Lamentations 3:1-36

1I am the man who has experienced affliction from the rod of his wrath.

2He drove me into captivity and made me walk in darkness and not light.

3He repeatedly attacks me, he turns his hand against me all day long. ב (Bet)

4He has made my mortal skin waste away; he has broken my bones.

5He has besieged and surrounded me with bitter hardship.

6He has made me reside in deepest darkness like those who died long ago. ג (Gimel)

7He has walled me in so that I cannot get out; he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains.

8Also, when I cry out desperately for help, he has shut out my prayer.

9He has blocked every road I take with a wall of hewn stones; he has made every path impassable. ד (Dalet)

10To me he is like a bear lying in ambush, like a hidden lion stalking its prey.

11He has obstructed my paths and torn me to pieces; he has made me desolate.

12He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrow. ה (He)

13He shot his arrows into my heart.

14I have become the laughingstock of all people, their mocking song all day long.

15He has given me my fill of bitter herbs and made me drunk with bitterness. ו (Vav)

16He ground my teeth in gravel; he trampled me in the dust.

17I am deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.

18So I said, “My endurance has expired; I have lost all hope of deliverance from the Lord.” ז (Zayin)

19Remember my impoverished and homeless condition, which is a bitter poison.

20I continually think about this, and I am depressed.

21But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope: ח (Khet)

22The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end.

23They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant!

24“My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him. ט (Tet)

25The Lord is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him.

26It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the Lord.

27It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. י (Yod)

28Let a person sit alone in silence, when the Lord is disciplining him.

29Let him bury his face in the dust; perhaps there is hope.

30Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; let him have his fill of insults. כ (Kaf)

31For the Lord will not reject us forever.

32Though he causes us grief, he then has compassion on us according to the abundance of his loyal kindness.

33For he is not predisposed to afflict or to grieve people. ל (Lamed)

34To crush underfoot all the earth’s prisoners,

35to deprive a person of his rights in the presence of the Most High,

36to defraud a person in a lawsuit – the Lord does not approve of such things! מ (Mem)