Lamentations 3:1-20

1I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath.

2He has driven me away and forced me to walk in darkness instead of light.

3Yes, he repeatedly turns his hand against me all day long.

4He has worn away my flesh and skin; he has broken my bones.

5He has laid siege against me, encircling me with bitterness and hardship.

6He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have been dead for ages.

7He has walled me in so I cannot get out; he has weighed me down with chains.

8Even when I cry out and plead for help, he blocks out my prayer.

9He has walled in my ways with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.

10He is a bear waiting in ambush, a lion in hiding.

11He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces; he left me desolate.

12He strung his bow and set me as the target for his arrow.

13He pierced my kidneys with shafts from his quiver.

14I am a laughingstock to all my people, mocked by their songs all day long.

15He filled me with bitterness, satiated me with wormwood.

16He ground my teeth with gravel and made me cower in the dust.

17I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18Then I thought, “My future is lost, as well as my hope from the Lord.”

19Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison.

20I continually remember them and have become depressed.