Lamentations 3

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 I am a man who knows affliction from the rod of his anger,	1 I am the man familiar with misery under the rod of his fury.
2 One whom he has led and forced to walk in darkness, not in the light;	2 He has led and guided me into darkness, not light.
3 Against me alone he brings back his hand again and again all the day.	3 Against none but me does he turn his hand, again and again, al day.
4 He has worn away my flesh and my skin, he has broken my bones;	4 He has wasted my flesh and skin away, has broken my bones.
5 He has beset me round about with poverty and weariness;	5 He has besieged me and made hardship a circlet round my head.
6 He has left me to dwell in the dark like those long dead.	6 He has forced me to dwel where al is dark, like those long-dead in their everlasting home.
7 He has hemmed me in with no escape and weighed me down with chains;	7 He has walled me in so that I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains;
8 Even when I cry out for help, he stops my prayer;	8 even when I shout for help, he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my ways with fitted stones, and turned my paths aside.	9 He has closed my way with blocks of stone, he has obstructed my paths.
10 A lurking bear he has been to me, a lion in ambush!	10 For me he is a lurking bear, a lion in hiding.
11 He deranged my ways, set me astray, left me desolate.	11 Heading me off, he has torn me apart, leaving me shattered.
12 He bent his bow, and set me up as the target for his arrow.	12 He has bent his bow and used me as a target for his arrows.
13 He pierces my sides with shafts from his quiver.	13 He has shot deep into me with shafts from his quiver.
14 I have become a laughingstock for all nations, their taunt all the day long;	14 I have become a joke to al my own people, their refrain all day long.
15 He has sated me with bitter food, made me drink my fill of wormwood.	15 He has given me my fil of bitterness, he has made me drunk with wormwood.
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel, pressed my face in the dust;	16 He has broken my teeth with gravel, he has fed me on ashes.
17 My soul is deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is;	17 I have been deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is
18 I tell myself my future is lost, all that I hoped for from the LORD.	18 and thought, 'My lasting hope in Yahweh is lost.'
19 The thought of my homeless poverty is wormwood and gall;	19 Bring to mind my misery and anguish; it is wormwood and gall!
20 Remembering it over and over leaves my soul downcast within me.	20 My heart dwel s on this continual y and sinks within me.
21 But I will call this to mind, as my reason to have hope:	21 This is what I shal keep in mind and so regain some hope:
22 The favors of the LORD are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent;	22 Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love not exhausted;
23 They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness.	23 every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness!
24 My portion is the LORD, says 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 Good is the LORD to one who waits for him, to the soul that seeks him;	25 Yahweh is good to those who trust him, to al who search for him.
26 It is good to hope in silence for the saving help of the LORD.	26 It is good to wait in silence for Yahweh to save.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke from his youth.	27 It is good for someone to bear the yoke from a young age,
28 Let him sit alone and in silence, when it is laid upon him.	28 to sit in solitude and silence when it weighs heavy,
29 Let him put his mouth to the dust; there may yet be hope.	29 to lay one's head in the dust -- maybe there is hope-
30 Let him offer his cheek to be struck, let him be filled with disgrace.	30 to offer one's cheek to the striker, to have one's fil of disgrace!
31 For the Lord's rejection does not last forever;	31 For the Lord will not reject anyone for ever.
32 Though he punishes, he takes pity, in the abundance of his mercies;	32 If he brings grief, he wil have pity out of the ful ness of his faithful love,
33 He has no joy in afflicting or grieving the sons of men.	33 for it is not for his own pleasure that he torments and grieves the human race.
34 When anyone tramples underfoot all the prisoners in the land,	34 When al the prisoners in a country are crushed underfoot,
35 When he distorts men's rights in the very sight of the Most High,	35 when human rights are overridden in defiance of the Most High,
36 When he presses a crooked claim, the Lord does not look on unconcerned.	36 when someone is cheated of justice, does not the Lord see it?
37 Who commands so that it comes to pass, except the Lord ordains it;	37 Who has only to speak and it is so done? Who commands, if not the Lord?
38 Except it proceeds from the mouth of the Most High, whether the thing be good or bad!	38 From where, if not from the mouth of the Most High, do evil and good come?
39 Why should any living man complain, any mortal, in the face of his sins?	39 Why then should anyone complain? Better to be bold against one's sins.
40 Let us search and examine our ways that we may return to the LORD!	40 Let us examine our path, let us ponder it and return to Yahweh.
41 Let us reach out our hearts toward God in heaven!	41 Let us raise our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
42 We have sinned and rebelled; you have not forgiven us.	42 We are the ones who have sinned, who have rebel ed, and you have not forgiven.
43 You veiled yourself in wrath and pursued us, you slew us and took no pity;	43 You have enveloped us in anger, pursuing us, slaughtering without pity.
44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud which prayer could not pierce.	44 You have wrapped yourself in a cloud too thick for prayer to pierce.
45 You have made us offscourings and refuse among the nations.	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 Terror and the pit have been our lot, desolation and destruction;	47 Terror and pitfal have been our lot, ravage and ruin.
48 My eyes run with streams of water over the downfall of the daughter of my people.	48 My eyes dissolve in torrents of tears at the ruin of my beloved people.
49 My eyes flow without ceasing, there is no respite,	49 My eyes wil weep ceaselessly, without relief,
50 Till the LORD from heaven looks down and sees.	50 until Yahweh looks down and sees from heaven.
51 My eyes torment my soul at the sight of all the daughters of my city.	51 My eyes have grown sore over al the daughters of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird;	52 Unprovoked, my enemies hunted me down like a bird.
53 They struck me down alive in the pit, and sealed me in with a stone.	53 They shut me final y in a pit, they closed me in with a stone.
54 The waters flowed over my head, and I said, "I am lost!"	54 The waters rose over my head; I thought, 'I am lost!'
55 I called upon your name, O LORD, from the bottom of the pit;	55 Yahweh, I called on your name from the deep pit.
56 You heard me call, "Let not your ear be deaf to my cry for help!"	56 You heard my voice, do not close your ear to my prayer, to my cry.
57 You came to my aid when I called to you; you said, "Have no fear!"	57 You are near when I cal to you. You said, 'Do not be afraid!'
58 You defended me in mortal danger, you redeemed my life.	58 Lord, you defended my cause, you have redeemed my life.
59 You see, O LORD, how I am wronged; do me justice!	59 Yahweh, you have seen the wrong done to me, grant me redress.
60 You see all their vindictiveness, all their plots against me.	60 You have seen their vindictiveness, al their plots against me.
61 You hear their insults, O LORD, (all their plots against me),	61 You have heard their insults, Yahweh, al their plots against me,
62 The whispered murmurings of my foes, against me all the day;	62 the whispering and murmuring of my enemies against me all day long.
63 Whether they sit or stand, see, I am their taunt song.	63 Look, whether they sit or stand, I am their refrain.
64 Requite them as they deserve, O LORD, according to their deeds;	64 Yahweh, repay them as their deeds deserve.
65 Give them hardness of heart, as your curse upon them;	65 Lay hardness of heart as your curse on them.
66 Pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under your heavens!	66 Angrily pursue them, root them out from under your heavens!