Lam 3:40-4:22 | ESV | STEP | Let us test and examine our ways , and return to the Lord !

40 Let us test and examine our ways,
^aand return to the Lord!
41 ^bLet us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
42 ^c“We have transgressed and ^drebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
^ekilling without pity;
44 ^fyou have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 ^gYou have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.
46 ^h“All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
47 ⁱpanic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and ^jdestruction;
48 ^kmy eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 ^l“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
50 ^muntil 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 ⁿ“I have been hunted ^olike a bird
by those who were my enemies ^pwithout cause;
53 ^qthey flung me alive into the pit
^rand cast stones on me;
54 ^swater closed over my head;
I said, ^t‘I am lost.’
55 ^u“I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
56 ^vyou heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
57 ^wYou came near when I called on you;
you said, ^x‘Do not fear!’
58 “You have ^ytaken up my cause, ^zO Lord;
you have ^aaredeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, ^abO Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all ^actheir plots against me.
61 ^ad“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all ^aetheir plots against me.
62 The lips and thoughts ^afof my assailants
are against me all the day long.
63 ^agBehold their sitting and their rising;
^ahI am the object of their taunts.
64 ^ai“You will repay them, ^{▼▼Or Repay them} O Lord,
^akaccording to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them ^{▼▼Or Give them} dullness of heart;
your curse will be ^{▼▼Or place your curse} on them.
66 You will pursue them ^{▼▼Or Pursue them} in anger and ^aodestroy them
from under ^apyour heavens, O Lord.” ^{▼▼Syriac (compare Septuagint, Vulgate); Hebrew the heavens of the Lord}

Lamentations 4

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

1 ^arHow the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
^asat the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in ^atfine gold,
how they are regarded as ^auearthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast;
they nurse their young;
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the nursing infant ^avsticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
^awthe children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.
5 Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
^axthose who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.
6 ^ayFor the chastisement ^{▼▼Or iniquity} of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment ^{▼▼Or sin} of Sodom,
^bbwhich was overthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her. ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain}
7 Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
the beauty of their form ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} was like sapphire. ^{▼▼Hebrew lapis lazuli}
8 ^bfNow their face is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.
9 Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
by lack of the fruits of the field.
10 ^bgThe hands of ^bhcompassionate women
^bihave boiled their own children;
^bjthey became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 ^bkThe Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and ^blhe kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
12 ^bmThe kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 This was for ^bnthe sins of her prophets
and ^bothe iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.
14 ^bpThey wandered, blind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
^bqthat no one was able to touch
their garments.
15 “Away! ^brUnclean!” people cried at them.
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
people said among the nations,
“They shall stay with us no longer.”
16 ^bsThe Lord himself ^{▼▼Hebrew The face of the Lord} has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
^buno honor was shown to the priests,
^bvno favor to the elders.
17 ^bwOur eyes failed, ever watching
^bxvainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for ^bya nation which could not save.
18 ^bzThey dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
^caour end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were ^cbswifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 ^ccThe breath of our nostrils, ^cdthe Lord’s anointed,
was captured ^cein their pits,
of whom we said, ^cf“Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21 ^cgRejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in ^chthe land of Uz;
but to you also ^cithe cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
22 ^cjThe punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer; ^{▼▼Or he will not exile you again}
but ^clyour iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.