1 אני הגבר ראה עני בשבט עברתו | 1 ALEPH. I am a man watching my own poverty by the rod of his indignation. |
2 אותי נהג וילך חשך ולא אור | 2 ALEPH. He has driven me and led me into darkness, and not into light. |
3 אך בי ישב יהפך ידו כל היום | 3 ALEPH. Against me only, he has turned and turned again his hand, all day long. |
4 בלה בשרי ועורי שבר עצמותי | 4 BETH. My skin and my flesh, he has made old; he has crushed my bones. |
5 בנה עלי ויקף ראש ותלאה | 5 BETH. He has built all around me, and he has encircled me with gall and hardship. |
6 במחשכים הושיבני כמתי עולם | 6 BETH. He has gathered me into darkness, like those who are forever dead. |
7 גדר בעדי ולא אצא הכביד נחשתי | 7 GHIMEL. He has built against me all around, so that I may not depart. He has increased the burden of my confinement. |
8 גם כי אזעק ואשוע שתם תפלתי | 8 GHIMEL. Yet even when I cry out and beg, he excludes my prayer. |
9 גדר דרכי בגזית נתיבתי עוה | 9 GHIMEL. He has enclosed my ways with square stones; he has subverted my paths. |
10 דב ארב הוא לי אריה במסתרים | 10 DALETH. He has become to me like a bear lying in ambush, like a lion in hiding. |
11 דרכי סורר ויפשחני שמני שמם | 11 DALETH. He has subverted my paths, and he has broken me. He has placed me in desolation. |
12 דרך קשתו ויציבני כמטרא לחץ | 12 DALETH. He has bent his bow, and he has positioned me like a target for his arrows. |
13 הביא בכליותי בני אשפתו | 13 HE. He has shot into my kidneys the daughters of his quiver. |
14 הייתי שחק לכל עמי נגינתם כל היום | 14 HE. I have become a derision to all my people, their song throughout the day. |
15 השביעני במרורים הרוני לענה | 15 HE. He has filled me with bitterness; he has inebriated me with wormwood. |
16 ויגרס בחצץ שני הכפישני באפר | 16 VAU. And he has broken each one of my teeth; he has fed me with ashes. |
17 ותזנח משלום נפשי נשיתי טובה | 17 VAU. And my soul has been driven away from peace; I have forgotten what is good. |
18 ואמר אבד נצחי ותוחלתי מיהוה | 18 VAU. And I said, “My end and my hope from the Lord has perished.” |
19 זכר עניי ומרודי לענה וראש | 19 ZAIN. Remember my poverty and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall. |
20 זכור תזכור ותשיח עלי נפשי | 20 ZAIN. I will call to mind the past, and my soul shall languish within me. |
21 זאת אשיב אל לבי על כן אוחיל | 21 ZAIN. These recollections are in my heart; therefore, I shall hope. |
22 חסדי יהוה כי לא תמנו כי לא כלו רחמיו | 22 HETH. By the mercies of the Lord, we are not consumed. For his compassion has not passed away. |
23 חדשים לבקרים רבה אמונתך | 23 HETH. I know it at first light; great is your faithfulness. |
24 חלקי יהוה אמרה נפשי על כן אוחיל לו | 24 HETH. “The Lord is my portion,” said my soul. Because of this, I will wait for him. |
25 טוב יהוה לקוו לנפש תדרשנו | 25 TETH. The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him. |
26 טוב ויחיל ודומם לתשועת יהוה | 26 TETH. It is good to stand ready in silence for the salvation of God. |
27 טוב לגבר כי ישא על בנעוריו | 27 TETH. It is good for a man, when he has carried the yoke from his youth. |
28 ישב בדד וידם כי נטל עליו | 28 JOD. He shall sit solitary and silent. For he has lifted it upon himself. |
29 יתן בעפר פיהו אולי יש תקוה | 29 JOD. He shall place his mouth in the dirt, if perhaps there may be hope. |
30 יתן למכהו לחי ישבע בחרפה | 30 JOD. He shall give his cheek to those who strike him; he shall be saturated with reproaches. |
31 כי לא יזנח לעולם אדני | 31 CAPH. For the Lord will not rebuke forever. |
32 כי אם הוגה ורחם כרב חסדו | 32 CAPH. For, if he has cast down, he will also have compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies. |
33 כי לא ענה מלבו ויגה בני איש | 33 CAPH. For he has not humiliated from his heart, nor has he thrown aside the sons of men, |
34 לדכא תחת רגליו כל אסירי ארץ | 34 LAMED. as if to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land, |
