Lamentations 3:1-66 NET

[1] I am the man who has experienced affliction from the rod of the LORD's wrath. [2] He drove me into captivity and made me walk in darkness and not light. [3] He repeatedly attacks me; he turns his hand against me all day long. [4] He has made my mortal skin waste away; he has broken my bones. [5] He has besieged and surrounded me with bitter hardship. [6] He has made me reside in deepest darkness like those who died long ago. [7] He has walled me in so that I cannot get out; he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains. [8] Also, when I cry out desperately for help, he has shut out my prayer. [9] He has blocked every road I take with a wall of hewn stones; he has made every path impassable. [10] To me he is like a bear lying in ambush, like a hidden lion stalking its prey. [11] He has obstructed my paths and torn me to pieces; he has made me desolate. [12] He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrow. [13] He shot his arrows into my heart. [14] I have become the laughingstock of all people, their mocking song all day long. [15] He has given me my fill of bitter herbs and made me drunk with bitterness. [16] He ground my teeth in gravel; he trampled me in the dust. [17] I am deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is. [18] So I said, "My endurance has expired; I have lost all hope of deliverance from the LORD." [19] Remember my impoverished and homeless condition, which is a bitter poison. [20] I continually think about this, and I am depressed. [21] But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope: [22] The LORD's loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. [23] They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! [24] "My portion is the LORD," I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him. [25] The LORD is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him. [26] It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the LORD. [27] It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. [28] Let a person sit alone in silence, when the LORD is disciplining him. [29] Let him bury his face in the dust; perhaps there is hope. [30] Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; let him have his fill of insults. [31] For the Lord will not reject us forever. [32] Though he causes us grief, he then has compassion on us according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. [33] For he is not predisposed to afflict or to grieve people. [34] To crush underfoot all the earth's prisoners, [35] to deprive a person of his rights in the presence of the Most High, [36] to defraud a person in a lawsuit-the Lord does not approve of such things! [37] Whose command was ever fulfilled unless the Lord decreed it? [38] Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes-both calamity and blessing? [39] Why should any living person complain when punished for his sins? [40] Let us carefully examine our ways, and let us return to the LORD. [41] Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven: [42] "We have blatantly rebelled; you have not forgiven." [43] You shrouded yourself with anger and then pursued us; you killed without mercy. [44] You shrouded yourself with a cloud so that no prayer could get through. [45] You make us like filthy scum in the estimation of the nations. [46] All our enemies have gloated over us; [47] panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction. [48] Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed. [49] Tears flow from my eyes and will not stop; there will be no break [50] until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees what has happened. [51] What my eyes see grieves me-all the suffering of the daughters in my city. [52] For no good reason my enemies hunted me down like a bird. [53] They shut me up in a pit and threw stones at me. [54] The waters closed over my head; I thought I was about to die. [55] I have called on your name, O LORD, from the deepest pit. [56] You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!" [57] You came near on the day I called to you; you said, "Do not fear!" [58] O Lord, you championed my cause; you redeemed my life. [59] You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; pronounce judgment on my behalf! [60] You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me. [61] You have heard their taunts, O LORD, all their plots against me. [62] My assailants revile and conspire against me all day long. [63] Watch them from morning to evening; I am the object of their mocking songs. [64] Pay them back what they deserve, O LORD, according to what they have done. [65] Give them a distraught heart; may your curse be on them! [66] Pursue them in anger and eradicate them from under the LORD's heaven.