Lamentations 3

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 I am the man familiar with misery under the rod of his fury.	1 I am a man who knows affliction from the rod of his anger,
2 He has led and guided me into darkness, not light.	2 One whom he has led and forced to walk in darkness, not in the light;
3 Against none but me does he turn his hand, again and again, al day.	3 Against me alone he brings back his hand again and again all the day.
4 He has wasted my flesh and skin away, has broken my bones.	4 He has worn away my flesh and my skin, he has broken my bones;
5 He has besieged me and made hardship a circlet round my head.	5 He has beset me round about with poverty and weariness;
6 He has forced me to dwel where al is dark, like those long-dead in their everlasting home.	6 He has left me to dwell in the dark like those long dead.
7 He has walled me in so that I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains;	7 He has hemmed me in with no escape and weighed me down with chains;
8 even when I shout for help, he shuts out my prayer.	8 Even when I cry out for help, he stops my prayer;
9 He has closed my way with blocks of stone, he has obstructed my paths.	9 He has blocked my ways with fitted stones, and turned my paths aside.
10 For me he is a lurking bear, a lion in hiding.	10 A lurking bear he has been to me, a lion in ambush!
11 Heading me off, he has torn me apart, leaving me shattered.	11 He deranged my ways, set me astray, left me desolate.
12 He has bent his bow and used me as a target for his arrows.	12 He bent his bow, and set me up as the target for his arrow.
13 He has shot deep into me with shafts from his quiver.	13 He pierces my sides with shafts from his quiver.
14 I have become a joke to al my own people, their refrain all day long.	14 I have become a laughingstock for all nations, their taunt all the day long;
15 He has given me my fil of bitterness, he has made me drunk with wormwood.	15 He has sated me with bitter food, made me drink my fill of wormwood.
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel, he has fed me on ashes.	16 He has broken my teeth with gravel, pressed my face in the dust;
17 I have been deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is	17 My soul is deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 and thought, 'My lasting hope in Yahweh is lost.'	18 I tell myself my future is lost, all that I hoped for from the LORD.
19 Bring to mind my misery and anguish; it is wormwood and gall!	19 The thought of my homeless poverty is wormwood and gall;
20 My heart dwel s on this continual y and sinks within me.	20 Remembering it over and over leaves my soul downcast within me.
21 This is what I shal keep in mind and so regain some hope:	21 But I will call this to mind, as my reason to have hope:
22 Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love not exhausted;	22 The favors of the LORD are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent;
23 every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness!	23 They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness.
24 'Yahweh is al I have,' I say to myself, 'and so I shal put my hope in him.'	24 My portion is the LORD, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 Yahweh is good to those who trust him, to al who search for him.	25 Good is the LORD to one who waits for him, to the soul that seeks him;
26 It is good to wait in silence for Yahweh to save.	26 It is good to hope in silence for the saving help of the LORD.
27 It is good for someone to bear the yoke from a young age,	27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke from his youth.
28 to sit in solitude and silence when it weighs heavy,	28 Let him sit alone and in silence, when it is laid upon him.
29 to lay one's head in the dust -- maybe there is hope-	29 Let him put his mouth to the dust; there may yet be hope.
30 to offer one's cheek to the striker, to have one's fil of disgrace!	30 Let him offer his cheek to be struck, let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For the Lord will not reject anyone for ever.	31 For the Lord's rejection does not last forever;
32 If he brings grief, he wil have pity out of the ful ness of his faithful love,	32 Though he punishes, he takes pity, in the abundance of his mercies;
33 for it is not for his own pleasure that he torments and grieves the human race.	33 He has no joy in afflicting or grieving the sons of men.
34 When al the prisoners in a country are crushed underfoot,	34 When anyone tramples underfoot all the prisoners in the land,
35 when human rights are overridden in defiance of the Most High,	35 When he distorts men's rights in the very sight of the Most High,
36 when someone is cheated of justice, does not the Lord see it?	36 When he presses a crooked claim, the Lord does not look on unconcerned.
37 Who has only to speak and it is so done? Who commands, if not the Lord?	37 Who commands so that it comes to pass, except the Lord ordains it;
38 From where, if not from the mouth of the Most High, do evil and good come?	38 Except it proceeds from the mouth of the Most High, whether the thing be good or bad!
39 Why then should anyone complain? Better to be bold against one's sins.	39 Why should any living man complain, any mortal, in the face of his sins?
40 Let us examine our path, let us ponder it and return to Yahweh.	40 Let us search and examine our ways that we may return to the LORD!
41 Let us raise our hearts and hands to God in heaven.	41 Let us reach out our hearts toward God in heaven!
42 We are the ones who have sinned, who have rebel ed, and you have not forgiven.	42 We have sinned and rebelled; you have not forgiven us.
43 You have enveloped us in anger, pursuing us, slaughtering without pity.	43 You veiled yourself in wrath and pursued us, you slew us and took no pity;
44 You have wrapped yourself in a cloud too thick for prayer to pierce.	44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud which prayer could not pierce.
45 You have reduced us to rubbish and refuse among the nations.	45 You have made us offscourings and refuse among the nations.
46 Our enemies open their mouths in chorus against us.	46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us;
47 Terror and pitfal have been our lot, ravage and ruin.	47 Terror and the pit have been our lot, desolation and destruction;
48 My eyes dissolve in torrents of tears at the ruin of my beloved people.	48 My eyes run with streams of water over the downfall of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes wil weep ceaselessly, without relief,	49 My eyes flow without ceasing, there is no respite,
50 until Yahweh looks down and sees from heaven.	50 Till the LORD from heaven looks down and sees.
51 My eyes have grown sore over al the daughters of my city.	51 My eyes torment my soul at the sight of all the daughters of my city.
52 Unprovoked, my enemies hunted me down like a bird.	52 Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird;
53 They shut me final y in a pit, they closed me in with a stone.	53 They struck me down alive in the pit, and sealed me in with a stone.
54 The waters rose over my head; I thought, 'I am lost!'	54 The waters flowed over my head, and I said, "I am lost!"
55 Yahweh, I called on your name from the deep pit.	55 I called upon your name, O LORD, from the bottom of the pit;
56 You heard my voice, do not close your ear to my prayer, to my cry.	56 You heard me call, "Let not your ear be deaf to my cry for help!"
57 You are near when I cal to you. You said, 'Do not be afraid!'	57 You came to my aid when I called to you; you said, "Have no fear!"
58 Lord, you defended my cause, you have redeemed my life.	58 You defended me in mortal danger, you redeemed my life.
59 Yahweh, you have seen the wrong done to me, grant me redress.	59 You see, O LORD, how I am wronged; do me justice!
60 You have seen their vindictiveness, al their plots against me.	60 You see all their vindictiveness, all their plots against me.
61 You have heard their insults, Yahweh, al their plots against me,	61 You hear their insults, O LORD, (all their plots against me),
62 the whispering and murmuring of my enemies against me all day long.	62 The whispered murmurings of my foes, against me all the day;
63 Look, whether they sit or stand, I am their refrain.	63 Whether they sit or stand, see, I am their taunt song.
64 Yahweh, repay them as their deeds deserve.	64 Requite them as they deserve, O LORD, according to their deeds;
65 Lay hardness of heart as your curse on them.	65 Give them hardness of heart, as your curse upon them;
66 Angrily pursue them, root them out from under your heavens!	66 Pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under your heavens!