His own arrow.
13 Ever true arrows, ready in His quiver,
now sink into my gut.
14 Echoing taunts ring ’round me from the mouths of my own people,
laughing and joking about me all day long.
15 Enough! He has filled me with bitterness,
saturated me with gall.
16 For He crushes my teeth with a mouth filled with gravel;
He humiliates me, trampling me in ashes.
17 Fragmented, my self knows no peace.
I cannot remember what it’s like to be happy.
18 “Failed,” I say to myself. “My hope fails
in the face of what the Eternal One has done.”
19 Grievous thoughts of affliction and wandering plagued my mind—
great bitterness and gall.
20 Grieving, my soul thinks back;
these thoughts cripple, and I sink down.
21 Gaining hope,
I remember and wait for this thought:
22 How enduring is God’s loyal love;
the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion.
23 Here they are, every morning, new!
Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day.
24 Have courage, for the Eternal is all that I will need.
My soul boasts, “Hope in God; just wait.”
25 It is good. The Eternal One is good to those who expect Him,
to those who seek Him wholeheartedly.
26 It is good to wait quietly
for the Eternal to make things right again.
27 It is good to have to deal
with restraint and burdens when young.
28 Just leave in peace the one who waits in silence,
patiently bearing the burden of God;
29 Just don’t interfere if he falls, gape-mouthed in the dust.
There may well be hope yet.
30 Just let him offer his cheek when struck.
Let him be the butt of jokes.
This is the heart of the lament. Pain and despair are deep and lasting, but God’s rejection is not forever because Jerusalem is the city of the Lord.
31 Kept in God’s care:
the Lord won’t reject him forever.
32 Kindness prevails: Even though God torments sometimes,
the greatness of God’s loyal love wins out.
33 Keeping us down: it is not the desire or way of God’s heart
to hurt and grieve the children of men.
Hope is realized when the next generation of exiles in Babylonia receive God’s mercy and are brought back to the promised land, Palestine, in a second exodus, a journey not unlike what the Israelites experienced as they left Egypt under Moses’ leadership.
God surely causes grief and torment, but He also provides kindness that originates from His heart of compassion. The discipline administered by the heavenly Father hurts, but the pain is not lasting and actually reflects His compassion. When the Lord sends affliction, it is instructive, restorative, and temporary. Affliction and judgment may sometimes come from the Almighty, but what always springs from the heart of God is a deep and eternal mercy for His people.
34 Left as captives of the land
to be stomped on and crushed,
35 Legal action and human rights denied
in the very presence of our exalted God,
36 Lord, surely You do not approve it—they deny
one person’s rights and a fair trial.
37 Matters not who says a thing will or won’t happen
unless the Lord determines that it should.
38 Most High God must proclaim it so—
for both good and bad, joy and sorrow come from Him, so
39 Mind your complaint. Why should a person fuss
when faced with the consequences of his own wrongdoing?
40 Now let’s search out our thoughts and ways
and return to the Eternal.
41 Now let’s lift up to God in heaven
our hearts along with our hands in praise and supplication.
42 Now, let us admit that we persisted in wrong
and You, God, were right to deny us forgiveness.
43 You have wrapped Yourself in anger.
You hunted us down and became our merciless killer.
44 Our prayers couldn’t penetrate the cloud
You then wrapped around Yourself.
45 Oh, we are trash: You’ve made us so
in the eyes of all people.
46 Putting us down, our enemies scoff.
They gape and gawk at us.
47 Panic and pitfalls are all around us,
nothing but breakdown and decay.
48 Pouring out from my eyes are tears like rivers
over the destruction of my people, daughter Zion.
49 Quenched? It can’t be quenched,
this sorrow in my eyes,
50 Quelled only by knowing that
the Eternal looks down from heaven and sees.
51 Quickly I recoil from what my eyes see; I am choked with grief
at the fate of the young women of my city.
52 Running me down, my enemies for no reason
hunt me, a tiny bird.
53 Rattling my bones with stones thrown down on my head,
having flung me mercilessly in a pit.
54 ’Round about me and over me, watery darkness closes in.
I cry out, “I’m drowning! All is lost, lost.”
55 Saying Your name, Eternal One, I called to You
from the darkness of this pit.
56 Surely You’ve heard me say,
“Don’t be deaf to my call; bring me relief!”
57 So close when I’ve called out in my distress,
You’ve whispered in my ear, “Do not be afraid.”
58 Taking up my cause, Lord, You’ve been my champion.
You’ve paid the price; You saved my life.
59 Terrible things have been done to me. You’ve seen it, Eternal One.
Judge my case with justice.
60 Their abuses against me are not hidden from You.
You’ve seen all the awful things my enemies determine to do to me.
61 Ugly words and uglier plans they have for me—
You’ve heard it all, Eternal One.
62 Under their breath, my adversaries whispering about me,
devising nasty schemes all the time.
63 Unkind jokes at my expense,
whether they’re sitting around or going to and fro.
64 Villains You will return to their recompense,
Eternal One, according to their deeds.
65 Visit them with anguish and an insensitivity to Your words.
Make Your curse fall hard on them.
66 Vehemently pummel them. Chase them down, obliterate them
from below the heavens of the Eternal, from the earth itself.
Lamentations 3
New International Version
Lamentations 3
New International Version
3 [a]I am the man who has seen affliction(A)
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.(B)
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness(C) rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me(D)
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old(E)
and has broken my bones.(F)
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness(G) and hardship.(H)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.(I)
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;(J)
he has weighed me down with chains.(K)
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,(L)
he shuts out my prayer.(M)
9 He has barred(N) my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.(O)
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion(P) in hiding,(Q)
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled(R) me
and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow(S)
and made me the target(T) for his arrows.(U)
13 He pierced(V) my heart
with arrows from his quiver.(W)
14 I became the laughingstock(X) of all my people;(Y)
they mock me in song(Z) all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.(AA)
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;(AB)
he has trampled me in the dust.(AC)
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”(AD)
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness(AE) and the gall.(AF)
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast(AG) within me.(AH)
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love(AI) we are not consumed,(AJ)
for his compassions never fail.(AK)
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(AL)
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;(AM)
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;(AN)
26 it is good to wait quietly(AO)
for the salvation of the Lord.(AP)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,(AQ)
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust(AR)—
there may yet be hope.(AS)
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,(AT)
and let him be filled with disgrace.(AU)
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.(AV)
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.(AW)
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.(AX)
34 To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
35 to deny people their rights
before the Most High,(AY)
36 to deprive them of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?(AZ)
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?(BA)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?(BB)
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?(BC)
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,(BD)
and let us return to the Lord.(BE)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven,(BF) and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled(BG)
and you have not forgiven.(BH)
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued(BI) us;
you have slain without pity.(BJ)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud(BK)
so that no prayer(BL) can get through.(BM)
45 You have made us scum(BN) and refuse
among the nations.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide(BO) against us.(BP)
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,(BQ)
ruin and destruction.(BR)”
48 Streams of tears(BS) flow from my eyes(BT)
because my people are destroyed.(BU)
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,(BV)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.(BW)
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.(BX)
53 They tried to end my life in a pit(BY)
and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,(BZ)
and I thought I was about to perish.(CA)
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths(CB) of the pit.(CC)
56 You heard my plea:(CD) “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near(CE) when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”(CF)
58 You, Lord, took up my case;(CG)
you redeemed my life.(CH)
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.(CI)
Uphold my cause!(CJ)
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.(CK)
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter.
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) 
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The Voice (VOICE)
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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