Lamentations 3:1-66 BSB

[1] I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath. [2] He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light. [3] Indeed, He keeps turning His hand against me all day long. [4] He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones. [5] He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. [6] He has made me dwell in darkness like those dead for ages. [7] He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains. [8] Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer. [9] He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked. [10] He is a bear lying in wait, a lion hiding in ambush. [11] He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces; He left me without help. [12] He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow. [13] He pierced my kidneys with His arrows. [14] I am a laughingstock to all my people; they mock me in song all day long. [15] He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood. [16] He has ground my teeth with gravel and trampled me in the dust. [17] My soul has been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. [18] So I say, “My strength has perished, along with my hope from the LORD.” [19] Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall. [20] Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. [21] Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: [22] Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. [23] They are new every morning; great is Your 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 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 still young. [28] Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it upon him. [29] Let him bury his face 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 reproach. [31] For the Lord will not cast us off forever. [32] Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion. [33] For He does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men. [34] To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land, [35] to deny a man justice before the Most High, [36] to subvert a man in his lawsuit—of these the Lord does not approve. [37] Who has spoken and it came to pass, 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 mortal man complain, in view of his sins? [40] Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD. [41] Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: [42] “We have sinned and rebelled; You have not forgiven.” [43] You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us; You have killed without pity. [44] You have covered Yourself with a cloud that no prayer can pass through. [45] You have made us scum and refuse among the nations. [46] All our enemies open their mouths against us. [47] Panic and pitfall have come upon us —devastation and destruction. [48] Streams of tears flow from my eyes over the destruction of the daughter of my people. [49] My eyes overflow unceasingly, without relief, [50] until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees. [51] My eyes bring grief to my soul because of all the daughters of my city. [52] Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird. [53] They dropped me alive into a pit and cast stones upon me. [54] The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die. [55] I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the depths of the Pit. [56] You heard my plea: “Do not ignore my cry for relief.” [57] You drew near when I called on You; You said, “Do not be afraid.” [58] You defend my cause, O Lord; You redeem my life. [59] You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me; vindicate my cause! [60] You have seen all their malice, all their plots against me. [61] O LORD, You have heard their insults, all their plots against me — [62] the slander and murmuring of my assailants against me all day long. [63] When they sit and when they rise, see how they mock me in song. [64] You will pay them back what they deserve, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. [65] Put a veil of anguish over their hearts; may Your curse be upon them! [66] You will pursue them in anger and exterminate them from under Your heavens, O LORD.