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There Is Still Hope

The Prophet Speaks:

I have suffered much
    because God was angry.
He chased me into a dark place,
    where no light could enter.
I am the only one he punishes
over and over again,
    without ever stopping.
God caused my skin and flesh
to waste away,
    and he crushed my bones.
He attacked and surrounded me
    with hardships and trouble;
he forced me to sit in the dark
    like someone long dead.

God built a fence around me
that I cannot climb over,
    and he chained me down.
Even when I shouted
and prayed for help,
    he refused to listen.
God put big rocks in my way
and made me follow
    a crooked path.
10 God was like a bear or a lion
    waiting in ambush for me;
11 he dragged me from the road,
    then tore me to shreds.[a]
12 God took careful aim
and shot his arrows
13     straight through my heart.

14 I am a joke to everyone—
no one ever stops
    making fun of me.
15 God has turned my life sour.
16 He made me eat gravel
    and rubbed me in the dirt.
17 I cannot find peace
    or remember happiness.

18 I tell myself, “I am finished!
I can't count on the Lord
    to do anything for me.”
19 Just thinking of my troubles
and my lonely wandering
    makes me miserable.
20 That's all I ever think about,
    and I am depressed.[b]
21 Then I remember something
    that fills me with hope.
22 The Lord's kindness never fails!
If he had not been merciful,
    we would have been destroyed.[c]
23 The Lord can always be trusted
    to show mercy each morning.
24 Deep in my heart I say,
“The Lord is all I need;
    I can depend on him!”

25 The Lord is kind to everyone
    who trusts and obeys him.
26 It is good to wait patiently
    for the Lord to save us.
27 When we are young,
    it is good to struggle hard
28 and to sit silently alone,
if this is what
    the Lord intends.
29 Being rubbed in the dirt
    can teach us a lesson;[d]
30 we can also learn from insults
    and hard knocks.

31 The Lord won't always reject us!
32     He causes a lot of suffering,
but he also has pity
    because of his great love.
33 The Lord doesn't enjoy
    sending grief or pain.

34 Don't trample prisoners
    under your feet
35 or cheat anyone out of
    what is rightfully theirs.
God Most High sees everything,
36 and he knows when you refuse
    to give someone a fair trial.
37 No one can do anything
    without the Lord's approval.
38 Good and bad each happen
at the command
    of God Most High.
39 We're still alive!
    We shouldn't complain
when we are being punished
    for our sins.
40 Instead, we should think
about the way we are living,
    and turn back to the Lord.

41 When we lift our hands
    in prayer to God in heaven,
we should offer him our hearts
and say, 42     “We've sinned!
We've rebelled against you,
    and you haven't forgiven us!
43 Anger is written all over you,
as you pursue and slaughter us
    without showing pity.
44 You are behind a wall of clouds
    that blocks out our prayers.
45 You allowed nations
to treat us like garbage;
46     our enemies curse us.
47 We are terrified and trapped,
    caught and crushed.”

48 My people are destroyed!
Tears flood my eyes,
49     and they won't stop
50 until the Lord looks down
    from heaven and helps.
51 I am horrified when I see
    what enemies have done
to the young women of our city.

52 No one had reason to hate me,
but I was hunted down
    like a bird.
53 Then they tried to kill me
by tossing me into a pit
    and throwing stones at me.
54 Water covered my head—
    I thought I was gone.

55 From the bottom of the pit,
    I prayed to you, Lord.
56 I begged you to listen.
    “Help!” I shouted. “Save me!”
You answered my prayer
57 and came when I was in need.
    You told me, “Don't worry!”
58 You rescued me
    and saved my life.
59 You saw them abuse me, Lord,
    so make things right.
60 You know every plot
    they have made against me.
61 Yes, you know their insults
    and their evil plans.
62 All day long they attack
    with words and whispers.
63 No matter what they are doing,
    they keep on mocking me.

64 Pay them back for everything
    they have done, Lord!
65 Put your curse on them
    and make them suffer.[e]
66 Get angry and go after them
until not a trace is left
    under the heavens.

The Punishment of Jerusalem

The Prophet Speaks:

The purest gold is ruined
    and has lost its shine;
jewels from the temple
    lie scattered in the streets.
These are Zion's people,
    worth more than purest gold;
yet they are counted worthless
    like dishes of clay.

Even jackals[f] nurse their young,
but my people are like ostriches
    that abandon their own.
Babies are so thirsty
that their tongues are stuck
    to the roof of the mouth.
Children go begging for food,
    but no one gives them any.
All who ate expensive foods
    lie starving in the streets;
those who grew up in luxury
    now sit on trash heaps.

