Lam 3 | NASB1995 | STEP | I am the man who has seen affliction Because of the rod of His wrath .

Lamentations 3

Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Affliction

1 I am the man who has ^aseen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2 He has driven me and made me walk
In ^bdarkness and not in light.
3 Surely against me He has ^cturned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
4 He has caused my ^dflesh and my skin to waste away,
He has ^ebroken my bones.
5 He has ^fbesieged and encompassed me with ^gbitterness and hardship.
6 In ^hdark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
7 He has ⁱwalled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my ^{▼▼ Lit bronze piece
,} ^kchain heavy.
8 Even when I cry out and call for help,
He ^lshuts out my prayer.
9 He has ^mblocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11 He has turned aside my ways and ⁿtorn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He ^obent His bow
And ^pset me as a target for the arrow.
13 He made the ^{▼▼ Lit sons}arrows of His ^rquiver
To enter into my ^{▼▼ Lit kidneys}inward parts.
14 I have become a ^tlaughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking ^usong all the day.
15 He has ^vfilled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
16 He has ^wbroken my teeth with ^xgravel;
He has made me cower in the ^ydust.
17 My soul has been rejected ^zfrom peace;
I have forgotten ^{▼▼ Lit good}happiness.
18 So I say, “My strength has perished,
And so has my ^abhope from the Lord.”

Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy

19 Remember my affliction and my ^{▼▼ Or bitterness}wandering, the ^adwormwood and bitterness.
20 Surely ^aemy soul remembers
And is ^afbowed down within me.
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have ^aghope.
22 The Lord’s ^ahlovingkindnesses ^{▼▼ Or that we are not consumed}indeed never cease,
^ajFor His compassions never fail.
23 They are new ^akevery morning;
Great is ^alYour faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my ^amportion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I ^anhave hope in Him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who ^aowait for Him,
To the ^{▼▼ Lit soul}person who ^aqseeks Him.
26 It is good that he ^arwaits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him ^assit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
29 Let him ^{▼▼ Lit give}put his mouth in the ^audust,
Perhaps there is ^avhope.
30 Let him give his ^awcheek to ^{▼▼ Lit his}the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
31 For the Lord will ^aynot reject forever,
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have ^azcompassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
33 For He ^badoes not afflict ^{▼▼ Lit from His heart}willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
34 To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the ^{▼▼ Or earth}land,
35 To ^{▼▼ Or turn aside a man’s case}deprive a man of ^bejustice
In the presence of the Most High,
36 To ^{▼▼ Lit make crooked
,} ^bgdefraud a man in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does not ^{▼▼ Lit see}approve.
37 Who is ^{▼▼ Lit this}there who speaks and it ^bjcomes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That ^{▼▼ Lit the evil things and the good
,} ^blboth good and ill go forth?

39 Why should any living ^{▼▼ Or human being}mortal, or any man,
Offer ^bncomplaint ^{▼▼ Or on the basis of}in view of his sins?
40 Let us ^bpexamine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the Lord.
41 We ^bqlift up our heart ^{▼▼ Lit toward our}and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have ^bstransgressed and rebelled,
You have ^btnot pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with ^buanger
And ^bvpursued us;
You have slain and ^bwhave not spared.
44 You have ^bxcovered Yourself with a cloud
So that ^byno prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere ^bzoffscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies have ^caopened their mouths against us.
47 ^cbPanic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My ^{▼▼ Lit eye brings
,} ^cdeyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes pour down ^ceunceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until the Lord ^cflooks down
And sees from heaven.
51 My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies ^cgwithout cause
Hunted me down ^chlike a bird;
53 They have silenced ^{▼▼ Lit my life}me ^cjin the pit
And have ^{▼▼ Or cast stones
,} ^clplaced a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed ^cmover my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”
55 I ^cncalled on Your name, O Lord,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have ^coheard my voice,
^cp“Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You ^cqdrew near when I called on You;
You said, ^cr“Do not fear!”
58 O Lord, You ^cshave pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have ^ctredeemed my life.
59 O Lord, You have ^cuseen my oppression;
^cvJudge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their ^cwschemes against me.
61 You have heard their ^cxreproach, O Lord,
All their schemes against me.
62 The ^cylips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63 Look on their ^czsitting and their rising;
^daI am their mocking song.
64 You will ^dbrecompense them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them ^{▼▼ Or insolence
,} ^ddhardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will ^depursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the ^dfheavens of the Lord!