Lamentations 3:1-36

1I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger.

2He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light.

3He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.

4He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones.

5He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress.

6He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead.

7He has walled me in, and I cannot escape. He has bound me in heavy chains.

8And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers.

9He has blocked my way with a high stone wall; he has made my road crooked.

10He has hidden like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me.

11He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces, leaving me helpless and devastated.

12He has drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows.

13He shot his arrows deep into my heart.

14My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs.

15He has filled me with bitterness and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.

16He has made me chew on gravel. He has rolled me in the dust.

17Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!”

19The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.

20I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

21Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:

22The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.

23Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

24I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

25The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.

26So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.

27And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline:

28Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord’s demands.

29Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last.

30Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies.

31For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever.

32Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.

33For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.

34If people crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,

35if they deprive others of their rights in defiance of the Most High,

36if they twist justice in the courts— doesn’t the Lord see all these things?