(A) My nation was punished worse
    than the people of Sodom,
whose city was destroyed
in a flash without the help
    of human hands.[g]
The leaders of Jerusalem
were purer than snow
    and whiter than milk;
their bodies were healthy
    and glowed like jewels.[h]
Now they are blacker than tar,
    and no one recognizes them;
their skin clings to their bones
    and is drier than firewood.
Being killed with a sword
is better than slowly
    starving to death.
10 (B) Life in the city is so bad
that loving mothers have boiled
    and eaten their own children.

11 The Lord was so fiercely angry
that he burned the city of Zion
    to the ground.
12 Not a king on this earth
    or the people of any nation
believed enemies could break
    through her gates.

13 Jerusalem was punished because
    her prophets and her priests
had sinned and caused the death
    of innocent victims.
14 Yes, her prophets and priests
    were covered with blood;
no one would come near them,
as they wandered
    from street to street.
15 Instead, everyone shouted,
    “Go away! Don't touch us!
You're filthy and unfit
    to belong to God's people!”

So they had to leave
    and become refugees.
But foreign nations told them,
    “You can't stay here!”[i]
16 The Lord is the one
who sent them scattering,
    and he has forgotten them.
No respect or kindness
will be shown
    to the priests or leaders.
17 Our eyes became weary,
    hopelessly looking
for help from a nation[j]
    that could not save us.
18 Enemies hunted us down
    on every public street.
Our time was up;
    our doom was near.
19 They swooped down faster
    than eagles from the sky.
They hunted for us in the hills
and set traps to catch us
    out in the desert.
20 The Lord's chosen leader[k]
    was our hope for survival!
We thought he would keep us safe
    somewhere among the nations,
but even he was caught
    in one of their traps.

21 You people of Edom
    can celebrate now!
But your time will come
to suffer and stagger
    around naked.
22 The people of Zion
    have paid for their sins,
and the Lord will soon
    let them return home.
But, people of Edom,
you will be punished,
    and your sins exposed.

A Prayer for Mercy

The People of Jerusalem Pray:[l]

Our Lord, don't forget
how we have suffered
    and been disgraced.
Foreigners and strangers
have taken our land
    and our homes.
We are like children
    whose mothers are widows.
The water we drink
and the wood we burn
    cost far too much.
We are terribly mistreated;[m]
we are worn out
    and can find no rest.
We had to surrender
to[n] Egypt and Assyria
    because we were hungry.

Our ancestors sinned,
    but they are dead,
and we are left to pay
    for their sins.
Slaves are now our rulers,
and there is no one
    to set us free.
We are in danger
    from brutal desert tribes;
we must risk our lives
    just to bring in our crops.[o]
10 Our skin is scorched
    from fever and hunger.

11 On Zion and everywhere in Judah
our wives and daughters
    are being raped.
12 Our rulers are strung up
    by their arms,
and our nation's advisors
    are treated shamefully.
13 Young men are forced
    to do the work of slaves;
boys must carry
    heavy loads of wood.
14 Our leaders are not allowed
    to decide cases in court,
and young people
    no longer play music.

15 Our hearts are sad;
instead of dancing,
    we mourn.
16 Zion's glory has disappeared!
And we are doomed
    because of our sins.
17 We feel sick all over
    and can't even see straight;
18 our city is in ruins,
    overrun by wild dogs.

19 You will rule forever, Lord!
    You are King for all time.
20 Why have you forgotten us
    for so long?
21 Bring us back to you!
    Give us a fresh start.
22 Or do you despise us so much
    that you don't want us?

Footnotes

  1. 3.11 shreds: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 11.
  2. 3.20 I am depressed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  3. 3.22 destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 22.
  4. 3.29 lesson: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 29.
  5. 3.65 make them suffer: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  6. 4.3 jackals: Desert animals related to wolves, but smaller.
  7. 4.6 hands: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 6.
  8. 4.7 jewels: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 7.
  9. 4.15 here: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 15.
  10. 4.17 nation: Egypt, a former ally of Judah.
  11. 4.20 chosen leader: Probably Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, taken away to Babylonia in 586 b.c.
  12. 5.1 The People of Jerusalem Pray: Or “The Prophet Prays.”
  13. 5.5 We … mistreated: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  14. 5.6 surrender to: Or “make treaties with.”
  15. 5.9 crops: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 9.

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