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Lamentations 3:37-5:22
Complete Jewish Bible
Lamentations 3:37-5:22
Complete Jewish Bible
37 Who can say something and have it happen
without Adonai’s commanding it?
38 Don’t both bad things and good proceed
from the mouth of the Most High?
39 Why should anyone alive complain,
even a strong man, about the punishment for his sins?
40 Let us examine and test our ways
and return to Adonai.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven and say,
42 “We, for our part, have transgressed and rebelled;
you, for your part, have not forgiven.
43 “You have covered us with anger,
pursued and slaughtered us without pity.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud so thick
that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have reduced us
to rubbish and filth among the peoples.
46 “All our adversaries
open their mouths to jeer at us.
47 Panic and pitfall have come upon us,
desolation and destruction.
48 My eyes stream with rivers of water
over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
49 My eyes weep ceaselessly;
there is no respite,
50 until Adonai looks down
and sees from heaven.
51 My eyes make me so upset
at the fate of the women in my city.
52 Those who are my enemies for no reason
hunted me down like a bird.
53 They forced me alive into a pit
and threw stones on me.
54 Water rose above my head;
I thought, “I am finished!”
55 I called on your name, Adonai,
from the bottom of the pit.
56 You heard my voice; don’t close your ear
at my sighs, at my cries.
57 You came near when I called to you;
you said, “Don’t be afraid.”
58 Adonai, you defended my cause;
you redeemed my life.
59 Adonai, you see how I have been wronged;
give judgment in my favor!
60 You have seen all their vindictiveness
and all their plots against me.
61 You have heard their taunts, Adonai,
and all their plots against me,
62 the whispered murmurings of my foes
against me all day long.
63 See how, whether they sit or stand,
I am the butt of their taunts.
64 Repay them, Adonai,
as their deeds deserve.
65 Give them hardheartedness
as your curse on them.
66 Pursue them in anger!
Destroy them from under your heavens!
4 How the gold has lost its luster!
How the fine gold has changed!
How the stones of the sanctuary
lie scattered at every streetcorner!
2 The precious sons of Tziyon,
as precious as fine gold —
to think they are now worth no more
than clay jars made by a potter!
3 Even jackals bare their breasts
in order to nurse their young,
but the daughters of my people have become as cruel
as ostriches in the desert.
4 The tongue of the baby at the breast
sticks to the roof of its mouth from thirst;
young children are begging for bread,
but no one is giving them any.
5 People who once ate only the best
lie dying in the streets;
those who were raised wearing purple
are clawing at piles of garbage.
6 For the offense of the daughter of my people
is greater than the sin of S’dom,
which was overthrown in an instant,
without a hand to help her.
7 Her princes were purer than snow;
they were whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than pink pearls,
as beautiful as sapphires.
8 Now their faces are blacker than coal;
in the streets they go unrecognized.
Their skin has shriveled over their bones
and become as dry as a stick.
9 Those slain by the sword are better off
than those who are dying from hunger;
since these waste away as if pierced through,
for lack of food from the fields.
10 With their own hands compassionate women
have cooked their own children;
their children became their food
when the daughter of my people was destroyed.
11 Adonai has finished with his fury,
he has poured out his blazing wrath;
he kindled a fire in Tziyon
that consumed its very foundations.
12 The kings of the earth could not believe,
neither could anyone living in the world,
that enemy or foe would ever enter
the gates of Yerushalayim.
13 It happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the offenses of her cohanim,
who, within her walls,
shed the blood of the righteous.
14 They wander in the streets like the blind;
they are so polluted with blood
that nobody is able
even to touch their clothing.
15 “Keep away! Unclean!” people shout at them,
“Keep away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
They flee, to wander here and there;
but no nation allows them to stay.
16 Adonai himself scattered them;
he will no longer look after them;
they had no respect for cohanim
and showed no kindness to the leaders.
17 As for us, our eyes are worn out
from looking in vain for help;
we kept on watching and watching
for a nation that couldn’t save us.
18 They keep dogging our steps,
so that we can’t go out in our streets.
Our end is near, our time is up;
yes, our end has come.
19 Those who pursued us were swifter
than eagles in the sky.
They chased us over the mountains
and waylaid us in the desert.
20 Adonai’s anointed, our life-breath,
was caught in their pits;
though of him we had said, “Under his protection,
we can live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice, be glad, daughter of Edom,
who lives in the land of ‘Utz.
To you too the cup will pass;
you will get drunk and strip yourself naked!
22 Your offenses, daughter of Tziyon, are atoned for;
he will keep you in exile no longer.
Your offenses, daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will expose your sins.
5 Remember, Adonai, what has happened to us;
look, and see our disgrace.
2 The land we possessed has been passed on to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become fatherless orphans,
our mothers now are widows.
4 We have to pay to drink our own water;
we have to buy our own wood.
5 The yoke is on our necks; we are persecuted;
we toil to exhaustion but are given no rest.
6 We made pacts with Egypt and Ashur
to get enough food.
7 Our ancestors sinned and no longer exist;
we bear the weight of their guilt.
8 We are ruled by slaves,
and there is no one to save us from their power.
9 We get our food at the peril of our lives
because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skins are as black as a furnace
because of the searing blasts of famine.
11 They have raped the women of Tziyon,
virgins in the cities of Y’hudah.
12 Princes are hung up by their hands,
leaders receive no respect.
13 Young men are compelled to grind at the mill,
boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The old men have deserted the city gate,
the young men have given up their music.
