Lamentations 3

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.	1 I am the man familiar with misery under the rod of his fury.
2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.	2 He has led and guided me into darkness, not light.
3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.	3 Against none but me does he turn his hand, again and again, al day.
4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.	4 He has wasted my flesh and skin away, has broken my bones.
5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.	5 He has besieged me and made hardship a circlet round my head.
6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.	6 He has forced me to dwel where al is dark, like those long-dead in their everlasting home.
7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.	7 He has walled me in so that I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains;
8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.	8 even when I shout for help, he shuts out my prayer.
9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.	9 He has closed my way with blocks of stone, he has obstructed my paths.
10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.	10 For me he is a lurking bear, a lion in hiding.
11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.	11 Heading me off, he has torn me apart, leaving me shattered.
12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.	12 He has bent his bow and used me as a target for his arrows.
13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.	13 He has shot deep into me with shafts from his quiver.
14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.	14 I have become a joke to al my own people, their refrain all day long.
15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.	15 He has given me my fil of bitterness, he has made me drunk with wormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.	16 He has broken my teeth with gravel, he has fed me on ashes.
17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.	17 I have been deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is
18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:	18 and thought, 'My lasting hope in Yahweh is lost.'
19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.	19 Bring to mind my misery and anguish; it is wormwood and gall!
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.	20 My heart dwel s on this continual y and sinks within me.
21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.	21 This is what I shal keep in mind and so regain some hope:
22 It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.	22 Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love not exhausted;
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.	23 every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness!
24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.	24 'Yahweh is al I have,' I say to myself, 'and so I shal put my hope in him.'
25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.	25 Yahweh is good to those who trust him, to al who search for him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.	26 It is good to wait in silence for Yahweh to save.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.	27 It is good for someone to bear the yoke from a young age,
28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.	28 to sit in solitude and silence when it weighs heavy,
29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.	29 to lay one's head in the dust -- maybe there is hope-
30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.	30 to offer one's cheek to the striker, to have one's fil of disgrace!
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:	31 For the Lord will not reject anyone for ever.
32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.	32 If he brings grief, he wil have pity out of the ful ness of his faithful love,
33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.	33 for it is not for his own pleasure that he torments and grieves the human race.
34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,	34 When al the prisoners in a country are crushed underfoot,
35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,	35 when human rights are overridden in defiance of the Most High,
36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.	36 when someone is cheated of justice, does not the Lord see it?
37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?	37 Who has only to speak and it is so done? Who commands, if not the Lord?
38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?	38 From where, if not from the mouth of the Most High, do evil and good come?
39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?	39 Why then should anyone complain? Better to be bold against one's sins.
40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.	40 Let us examine our path, let us ponder it and return to Yahweh.
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.	41 Let us raise our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.	42 We are the ones who have sinned, who have rebel ed, and you have not forgiven.
43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.	43 You have enveloped us in anger, pursuing us, slaughtering without pity.
44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.	44 You have wrapped yourself in a cloud too thick for prayer to pierce.
45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.	45 You have reduced us to rubbish and refuse among the nations.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.	46 Our enemies open their mouths in chorus against us.
47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.	47 Terror and pitfal have been our lot, ravage and ruin.
48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.	48 My eyes dissolve in torrents of tears at the ruin of my beloved people.
49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,	49 My eyes wil weep ceaselessly, without relief,
50 Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.	50 until Yahweh looks down and sees from heaven.
51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.	51 My eyes have grown sore over al the daughters of my city.
52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.	52 Unprovoked, my enemies hunted me down like a bird.
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.	53 They shut me final y in a pit, they closed me in with a stone.
54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.	54 The waters rose over my head; I thought, 'I am lost!'
55 I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.	55 Yahweh, I called on your name from the deep pit.
56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.	56 You heard my voice, do not close your ear to my prayer, to my cry.
57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.	57 You are near when I cal to you. You said, 'Do not be afraid!'
58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.	58 Lord, you defended my cause, you have redeemed my life.
59 O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.	59 Yahweh, you have seen the wrong done to me, grant me redress.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.	60 You have seen their vindictiveness, al their plots against me.
61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations against me;	61 You have heard their insults, Yahweh, al their plots against me,
62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.	62 the whispering and murmuring of my enemies against me all day long.
63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.	63 Look, whether they sit or stand, I am their refrain.
64 Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.	64 Yahweh, repay them as their deeds deserve.
65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.	65 Lay hardness of heart as your curse on them.
66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD.	66 Angrily pursue them, root them out from under your heavens!