35 להטות משפט גבר נגד פני עליון | 35 LAMED. as if to turn aside the judgment of a man in the sight of the presence of the Most High, |
36 לעות אדם בריבו אדני לא ראה | 36 LAMED. as if to pervert a man in his judgment: the Lord does not do this. |
37 מי זה אמר ותהי אדני לא צוה | 37 MEM. Who is this, who said to do what the Lord did not command? |
38 מפי עליון לא תצא הרעות והטוב | 38 MEM. Does not both misfortune and good proceed from the mouth of the Most High? |
39 מה יתאונן אדם חי גבר על חטאו | 39 MEM. Why has a living man murmured, a man suffering for his sins? |
40 נחפשה דרכינו ונחקרה ונשובה עד יהוה | 40 NUN. Let us examine our ways, and seek out, and return to the Lord. |
41 נשא לבבנו אל כפים אל אל בשמים | 41 NUN. Let us lift up our hearts, with our hands, toward the Lord in the heavens. |
42 נחנו פשענו ומרינו אתה לא סלחת | 42 NUN. We have acted sinfully, and we have provoked to wrath. About this, you are relentless. |
43 סכתה באף ותרדפנו הרגת לא חמלת | 43 SAMECH. You have covered us in your fury, and you have struck us. You have killed, and have not spared. |
44 סכותה בענן לך מעבור תפלה | 44 SAMECH. You have set a cloud opposite you, lest our prayer pass through. |
45 סחי ומאוס תשימנו בקרב העמים | 45 SAMECH. In the midst of the peoples, you have uprooted me and cast me out. |
46 פצו עלינו פיהם כל איבינו | 46 PHE. All our enemies have opened their mouths over us. |
47 פחד ופחת היה לנו השאת והשבר | 47 PHE. Prediction has become for us a dread, and a snare, and a grief. |
48 פלגי מים תרד עיני על שבר בת עמי | 48 PHE. My eye has brought forth streams of water at the contrition of the daughter of my people. |
49 עיני נגרה ולא תדמה מאין הפגות | 49 AIN. My eye has been afflicted, and it has not been quieted, because there would be no rest |
50 עד ישקיף וירא יהוה משמים | 50 AIN. until the Lord looked down and saw from the heavens. |
51 עיני עוללה לנפשי מכל בנות עירי | 51 AIN. My eye has exhausted my soul over every one of the daughters of my city. |
52 צוד צדוני כצפור איבי חנם | 52 SADE. My enemies have chased me, and they have caught me like a bird, without reason. |
53 צמתו בבור חיי וידו אבן בי | 53 SADE. My life has fallen into a pit, and they have placed a stone over me. |
54 צפו מים על ראשי אמרתי נגזרתי | 54 SADE. The waters have flooded over my head. I said, “I am lost.” |
55 קראתי שמך יהוה מבור תחתיות | 55 COPH. I called upon your name, O Lord, from the furthest pit. |
56 קולי שמעת אל תעלם אזנך לרוחתי לשועתי | 56 COPH. You have heard my voice. Do not turn away your ear from my sobbing and my cries. |
57 קרבת ביום אקראך אמרת אל תירא | 57 COPH. You drew near in the daytime, when I called upon you. You said, “Fear not.” |
58 רבת אדני ריבי נפשי גאלת חיי | 58 RES. You have judged, O Lord, the case of my soul. You are the Redeemer of my life. |
59 ראיתה יהוה עותתי שפטה משפטי | 59 RES. You have seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me. Judge my case. |
60 ראיתה כל נקמתם כל מחשבתם לי | 60 RES. You have seen all their fury, every one of their thoughts is against me. |
61 שמעת חרפתם יהוה כל מחשבתם עלי | 61 SIN. You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their thoughts are against me. |
62 שפתי קמי והגיונם עלי כל היום | 62 SIN. The lips of those who rise up against me, and their meditations, are against me all day long. |
63 שבתם וקימתם הביטה אני מנגינתם | 63 SIN. Watch their sitting down and their rising up: I am their psalm. |
64 תשיב להם גמול יהוה כמעשה ידיהם | 64 THAU. You shall pay a recompense to them, O Lord, according to the works of their hands. |
65 תתן להם מגנת לב תאלתך להם | 65 THAU. You shall give them a heavy shield of the heart: your hardship. |
66 תרדף באף ותשמידם מתחת שמי יהוה | 66 THAU. You shall pursue them in fury, and you shall destroy them under the heavens, O Lord. |