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