Lamentations 3:1-66 NIV

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

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