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Lamentations 3:37-5:22
The Message
Lamentations 3:37-5:22
The Message
God Speaks Both Good Things and Hard Things into Being
37-39 Who do you think “spoke and it happened”?
It’s the Master who gives such orders.
Doesn’t the High God speak everything,
good things and hard things alike, into being?
And why would anyone gifted with life
complain when punished for sin?
40-42 Let’s take a good look at the way we’re living
and reorder our lives under God.
Let’s lift our hearts and hands at one and the same time,
praying to God in heaven:
“We’ve been contrary and willful,
and you haven’t forgiven.
43-45 “You lost your temper with us, holding nothing back.
You chased us and cut us down without mercy.
You wrapped yourself in thick blankets of clouds
so no prayers could get through.
You treated us like dirty dishwater,
threw us out in the backyard of the nations.
46-48 “Our enemies shout abuse,
their mouths full of derision, spitting invective.
We’ve been to hell and back.
We’ve nowhere to turn, nowhere to go.
Rivers of tears pour from my eyes
at the smashup of my dear people.
49-51 “The tears stream from my eyes,
an artesian well of tears,
Until you, God, look down from on high,
look and see my tears.
When I see what’s happened to the young women in the city,
the pain breaks my heart.
52-54 “Enemies with no reason to be enemies
hunted me down like a bird.
They threw me into a pit,
then pelted me with stones.
Then the rains came and filled the pit.
The water rose over my head. I said, ‘It’s all over.’
55-57 “I called out your name, O God,
called from the bottom of the pit.
You listened when I called out, ‘Don’t shut your ears!
Get me out of here! Save me!’
You came close when I called out.
You said, ‘It’s going to be all right.’
58-60 “You took my side, Master;
you brought me back alive!
God, you saw the wrongs heaped on me.
Give me my day in court!
Yes, you saw their mean-minded schemes,
their plots to destroy me.
61-63 “You heard, God, their vicious gossip,
their behind-my-back plots to ruin me.
They never quit, these enemies of mine, dreaming up mischief,
hatching malice, day after day after day.
Sitting down or standing up—just look at them!—
they mock me with vulgar doggerel.
64-66 “Make them pay for what they’ve done, God.
Give them their just deserts.
Break their miserable hearts!
Damn their eyes!
Get good and angry. Hunt them down.
Make a total demolition here under your heaven!”
Waking Up with Nothing
4 Oh, oh, oh . . .
How gold is treated like dirt,
the finest gold thrown out with the garbage,
Priceless jewels scattered all over,
jewels loose in the gutters.
2 And the people of Zion, once prized,
far surpassing their weight in gold,
Are now treated like cheap pottery,
like everyday pots and bowls mass-produced by a potter.
3 Even wild jackals nurture their babies,
give them their breasts to suckle.
But my people have turned cruel to their babies,
like an ostrich in the wilderness.
4 Babies have nothing to drink.
Their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths.
Little children ask for bread
but no one gives them so much as a crust.
5 People used to the finest cuisine
forage for food in the streets.
People used to the latest in fashions
pick through the trash for something to wear.
6 The evil guilt of my dear people
was worse than the sin of Sodom—
The city was destroyed in a flash,
and no one around to help.
7 The splendid and sacred nobles
once glowed with health.
Their bodies were robust and ruddy,
their beards like carved stone.
8 But now they are smeared with soot,
unrecognizable in the street,
Their bones sticking out,
their skin dried out like old leather.
9 Better to have been killed in battle
than killed by starvation.
Better to have died of battle wounds
than to slowly starve to death.
10 Nice and kindly women
boiled their own children for supper.
This was the only food in town
when my dear people were broken.
11 God let all his anger loose, held nothing back.
He poured out his raging wrath.
He set a fire in Zion
that burned it to the ground.
12 The kings of the earth couldn’t believe it.
World rulers were in shock,
Watching old enemies march in big as you please,
right through Jerusalem’s gates.
13 Because of the sins of her prophets
and the evil of her priests,
Who exploited good and trusting people,
robbing them of their lives,
14 These prophets and priests blindly grope their way through the streets,
grimy and stained from their dirty lives,
Wasted by their wasted lives,
shuffling from fatigue, dressed in rags.
15 People yell at them, “Get out of here, dirty old men!
Get lost, don’t touch us, don’t infect us!”
They have to leave town. They wander off.
Nobody wants them to stay here.
Everyone knows, wherever they wander,
that they’ve been kicked out of their own hometown.
16 God himself scattered them.
No longer does he look out for them.
He has nothing to do with the priests;
he cares nothing for the elders.
17 We watched and watched,
wore our eyes out looking for help. And nothing.
We mounted our lookouts and looked
for the help that never showed up.
18 They tracked us down, those hunters.
It wasn’t safe to go out in the street.
Our end was near, our days numbered.
We were doomed.
19 They came after us faster than eagles in flight,
pressed us hard in the mountains, ambushed us in the desert.
20 Our king, our life’s breath, the anointed of God,
was caught in their traps—
Our king under whose protection
we always said we’d live.
21 Celebrate while you can, O Edom!
Live it up in Uz!
For it won’t be long before you drink this cup, too.
You’ll find out what it’s like to drink God’s wrath,
Get drunk on God’s wrath
and wake up with nothing, stripped naked.
22 And that’s it for you, Zion. The punishment’s complete.
You won’t have to go through this exile again.
But Edom, your time is coming:
He’ll punish your evil life, put all your sins on display.
Give Us a Fresh Start
5 1-22 “Remember, God, all we’ve been through.
Study our plight, the black mark we’ve made in history.
Our precious land has been given to outsiders,
our homes to strangers.
Orphans we are, not a father in sight,
and our mothers no better than widows.
We have to pay to drink our own water.
Even our firewood comes at a price.
We’re nothing but slaves, bullied and bowed,
worn out and without any rest.
We sold ourselves to Assyria and Egypt
just to get something to eat.
Our parents sinned and are no more,
and now we’re paying for the wrongs they did.
Slaves rule over us;
there’s no escape from their grip.
We risk our lives to gather food
in the bandit-infested desert.
Our skin has turned black as an oven,
dried out like old leather from the famine.
Our wives were raped in the streets in Zion,
and our virgins in the cities of Judah.
They hanged our princes by their hands,
dishonored our elders.
Strapping young men were put to women’s work,
mere boys forced to do men’s work.
The city gate is empty of wise elders.
Music from the young is heard no more.
All the joy is gone from our hearts.
Our dances have turned into dirges.
The crown of glory has toppled from our head.
Woe! Woe! Would that we’d never sinned!
Because of all this we’re heartsick;
we can’t see through the tears.
On Mount Zion, wrecked and ruined,
jackals pace and prowl.
And yet, God, you’re sovereign still,
your throne intact and eternal.
So why do you keep forgetting us?
Why dump us and leave us like this?
Bring us back to you, God—we’re ready to come back.
Give us a fresh start.
As it is, you’ve cruelly disowned us.
You’ve been so very angry with us.”
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.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.