VerseAI

NIV

Lamentations 3

  1. 1<pb/><t><f>[9]</f>I am the man who has seen affliction</t> <t>by the rod of the LORD’s wrath.</t>
  2. 2<t>He has driven me away and made me walk</t> <t>in darkness rather than light;</t>
  3. 3<t>indeed, he has turned his hand against me</t> <t>again and again, all day long. <pb/></t>
  4. 4<t>He has made my skin and my flesh grow old</t> <t>and has broken my bones.</t>
  5. 5<t>He has besieged me and surrounded me</t> <t>with bitterness and hardship.</t>
  6. 6<t>He has made me dwell in darkness</t> <t>like those long dead. <pb/></t>
  7. 7<t>He has walled me in so I cannot escape;</t> <t>he has weighed me down with chains.</t>
  8. 8<t>Even when I call out or cry for help,</t> <t>he shuts out my prayer.</t>
  9. 9<t>He has barred my way with blocks of stone;</t> <t>he has made my paths crooked. <pb/></t>
  10. 10<t>Like a bear lying in wait,</t> <t>like a lion in hiding,</t>
  11. 11<t>he dragged me from the path and mangled me</t> <t>and left me without help.</t>
  12. 12<t>He drew his bow</t> <t>and made me the target for his arrows. <pb/></t>
  13. 13<t>He pierced my heart</t> <t>with arrows from his quiver.</t>
  14. 14<t>I became the laughingstock of all my people;</t> <t>they mock me in song all day long.</t>
  15. 15<t>He has filled me with bitter herbs</t> <t>and given me gall to drink. <pb/></t>
  16. 16<t>He has broken my teeth with gravel;</t> <t>he has trampled me in the dust.</t>
  17. 17<t>I have been deprived of peace;</t> <t>I have forgotten what prosperity is.</t>
  18. 18<t>So I say, “My splendor is gone</t> <t>and all that I had hoped from the LORD.” <pb/></t>
  19. 19<t>I remember my affliction and my wandering,</t> <t>the bitterness and the gall.</t>
  20. 20<t>I well remember them,</t> <t>and my soul is downcast within me.</t>
  21. 21<t>Yet this I call to mind</t> <t>and therefore I have hope: <pb/></t>
  22. 22<t>Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,</t> <t>for his compassions never fail.</t>
  23. 23<t>They are new every morning;</t> <t>great is your faithfulness.</t>
  24. 24<t>I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;</t> <t>therefore I will wait for him.” <pb/></t>
  25. 25<t>The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,</t> <t>to the one who seeks him;</t>
  26. 26<t>it is good to wait quietly</t> <t>for the salvation of the LORD.</t>
  27. 27<t>It is good for a man to bear the yoke</t> <t>while he is young. <pb/></t>
  28. 28<t>Let him sit alone in silence,</t> <t>for the LORD has laid it on him.</t>
  29. 29<t>Let him bury his face in the dust—</t> <t>there may yet be hope.</t>
  30. 30<t>Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,</t> <t>and let him be filled with disgrace. <pb/></t>
  31. 31<t>For no one is cast off</t> <t>by the Lord forever.</t>
  32. 32<t>Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,</t> <t>so great is his unfailing love.</t>
  33. 33<t>For he does not willingly bring affliction</t> <t>or grief to anyone. <pb/></t>
  34. 34<t>To crush underfoot</t> <t>all prisoners in the land,</t>
  35. 35<t>to deny people their rights</t> <t>before the Most High,</t>
  36. 36<t>to deprive them of justice—</t> <t>would not the Lord see such things? <pb/></t>
  37. 37<t>Who can speak and have it happen</t> <t>if the Lord has not decreed it?</t>
  38. 38<t>Is it not from the mouth of the Most High</t> <t>that both calamities and good things come?</t>
  39. 39<t>Why should the living complain</t> <t>when punished for their sins? <pb/></t>
  40. 40<t>Let us examine our ways and test them,</t> <t>and let us return to the LORD.</t>
  41. 41<t>Let us lift up our hearts and our hands</t> <t>to God in heaven, and say:</t>
  42. 42<t>“We have sinned and rebelled</t> <t>and you have not forgiven. <pb/></t>
  43. 43<t>“You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;</t> <t>you have slain without pity.</t>
  44. 44<t>You have covered yourself with a cloud</t> <t>so that no prayer can get through.</t>
  45. 45<t>You have made us scum and refuse</t> <t>among the nations. <pb/></t>
  46. 46<t>“All our enemies have opened their mouths</t> <t>wide against us.</t>
  47. 47<t>We have suffered terror and pitfalls,</t> <t>ruin and destruction.”</t>
  48. 48<t>Streams of tears flow from my eyes</t> <t>because my people are destroyed. <pb/></t>
  49. 49<t>My eyes will flow unceasingly,</t> <t>without relief,</t>
  50. 50<t>until the LORD looks down</t> <t>from heaven and sees.</t>
  51. 51<t>What I see brings grief to my soul</t> <t>because of all the women of my city. <pb/></t>
  52. 52<t>Those who were my enemies without cause</t> <t>hunted me like a bird.</t>
  53. 53<t>They tried to end my life in a pit</t> <t>and threw stones at me;</t>
  54. 54<t>the waters closed over my head,</t> <t>and I thought I was about to perish. <pb/></t>
  55. 55<t>I called on your name, LORD,</t> <t>from the depths of the pit.</t>
  56. 56<t>You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears</t> <t>to my cry for relief.”</t>
  57. 57<t>You came near when I called you,</t> <t>and you said, “Do not fear.” <pb/></t>
  58. 58<t>You, Lord, took up my case;</t> <t>you redeemed my life.</t>
  59. 59<t>LORD, you have seen the wrong done to me.</t> <t>Uphold my cause!</t>
  60. 60<t>You have seen the depth of their vengeance,</t> <t>all their plots against me. <pb/></t>
  61. 61<t>LORD, you have heard their insults,</t> <t>all their plots against me—</t>
  62. 62<t>what my enemies whisper and mutter</t> <t>against me all day long.</t>
  63. 63<t>Look at them! Sitting or standing,</t> <t>they mock me in their songs. <pb/></t>
  64. 64<t>Pay them back what they deserve, LORD,</t> <t>for what their hands have done.</t>
  65. 65<t>Put a veil over their hearts,</t> <t>and may your curse be on them!</t>
  66. 66<t>Pursue them in anger and destroy them</t> <t>from under the heavens of the LORD.</t>