Book of Lamentations, Chapter 3
Lamentations 3 RSV - Revised Standard VersionChapter 3 of Lamentations—Revised Standard Version (RSV)
- ¶ I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath; - he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light; - surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long. - ¶ He has made my flesh and my skin waste away,
and broken my bones; - he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation; - he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago. - ¶ He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has put heavy chains on me; - though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer; - he has blocked my ways with hewn stones,
he has made my paths crooked. - ¶ He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding; - he led me off my way and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate; - he bent his bow and set me
as a mark for his arrow. - ¶ He drove into my heart
the arrows of his quiver; - I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
the burden of their songs all day long. - He has filled me with bitterness,
he has sated me with wormwood. - ¶ He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes; - my soul is bereft of peace,
I have forgotten what happiness is; - so I say, “Gone is my glory,
and my expectation from the LORD.” - ¶ Remember my affliction and my bitterness,[a]
the wormwood and the gall! - My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me. - But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope: - ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,[b]
his mercies never come to an end; - they are new every morning;
great is thy faithfulness. - “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.” - ¶ The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him. - It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD. - It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth. - ¶ Let him sit alone in silence
when he has laid it on him; - let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope; - let him give his cheek to the smiter,
and be filled with insults. - ¶ For the Lord will not
cast off for ever, - but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love; - for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve the sons of men. - ¶ To crush under foot
all the prisoners of the earth, - to turn aside the right of a man
in the presence of the Most High, - to subvert a man in his cause,
the Lord does not approve. - ¶ Who has commanded and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has ordained it? - Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and evil come? - Why should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins? - ¶ Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the LORD! - Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven: - “We have transgressed and rebelled,
and thou hast not forgiven. - ¶ “Thou hast wrapped thyself with anger and pursued us,
slaying without pity; - thou hast wrapped thyself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through. - Thou hast made us offscouring and refuse
among the peoples. - ¶ “All our enemies
rail against us; - panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction; - my eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. - ¶ “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite, - until the LORD from heaven
looks down and sees; - my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the maidens of my city. - ¶ “I have been hunted like a bird
by those who were my enemies without cause; - they flung me alive into the pit
and cast stones on me; - water closed over my head;
I said, ‘I am lost.’ - ¶ “I called on thy name, O LORD,
from the depths of the pit; - thou didst hear my plea, ‘Do not close
thine ear to my cry for help!’[c] - Thou didst come near when I called on thee;
thou didst say, ‘Do not fear!’ - ¶ “Thou hast taken up my cause, O Lord,
thou hast redeemed my life. - Thou hast seen the wrong done to me, O LORD;
judge thou my cause. - Thou hast seen all their vengeance, all their devices against me.
- ¶ “Thou hast heard their taunts, O LORD,
all their devices against me. - The lips and thoughts of my assailants
are against me all the day long. - Behold their sitting and their rising;
I am the burden of their songs. - ¶ “Thou wilt requite them, O LORD,
according to the work of their hands. - Thou wilt give them dullness of heart;
thy curse will be on them. - Thou wilt pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under thy heavens, O LORD.”[d]
FOOTNOTES
- ^ Cn: Heb wandering
- ^ Syr Tg: Heb we are not cut off
- ^ Heb uncertain
- ^ Syr Compare Gk Vg: Heb the heavens of the LORD
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