Lamentations 3

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Aleph. I am the man that see my poverty by the rod of his indignation.	1 I am a man who knows affliction from the rod of his anger,
2 Aleph. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, and not into light.	2 One whom he has led and forced to walk in darkness, not in the light;
3 Aleph. Only against me he hath turned, and turned again his hand all the day.	3 Against me alone he brings back his hand again and again all the day.
4 Beth. My skin and my flesh he hath made old, he hath broken my bones.	4 He has worn away my flesh and my skin, he has broken my bones;
5 Beth. He hath built round about me, and he hath compassed me with gall and labour.	5 He has beset me round about with poverty and weariness;
6 Beth. He hath set me in dark places as those that are dead for ever.	6 He has left me to dwell in the dark like those long dead.
7 Ghimel. He hath built against me round about, that I may not get out: he hath made my fetters heavy.	7 He has hemmed me in with no escape and weighed me down with chains;
8 Ghimel. Yea, and when I cry, and entreat, he hath shut out my prayer.	8 Even when I cry out for help, he stops my prayer;
9 Ghimel. He hath shut up my ways with square stones, he hath turned my paths upside down.	9 He has blocked my ways with fitted stones, and turned my paths aside.
10 Daleth. He is become to me as a bear lying in wait: as a lion in secret places.	10 A lurking bear he has been to me, a lion in ambush!
11 Daleth. He hath turned aside my paths, and hath broken me in pieces, he hath made me desolate.	11 He deranged my ways, set me astray, left me desolate.
12 Daleth. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.	12 He bent his bow, and set me up as the target for his arrow.
13 He. He hath shot into my reins the daughters of his quiver.	13 He pierces my sides with shafts from his quiver.
14 He. I am made a derision to all my people, their song all the day long.	14 I have become a laughingstock for all nations, their taunt all the day long;
15 He. He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood.	15 He has sated me with bitter food, made me drink my fill of wormwood.
16 Vau. And he hath broken my teeth one by one, he hath fed me with ashes.	16 He has broken my teeth with gravel, pressed my face in the dust;
17 Vau. And my soul is removed far off from peace, I have forgotten good things.	17 My soul is deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 Vau. And I said: My end and my hope is perished from the Lord.	18 I tell myself my future is lost, all that I hoped for from the LORD.
19 Zain. Remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood, and the gall.	19 The thought of my homeless poverty is wormwood and gall;
20 Zain. I will be mindful and remember, and my soul shall languish within me.	20 Remembering it over and over leaves my soul downcast within me.
21 Zain. These things I shall think over in my heart, therefore will I hope.	21 But I will call this to mind, as my reason to have hope:
22 Heth. The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because his commiserations have not failed.	22 The favors of the LORD are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent;
23 Heth. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.	23 They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness.
24 Heth. The Lord is my portion, said my soul: therefore will I wait for him.	24 My portion is the LORD, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 Teth. The Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.	25 Good is the LORD to one who waits for him, to the soul that seeks him;
26 Teth. It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God.	26 It is good to hope in silence for the saving help of the LORD.
27 Teth. It is good for a man, when he hath borne the yoke from his youth.	27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke from his youth.
28 Jod. He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it up upon himself.	28 Let him sit alone and in silence, when it is laid upon him.
29 Jod. He shall put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.	29 Let him put his mouth to the dust; there may yet be hope.
30 Jod. He shall give his cheek to him that striketh him, he shall be filled with reproaches.	30 Let him offer his cheek to be struck, let him be filled with disgrace.
31 Caph. For the Lord will not cast off for ever.	31 For the Lord's rejection does not last forever;
32 Caph. For if he hath cast off, he will also have mercy, according to the multitude of his mercies.	32 Though he punishes, he takes pity, in the abundance of his mercies;
33 Caph. For he hath not willingly afflicted, nor cast off the children of men.	33 He has no joy in afflicting or grieving the sons of men.
