Lamentations 3

English Standard Version

⁴ He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
    ^(D)he has broken my bones;
^5 (E)he has besieged and enveloped me
    with ^(F)bitterness and tribulation;
^6 (G)he has made me dwell in darkness
    like the dead of long ago.

^7 (H)He has walled me about so that ^(I)I cannot escape;
    he has made my chains heavy;
⁸ though ^(J)I call and cry for help,
    he shuts out my prayer;
^9 (K)he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
    he has made my paths crooked.

^10 (L)He is a bear lying in wait for me,
    a lion in hiding;
^11 (M)he turned aside my steps and ^(N)tore me to pieces;
    ^(O)he has made me desolate;
^12 (P)he bent his bow ^(Q)and set me
    as a target for his arrow.

¹³ He drove into my kidneys
    ^(R)the arrows of his quiver;
^14 (S)I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
    ^(T)the object of their taunts all day long.
^15 (U)He has filled me with bitterness;
    he has sated me with ^(V)wormwood.

^16 (W)He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
    and ^(X)made me cower in ashes;
¹⁷ my soul is bereft of peace;
    I have forgotten what happiness^[a] is;
^18 (Y)so I say, “My endurance has perished;
    so has my hope from the Lord.”

^19 (Z)Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
    ^(AA)the wormwood and ^(AB)the gall!
²⁰ My soul continually remembers it
    ^(AC)and is bowed down within me.
²¹ But this I call to mind,
    and ^(AD)therefore I have hope:

^22 (AE)The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;^{[b]
    (AF)}his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new ^(AG)every morning;
    ^(AH)great is your faithfulness.
^24 (AI)“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    ^(AJ)“therefore I will hope in him.”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who ^(AK)wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
^26 (AL)It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
^27 (AM)It is good for a man that he bear
    the yoke ^(AN)in his youth.

²⁸ Let him ^(AO)sit alone in silence
    when it is laid on him;
^29 (AP)let him put his mouth in the dust—
    there may yet be hope;
^30 (AQ)let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
    and let him be filled with insults.

^31 (AR)For the Lord will not
    cast off forever,
³² but, though he ^(AS)cause grief, ^(AT)he will have compassion
    ^(AU)according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
^33 (AV)for he does not afflict from his heart
    or ^(AW)grieve the children of men.

³⁴ To crush underfoot
    all ^(AX)the prisoners of the earth,
^35 (AY)to deny a man justice
    in the presence of the Most High,
³⁶ to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
    ^(AZ)the Lord does not approve.

^37 (BA)Who has spoken and it came to pass,
    unless the Lord has commanded it?
^38 (BB)Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that good and bad come?
^39 (BC)Why should a living man complain,
    a man, about the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰ Let us test and examine our ways,
    ^(BD)and return to the Lord!
^41 (BE)Let us lift up our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven:
^42 (BF)“We have transgressed and ^(BG)rebelled,
    and you have not forgiven.

⁴³ “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
    ^(BH)killing without pity;
^44 (BI)you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can pass through.
^45 (BJ)You have made us scum and garbage
    among the peoples.

^46 (BK)“All our enemies
    open their mouths against us;
^47 (BL)panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and ^(BM)destruction;
^48 (BN)my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

^49 (BO)“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
^50 (BP)until the Lord from heaven
    looks down and sees;
⁵¹ my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

^52 (BQ)“I have been hunted ^(BR)like a bird
    by those who were my enemies ^(BS)without cause;
^53 (BT)they flung me alive into the pit
    ^(BU)and cast stones on me;
^54 (BV)water closed over my head;
    I said, ^(BW)‘I am lost.’

^55 (BX)“I called on your name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
^56 (BY)you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!’
^57 (BZ)You came near when I called on you;
    you said, ^(CA)‘Do not fear!’

⁵⁸ “You have ^(CB)taken up my cause, ^(CC)O Lord;
    you have ^(CD)redeemed my life.
⁵⁹ You have seen the wrong done to me, ^(CE)O Lord;
    judge my cause.
⁶⁰ You have seen all their vengeance,
    all ^(CF)their plots against me.

^61 (CG)“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
    all ^(CH)their plots against me.
⁶² The lips and thoughts ^(CI)of my assailants
    are against me all the day long.
^63 (CJ)Behold their sitting and their rising;
    ^(CK)I am the object of their taunts.

^64 (CL)“You will repay them,^[c] O Lord,
    ^(CM)according to the work of their hands.
⁶⁵ You will give them^[d] dullness of heart;
    your curse will be^[e] on them.
⁶⁶ You will pursue them^[f] in anger and ^(CN)destroy them
    from under ^(CO)your heavens, O Lord.”^[g]