Lamentations 3-5

Holman Christian Standard Bible

3 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s wrath.
² He has driven me away and forced me to walk
in darkness instead of light.^(A)
3 Yes, He repeatedly turns His hand
against me all day long.

⁴ He has worn away my flesh and skin;^(B)
He has shattered my bones.^(C)
5 He has laid siege against me,^(D)
encircling me with bitterness and hardship.^(E)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those who have been dead for ages.^(F)

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape;^(G)
He has weighed me down with chains.
⁸ Even when I cry out and plead for help,
He rejects my prayer.^(H)
9 He has walled in my ways with cut stones;^(I)
He has made my paths crooked.^(J)

¹⁰ He is^[a] a bear waiting in ambush,
a lion in hiding.^(K)
11 He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces;
He left me desolate.
¹² He strung His bow^(L)
and set me as the target for His arrow.

¹³ He pierced my kidneys
with His arrows.^(M)
14 I am a laughingstock^(N) to all my people,^[b]
mocked by their songs^(O) all day long.
¹⁵ He filled me with bitterness,
satiated me with wormwood.^(P)

¹⁶ He ground my teeth on gravel^(Q)
and made me cower^[c] in the dust.
¹⁷ My soul has been deprived^[d] of peace;^(R)
I have forgotten what happiness is.
¹⁸ Then I thought: My future^[e] is lost,
as well as my hope from the Lord.

¹⁹ Remember^[f] my affliction and my homelessness,^(S)
the wormwood and the poison.^(T)
20 I continually remember them
and have become depressed.^[g](U)
21 Yet I call this to mind,
and therefore I have hope:^(V)

²² Because of the Lord’s faithful love^(W)
we do not perish,^[h]
for His mercies never end.
²³ They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness!^(X)
24 I say: The Lord is my portion,^(Y)
therefore I will put my hope in Him.

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait^(Z) for Him,
to the person who seeks Him.
²⁶ It is good to wait quietly^(AA)
for deliverance from the Lord.^(AB)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke^(AC)
while he is still young.

²⁸ Let him sit alone and be silent,^(AD)
for God has disciplined him.
²⁹ Let him put his mouth in the dust^(AE)—
perhaps there is still hope.
³⁰ Let him offer his cheek
to the one who would strike him;^(AF)
let him be filled with shame.

³¹ For the Lord
will not reject us forever.
³² Even if He causes suffering,
He will show compassion
according to His abundant, faithful love.^(AG)
33 For He does not enjoy bringing affliction^(AH)
or suffering on mankind.

³⁴ Crushing all the prisoners of the land^[i]
beneath one’s feet,
³⁵ denying justice to a man^(AI)
in the presence of the Most High,
³⁶ or suppressing a person’s lawsuit^(AJ)—
the Lord does not approve of these things.

³⁷ Who is there who speaks and it happens,
unless the Lord has ordained it?^(AK)
38 Do not both adversity and good
come from the mouth of the Most High?^(AL)
39 Why should any living person complain,
any man, because of the punishment for his sins?

⁴⁰ Let us search out and examine our ways,
and turn back to the Lord.^(AM)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands^(AN)
to God in heaven:
⁴² We have sinned and rebelled;
You have not forgiven.^(AO)

⁴³ You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us;
You have killed without compassion.^(AP)
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.^(AQ)
45 You have made us disgusting filth
among the peoples.^(AR)

⁴⁶ All our enemies
open their mouths against us.^(AS)
47 We have experienced panic and pitfall,^(AT)
devastation and destruction.
⁴⁸ My eyes flow with streams of tears
because of the destruction of my dear people.

⁴⁹ My eyes overflow unceasingly,
without end,^(AU)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.^(AV)
51 My eyes bring me grief
because of the fate of all the women in my city.

⁵² For no apparent reason, my enemies^[j]
hunted me like a bird.^(AW)
53 They dropped me alive into^[k] a pit^(AX)
and threw stones at me.
⁵⁴ Water flooded over my head,^(AY)
and I thought: I’m going to die!^(AZ)

⁵⁵ I called on Your name, Yahweh,
from the depths of the Pit.^(BA)
56 You hear my plea:
Do not ignore my cry for relief.
⁵⁷ You come near when I call on You;
You say: “Do not be afraid.”

