| 1 I am a man who knows affliction from the rod of his anger, | 1 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; |
| 2 One whom he has led and forced to walk in darkness, not in the light; | 2 he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; |
| 3 Against me alone he brings back his hand again and again all the day. | 3 surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. |
| 4 He has worn away my flesh and my skin, he has broken my bones; | 4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones; |
| 5 He has beset me round about with poverty and weariness; | 5 he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; |
| 6 He has left me to dwell in the dark like those long dead. | 6 he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. |
| 7 He has hemmed me in with no escape and weighed me down with chains; | 7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; |
| 8 Even when I cry out for help, he stops my prayer; | 8 though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; |
| 9 He has blocked my ways with fitted stones, and turned my paths aside. | 9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked. |
| 10 A lurking bear he has been to me, a lion in ambush! | 10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding; |
| 11 He deranged my ways, set me astray, left me desolate. | 11 he led me off my way and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; |
| 12 He bent his bow, and set me up as the target for his arrow. | 12 he bent his bow and set me as a mark for his arrow. |
| 13 He pierces my sides with shafts from his quiver. | 13 He drove into my heart the arrows of his quiver; |
| 14 I have become a laughingstock for all nations, their taunt all the day long; | 14 I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the burden of their songs all day long. |
| 15 He has sated me with bitter food, made me drink my fill of wormwood. | 15 He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood. |
| 16 He has broken my teeth with gravel, pressed my face in the dust; | 16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; |
| 17 My soul is deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is; | 17 my soul is bereft 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 so I say, "Gone is my glory, and my expectation from the LORD." |
| 19 The thought of my homeless poverty is wormwood and gall; | 19 Remember my affliction and my bitterness, the wormwood and the gall! |
| 20 Remembering it over and over leaves my soul downcast within me. | 20 My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. |
| 21 But I will call this to mind, as my reason to have hope: | 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: |
| 22 The favors of the LORD are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent; | 22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; |
| 23 They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness. | 23 they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. |
| 24 My portion is the LORD, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him. | 24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." |
| 25 Good is the LORD to one who waits for him, to the soul that seeks him; | 25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. |
| 26 It is good to hope in silence for the saving help of the LORD. | 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. |
| 27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke from his youth. | 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. |
| 28 Let him sit alone and in silence, when it is laid upon him. | 28 Let him sit alone in silence when he has laid it on him; |
| 29 Let him put his mouth to the dust; there may yet be hope. | 29 let him put his mouth in the dust-- there may yet be hope; |
| 30 Let him offer his cheek to be struck, let him be filled with disgrace. | 30 let him give his cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults. |
| 31 For the Lord's rejection does not last forever; | 31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever, |
| 32 Though he punishes, he takes pity, in the abundance of his mercies; | 32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; |
| 33 He has no joy in afflicting or grieving the sons of men. | 33 for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men. |
| 34 When anyone tramples underfoot all the prisoners in the land, | 34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth, |
| 35 When he distorts men's rights in the very sight of the Most High, | 35 to turn aside the right of a man in the presence of the Most High, |
| 36 When he presses a crooked claim, the Lord does not look on unconcerned. | 36 to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord does not approve. |
| 37 Who commands so that it comes to pass, except the Lord ordains it; | 37 Who has commanded and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it? |
| 38 Except it proceeds from the mouth of the Most High, whether the thing be good or bad! | 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and evil come? |
| 39 Why should any living man complain, any mortal, in the face of his sins? | 39 Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? |
| 40 Let us search and examine our ways that we may return to the LORD! | 40 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! |
| 41 Let us reach out our hearts toward God in heaven! | 41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: |
| 42 We have sinned and rebelled; you have not forgiven us. | 42 "We have transgressed and rebelled, and thou hast not forgiven. |
| 43 You veiled yourself in wrath and pursued us, you slew us and took no pity; | 43 "Thou hast wrapped thyself with anger and pursued us, slaying without pity; |
| 44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud which prayer could not pierce. | 44 thou hast wrapped thyself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. |
| 45 You have made us offscourings and refuse among the nations. | 45 Thou hast made us offscouring and refuse among the peoples. |
| 46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us; | 46 "All our enemies rail against us; |
| 47 Terror and the pit have been our lot, desolation and destruction; | 47 panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction; |
| 48 My eyes run with streams of water over the downfall of the daughter of my people. | 48 my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. |
| 49 My eyes flow without ceasing, there is no respite, | 49 "My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite, |
| 50 Till the LORD from heaven looks down and sees. | 50 until the LORD from heaven looks down and sees; |
| 51 My eyes torment my soul at the sight of all the daughters of my city. | 51 my eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the maidens of my city. |
| 52 Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird; | 52 "I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause; |
| 53 They struck me down alive in the pit, and sealed me in with a stone. | 53 they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me; |
| 54 The waters flowed over my head, and I said, "I am lost!" | 54 water closed over my head; 'I said, I am lost.' |
| 55 I called upon your name, O LORD, from the bottom of the pit; | 55 "I called on thy name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; |
| 56 You heard me call, "Let not your ear be deaf to my cry for help!" | 56 thou didst hear my plea, 'Do not close thine ear to my cry for help!' |
| 57 You came to my aid when I called to you; you said, "Have no fear!" | 57 Thou didst come near when I called on thee; thou didst say, 'Do not fear!' |
| 58 You defended me in mortal danger, you redeemed my life. | 58 "Thou hast taken up my cause, O Lord, thou hast redeemed my life. |
| 59 You see, O LORD, how I am wronged; do me justice! | 59 Thou hast seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; judge thou my cause. |
| 60 You see all their vindictiveness, all their plots against me. | 60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance, all their devices against me. |
| 61 You hear their insults, O LORD, (all their plots against me), | 61 "Thou hast heard their taunts, O LORD, all their devices against me. |
| 62 The whispered murmurings of my foes, against me all the day; | 62 The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long. |
| 63 Whether they sit or stand, see, I am their taunt song. | 63 Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the burden of their songs. |
| 64 Requite them as they deserve, O LORD, according to their deeds; | 64 "Thou wilt requite them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. |
| 65 Give them hardness of heart, as your curse upon them; | 65 Thou wilt give them dullness of heart; thy curse will be on them. |
| 66 Pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under your heavens! | 66 Thou wilt pursue them in anger and destroy them from under thy heavens, O LORD." |