34 Lamed. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,	34 When anyone tramples underfoot all the prisoners in the land,
35 Lamed. To turn aside the judgment of a man before the face of the most High,	35 When he distorts men's rights in the very sight of the Most High,
36 Lamed. To destroy a man wrongfully in his judgment, the Lord hath not approved.	36 When he presses a crooked claim, the Lord does not look on unconcerned.
37 Mem. Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not?	37 Who commands so that it comes to pass, except the Lord ordains it;
38 Mem. Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Highest?	38 Except it proceeds from the mouth of the Most High, whether the thing be good or bad!
39 Mem. Why hath a living man murmured, man suffering for his sins?	39 Why should any living man complain, any mortal, in the face of his sins?
40 Nun. Let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord.	40 Let us search and examine our ways that we may return to the LORD!
41 Nun. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens.	41 Let us reach out our hearts toward God in heaven!
42 Nun. We have done wickedly, and provoked thee to wrath: therefore thou art inexorable.	42 We have sinned and rebelled; you have not forgiven us.
43 Samech. Thou hast covered in thy wrath, and hast struck us: thou hast killed and hast not spared.	43 You veiled yourself in wrath and pursued us, you slew us and took no pity;
44 Samech. Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that our prayer may not pass through.	44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud which prayer could not pierce.
45 Samech. Thou hast made me as an outcast, and refuse in the midst of the people.	45 You have made us offscourings and refuse among the nations.
46 Phe. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.	46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us;
47 Phe. Prophecy is become to us a fear, and a snare, and destruction.	47 Terror and the pit have been our lot, desolation and destruction;
48 Phe. My eye hath run down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.	48 My eyes run with streams of water over the downfall of the daughter of my people.
49 Ain. My eye is afflicted, and hath not been quiet, because there was no rest:	49 My eyes flow without ceasing, there is no respite,
50 Ain. Till the Lord regarded and looked down from the heavens.	50 Till the LORD from heaven looks down and sees.
51 Ain. My eye hath wasted my soul because of all the daughters of my city.	51 My eyes torment my soul at the sight of all the daughters of my city.
52 Sade. My enemies have chased me and caught me like a bird, without cause.	52 Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird;
53 Sade. My life is fallen into the pit, and they have laid a stone over me.	53 They struck me down alive in the pit, and sealed me in with a stone.
54 Sade. Waters have flowed over my head: I said: I am cut off.	54 The waters flowed over my head, and I said, "I am lost!"
55 Coph. I have called upon thy name, O Lord, from the lowest pit.	55 I called upon your name, O LORD, from the bottom of the pit;
56 Coph. Thou hast heard my voice: turn not away thy ear from my sighs, and cries.	56 You heard me call, "Let not your ear be deaf to my cry for help!"
57 Coph. Thou drewest near in the day, when I called upon thee, thou saidst: Fear not.	57 You came to my aid when I called to you; you said, "Have no fear!"
58 Res. Thou hast judged, O Lord, the cause of my soul, thou the Redeemer of my life.	58 You defended me in mortal danger, you redeemed my life.
59 Res. Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge thou my judgment.	59 You see, O LORD, how I am wronged; do me justice!
60 Res. Thou hast seen all their fury, and all their thoughts against me.	60 You see all their vindictiveness, all their plots against me.
61 Sin. Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, all their imaginations against me.	61 You hear their insults, O LORD, (all their plots against me),
62 Sin. The lips of them that rise up against me: and their devices against me all the day.	62 The whispered murmurings of my foes, against me all the day;
63 Sin. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up, I am their song.	63 Whether they sit or stand, see, I am their taunt song.
64 Thau. Thou shalt render them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.	64 Requite them as they deserve, O LORD, according to their deeds;
65 Thau. Thou shalt give them a buckler of heart, thy labour.	65 Give them hardness of heart, as your curse upon them;
66 Thau. Thou shalt persecute them in anger, and shalt destroy them from under the heavens, O Lord.	66 Pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under your heavens!