^1. I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath;

^2. he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;

^3. surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.

^4. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones;

^5. he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;

^6. he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.

^7. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me;

^8. though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;

^9. he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked.

^10. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding;

^11. he led me off my way and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate;

^12. he bent his bow and set me as a mark for his arrow.

^13. He drove into my heart the arrows of his quiver;

^14. I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the burden of their songs all day long.

^15. He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood.

^16. He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;

^17. my soul is bereft of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is;

^18. so I say, "Gone is my glory, and my expectation from the LORD."

^19. Remember my affliction and my bitterness, the wormwood and the gall!

^20. My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.

^21. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

^22. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;

^23. they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.

^24. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

^25. The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

^26. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

^27. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

^28. Let him sit alone in silence when he has laid it on him;

^29. let him put his mouth in the dust--there may yet be hope;

^30. let him give his cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults.

^31. For the Lord will not cast off for ever,

^32. but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

^33. for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men.

^34. To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,

^35. to turn aside the right of a man in the presence of the Most High,

^36. to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord does not approve.

^37. Who has commanded and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?

^38. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and evil come?

^39. Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?

^40. Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!

^41. Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

^42. "We have transgressed and rebelled, and thou hast not forgiven.

^43. "Thou hast wrapped thyself with anger and pursued us, slaying without pity;

^44. thou hast wrapped thyself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.

^45. Thou hast made us offscouring and refuse among the peoples.

^46. "All our enemies rail against us;

^47. panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction;

^48. my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

^49. "My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite,

^50. until the LORD from heaven looks down and sees;

^51. my eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the maidens of my city.

^52. "I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause;

^53. they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me;

^54. water closed over my head; I said, 'I am lost.'

^55. "I called on thy name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit;

^56. thou didst hear my plea, 'Do not close thine ear to my cry for help!'

^57. Thou didst come near when I called on thee; thou didst say, 'Do not fear!'

^58. "Thou hast taken up my cause, O Lord, thou hast redeemed my life.

^59. Thou hast seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; judge thou my cause.

^60. Thou hast seen all their vengeance, all their devices against me.

^61. "Thou hast heard their taunts, O LORD, all their devices against me.

^62. The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long.

^63. Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the burden of their songs.

^64. "Thou wilt requite them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.

^65. Thou wilt give them dullness of heart; thy curse will be on them.

^66. Thou wilt pursue them in anger and destroy them from under thy heavens, O LORD."

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Bible Main : Lamentations : 1 2 3 4 5