⁵⁸ You defend my cause, Lord;^(BB)
You redeem my life.^(BC)
59 Lord, You see the wrong done to me;
judge my case.
⁶⁰ You see all their malice,
all their plots against me.^(BD)

⁶¹ Lord, You hear their insults,^(BE)
all their plots against me.
⁶² The slander^[l] and murmuring of my opponents
attack me all day long.
⁶³ When they sit and when they rise, look,
I am mocked by their songs.^(BF)

⁶⁴ You will pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
according to the work of their hands.^(BG)
65 You will give them a heart filled with anguish.^[m](BH)
May Your curse be on them!
⁶⁶ You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
under Your heavens.^[n][o](BI)

4 How the gold has become tarnished,
the fine gold become dull!
The stones of the temple^[p] lie scattered
at the corner of every street.^(BJ)

² Zion’s precious people—
once worth their weight in pure gold^(BK)—
how they are regarded as clay jars,
the work of a potter’s hands!

³ Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my dear people have become cruel
like ostriches^(BL) in the wilderness.

⁴ The nursing infant’s tongue
clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.^(BM)
Little children beg for bread,
but no one gives them any.

⁵ Those who used to eat delicacies
are destitute in the streets;
those who were reared in purple garments^(BN)
huddle in garbage heaps.

⁶ The punishment of my dear people
is greater than that of Sodom,^(BO)
which was overthrown in an instant
without a hand laid on it.

⁷ Her dignitaries were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies^[q] were more ruddy than coral,
their appearance like sapphire.^[r]

⁸ Now they appear darker than soot;^(BP)
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become dry like wood.

⁹ Those slain by the sword are better off
than those slain by hunger,
who waste away, pierced with pain
because the fields lack produce.

¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women
have cooked their own children;^(BQ)
they became their food
during the destruction of my dear people.^(BR)

¹¹ The Lord has exhausted His wrath,
poured out His burning anger;
He has ignited a fire in Zion,
and it has consumed her foundations.^(BS)

¹² The kings of the earth
and all the world’s inhabitants did not believe
that an enemy or adversary
could enter Jerusalem’s gates.^(BT)

¹³ Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the guilt of her priests,
who shed the blood of the righteous
within her.^(BU)

¹⁴ Blind, they stumbled in the streets,^(BV)
defiled by this blood,^(BW)
so that no one dared
to touch their garments.

¹⁵ “Stay away! Unclean!” people shouted at them.
“Away, away! Don’t touch us!”^(BX)
So they wandered aimlessly.^(BY)
It was said among the nations,
“They can stay here no longer.”

¹⁶ The Lord Himself has scattered them;
He regards them no more.
The priests are not respected;
the elders find no favor.

¹⁷ All the while our eyes were failing
as we looked in vain for assistance;^(BZ)
we watched from our towers
for a nation^[s] that refused to help.

¹⁸ Our steps were closely followed
so that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end drew near;^(CA) our time ran out.
Our end had come!

¹⁹ Those who chased us were swifter
than eagles in the sky;^(CB)
they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains
and ambushed us in the wilderness.

²⁰ The Lord’s anointed,^[t] the breath of our life,^[u](CC)
was captured in their traps.
We had said about him,
“We will live under his protection among the nations.”

²¹ So rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,^(CD)
you resident of the land of Uz!^(CE)
Yet the cup^(CF) will pass to you as well;
you will get drunk and expose yourself.

²² Daughter Zion, your punishment is complete;
He will not lengthen your exile.^[v]
But He will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom,
and will expose your sins.^(CG)

5 Yahweh, remember what has happened to us.
Look, and see our disgrace!^(CH)
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our houses to foreigners.
³ We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are widows.
⁴ We must pay for the water we drink;
our wood comes at a price.
⁵ We are closely pursued;
we are tired, and no one offers us rest.
⁶ We made a treaty with^[w] Egypt
and with Assyria, to get enough food.^(CI)
7 Our fathers sinned; they no longer exist,
but we bear their punishment.
⁸ Slaves rule over us;^(CJ)
no one rescues us from their hands.
⁹ We secure our food at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the wilderness.
¹⁰ Our skin is as hot^[x] as an oven^(CK)
from the ravages of hunger.
¹¹ Women are raped in Zion,
girls in the cities of Judah.
¹² Princes are hung up by their hands;
elders are shown no respect.^(CL)
13 Young men labor at millstones;^(CM)
boys stumble under loads of wood.
¹⁴ The elders have left the city gate,
the young men, their music.^(CN)
15 Joy has left our hearts;^(CO)
our dancing has turned to mourning.
¹⁶ The crown has fallen from our head.^(CP)
Woe to us, for we have sinned.^(CQ)
17 Because of this, our heart is sick;
because of these, our eyes grow dim:^(CR)
18 because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate
and has jackals prowling in it.^(CS)
19 You, Lord, are enthroned forever;
Your throne endures from generation to generation.^(CT)
20 Why have You forgotten us forever,^(CU)
abandoned us for our entire lives?
²¹ Lord, restore us to Yourself, so we may return;^(CV)
renew our days as in former times,
²² unless You have completely rejected us
and are intensely angry with us.