Lamentations 3 - Christian Standard Bible Anglicised

Hope through God’s Mercy א Aleph

¹ I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath.

² He has driven me away and forced me to walk in darkness instead of light.

³ Yes, he repeatedly turns his hand against me all day long.

ב Beth

⁴ He has worn away my flesh and skin; he has broken my bones.

⁵ He has laid siege against me, encircling me with bitterness and hardship.

⁶ He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have been dead for ages.

ג Gimel

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot get out; he has weighed me down with chains.

⁸ Even when I cry out and plead for help, he blocks out my prayer.

⁹ He has walled in my ways with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.

ד Daleth

¹⁰ He is  a bear waiting in ambush, a lion in hiding.

¹¹ He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces; he left me desolate.

¹² He strung his bow and set me as the target for his arrow.

ה He

¹³ He pierced my kidneys with shafts from his quiver.

¹⁴ I am a laughing-stock  to all my people, mocked by their songs  all day long.

¹⁵ He filled me with bitterness, satiated me with wormwood.

ו Waw

¹⁶ He ground my teeth with gravel and made me cower  in the dust.

¹⁷ I have been deprived  of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.

¹⁸ Then I thought, ‘My future  is lost, as well as my hope from the  Lord.’

ז Zayin

¹⁹ Remember  my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison.

²⁰ I continually remember them and have become depressed.  ,

²¹ Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope:

ח Cheth

²² Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end.

²³ They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!

²⁴ I say, ‘The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.’

ט Teth

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait  for him, to the person who seeks him.

²⁶ It is good to wait quietly for salvation from the  Lord.

²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.

י Yod

²⁸ Let him sit alone and be silent, for God has disciplined   him.

²⁹ Let him put his mouth in the dust   – perhaps there is still hope.

³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with disgrace.

כ Kaph

³¹ For the Lord will not reject us for ever.

³² Even if he causes suffering, he will show compassion according to the abundance of his faithful love.

³³ For he does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.

ל Lamed

³⁴ Crushing all the prisoners of the land beneath one’s feet,

³⁵ denying justice to a man in the presence of the Most High,

³⁶ or subverting a person in his lawsuit   – the Lord does not approve of these things.

מ Mem

³⁷ Who is there who speaks and it happens, unless the Lord has ordained it?

³⁸ Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?

³⁹ Why should any living person complain, any man, because of the punishment for his sins?

נ Nun

⁴⁰ Let’s examine and probe our ways, and turn back to the  Lord.

⁴¹ Let’s lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven:

⁴² ‘We have sinned and rebelled; you have not forgiven.

ס Samek

⁴³ ‘You have covered yourself in anger and pursued us; you have killed without compassion.

⁴⁴ You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.

⁴⁵ You have made us disgusting filth among the peoples.

פ Pe

⁴⁶ ‘All our enemies open their mouths against us.

⁴⁷ We have experienced panic and pitfall, devastation and destruction.’

⁴⁸ My eyes flow with streams of tears because of the destruction of my dear people.

ע Ayin

⁴⁹ My eyes overflow unceasingly, without end,

⁵⁰ until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees.

⁵¹ My eyes bring me grief because of the fate of all the women in my city.

צ Tsade

⁵² For no reason, my enemies hunted me like a bird.

⁵³ They smothered my life in   a pit and threw stones on me.

⁵⁴ Water flooded over my head, and I thought, ‘I’m going to die! ’

ק Qoph

⁵⁵ I called on your name,  Lord, from the depths of the pit.

⁵⁶ You heard my plea: Do not ignore my cry for relief.

⁵⁷ You came near whenever I called you; you said, ‘Do not be afraid.’

ר Resh

⁵⁸ You championed my cause, Lord; you redeemed my life.

⁵⁹ Lord, you saw the wrong done to me; judge my case.

⁶⁰ You saw all their vengefulness, all their plots against me.

ׂש Sin / שׁ Shin

⁶¹ Lord, you heard their insults, all their plots against me.

⁶² The slander  and murmuring of my opponents attack me all day long.

⁶³ When they sit and when they rise, look, I am mocked by their songs.

ת Taw

⁶⁴ You will pay them back what they deserve,  Lord, according to the work of their hands.

⁶⁵ You will give them a heart filled with anguish.  , May your curse be on them!

⁶⁶ You will pursue them in anger and destroy them under your heavens.  ,