15 Joy has vanished from our hearts,
our dancing has turned into mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our heads.
Woe to us! for we have sinned.
17 This is why our hearts are sick;
this is why our eyes grow dim —
18 it’s because of Mount Tziyon, so wasted
that jackals have overrun it.
19 You, Adonai, reign forever;
your throne endures through all generations.
20 Why do you never remember us?
Why abandon us for so long a time?
21 Adonai, turn us back to you; and we will come back;
renew our days, as they were in the past —
22 unless you have totally rejected us
in a fury that knows no limits.
[Adonai, turn us back to you; and we will come back;
renew our days, as they were in the past.]
Lamentations 3:37-5:22
New International Version
Lamentations 3:37-5:22
New International Version
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?(A)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?(B)
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?(C)
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,(D)
and let us return to the Lord.(E)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven,(F) and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled(G)
and you have not forgiven.(H)
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued(I) us;
you have slain without pity.(J)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud(K)
so that no prayer(L) can get through.(M)
45 You have made us scum(N) and refuse
among the nations.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide(O) against us.(P)
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,(Q)
ruin and destruction.(R)”
48 Streams of tears(S) flow from my eyes(T)
because my people are destroyed.(U)
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,(V)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.(W)
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.(X)
53 They tried to end my life in a pit(Y)
and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,(Z)
and I thought I was about to perish.(AA)
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths(AB) of the pit.(AC)
56 You heard my plea:(AD) “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near(AE) when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”(AF)
58 You, Lord, took up my case;(AG)
you redeemed my life.(AH)
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.(AI)
Uphold my cause!(AJ)
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.(AK)
61 Lord, you have heard their insults,(AL)
all their plots against me—
62 what my enemies whisper and mutter
against me all day long.(AM)
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
they mock me in their songs.(AN)
64 Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
for what their hands have done.(AO)
65 Put a veil over their hearts,(AP)
and may your curse be on them!
66 Pursue(AQ) them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the Lord.
4 [a]How the gold has lost its luster,
the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
at every street corner.(AR)
2 How the precious children of Zion,(AS)
once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
like ostriches in the desert.(AT)
4 Because of thirst(AU) the infant’s tongue
sticks to the roof of its mouth;(AV)
the children beg for bread,
but no one gives it to them.(AW)
5 Those who once ate delicacies
are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple(AX)
now lie on ash heaps.(AY)
6 The punishment of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,(AZ)
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand turned to help her.
7 Their princes were brighter than snow
and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.
8 But now they are blacker(BA) than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;(BB)
it has become as dry as a stick.
9 Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of famine;(BC)
racked with hunger, they waste away
for lack of food from the field.(BD)
10 With their own hands compassionate women
have cooked their own children,(BE)
who became their food
when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;(BF)
he has poured out(BG) his fierce anger.(BH)
He kindled a fire(BI) in Zion
that consumed her foundations.(BJ)
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the peoples of the world,
that enemies and foes could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.(BK)
13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,(BL)
who shed within her
the blood(BM) of the righteous.
14 Now they grope through the streets
as if they were blind.(BN)
They are so defiled with blood(BO)
that no one dares to touch their garments.
15 “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.
“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
When they flee and wander(BP) about,
people among the nations say,
“They can stay here no longer.”(BQ)
16 The Lord himself has scattered them;
he no longer watches over them.(BR)
The priests are shown no honor,
the elders(BS) no favor.(BT)
17 Moreover, our eyes failed,
looking in vain(BU) for help;(BV)
from our towers we watched
for a nation(BW) that could not save us.
18 People stalked us at every step,
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.(BX)
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles(BY) in the sky;
they chased us(BZ) over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert.(CA)
20 The Lord’s anointed,(CB) our very life breath,
was caught in their traps.(CC)
We thought that under his shadow(CD)
we would live among the nations.
21 Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
you who live in the land of Uz.(CE)
But to you also the cup(CF) will be passed;
you will be drunk and stripped naked.(CG)
22 Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion;(CH)
he will not prolong your exile.
But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom,
and expose your wickedness.(CI)
5 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
look, and see our disgrace.(CJ)
2 Our inheritance(CK) has been turned over to strangers,(CL)
our homes(CM) to foreigners.(CN)
3 We have become fatherless,
our mothers are widows.(CO)
4 We must buy the water we drink;(CP)
our wood can be had only at a price.(CQ)
5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;
we are weary(CR) and find no rest.(CS)
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria(CT)
to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors(CU) sinned and are no more,
and we bear their punishment.(CV)
8 Slaves(CW) rule over us,
and there is no one to free us from their hands.(CX)
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven,
feverish from hunger.(CY)
11 Women have been violated(CZ) in Zion,
and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands;
elders(DA) are shown no respect.(DB)
13 Young men toil at the millstones;
boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The elders are gone from the city gate;
the young men have stopped their music.(DC)
15 Joy is gone from our hearts;
our dancing has turned to mourning.(DD)
16 The crown(DE) has fallen from our head.(DF)
Woe to us, for we have sinned!(DG)
17 Because of this our hearts(DH) are faint,(DI)
because of these things our eyes(DJ) grow dim(DK)
18 for Mount Zion,(DL) which lies desolate,(DM)
with jackals prowling over it.
19 You, Lord, reign forever;(DN)
your throne endures(DO) from generation to generation.
20 Why do you always forget us?(DP)
Why do you forsake(DQ) us so long?
21 Restore(DR) us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
renew our days as of old
22 unless you have utterly rejected us(DS)
and are angry with us beyond measure.(DT)
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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