Lamentations 3–5

HOPE THROUGH GOD’S MERCY

א Aleph

3I 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.^t

³Yes, he repeatedly turns his hand

against me all day long.

ב Beth

⁴He has worn away my flesh and skin;^u

he has broken my bones.^v

⁵He has laid siege against me,^w

encircling me with bitterness and hardship.^x

⁶He has made me dwell in darkness

like those who have been dead for ages.^y

ג Gimel

⁷He has walled me in so I cannot get out;^a

he has weighed me down with chains.

⁸Even when I cry out and plead for help,

he blocks out my prayer.^b

⁹He has walled in my ways with blocks of stone;^c

he has made my paths crooked.^d

ד Daleth

¹⁰He is^A a bear waiting in ambush,

a lion in hiding.^e

¹¹He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces;

he left me desolate.

¹²He strung his bow^f

and set me as the target for his arrow.

ה He

¹³He pierced my kidneys

with shafts from his quiver.^g

¹⁴I am a laughingstock^h to all my people,^B

mocked by their songsⁱ all day long.

¹⁵He filled me with bitterness,

satiated me with wormwood.^j

ו Waw

¹⁶He ground my teeth with gravel^k

and made me cower^C in the dust.

¹⁷I have been deprived^D of peace;^l

I have forgotten what prosperity is.

¹⁸Then I thought, “My future^E is lost,

as well as my hope from the Lord.”

ז Zayin

¹⁹Remember^F my affliction and my homelessness,^m

the wormwood and the poison.ⁿ

²⁰I continually remember them

and have become depressed.^Go

²¹Yet I call this to mind,

and therefore I have hope:^p

ח Cheth

²²Because of the Lord’s faithful love^q

we do not perish,^H

for his mercies never end.

²³They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness!^r

²⁴I say, “The Lord is my portion,^s

therefore I will put my hope in him.”

ט Teth

²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait^t for him,

to the person who seeks him.

²⁶It is good to wait quietly^u

for salvation from the Lord.^v

²⁷It is good for a man to bear the yoke^w

while he is still young.

י Yod

²⁸Let him sit alone and be silent,^x

for God has disciplined^I him.

²⁹Let him put his mouth in the dust^y —

perhaps there is still hope.

³⁰Let him offer his cheek

to the one who would strike him;^z

let him be filled with disgrace.

כ Kaph

³¹For the Lord

will not reject us forever.

³²Even if he causes suffering,

he will show compassion

according to the abundance of his faithful love.^aa

³³For he does not enjoy bringing affliction^ab

or suffering on mankind.

ל Lamed

³⁴Crushing all the prisoners of the land^A

beneath one’s feet,

³⁵denying justice to a man^ac

in the presence of the Most High,

³⁶or subverting a person in his lawsuit^ad —

the Lord does not approve of these things.

מ Mem

³⁷Who is there who speaks and it happens,

unless the Lord has ordained it?^ae

³⁸Do not both adversity and good

come from the mouth of the Most High?^af

³⁹Why should any living person complain,

any man, because of the punishment for his sins?

נ Nun

⁴⁰Let’s examine and probe our ways,

and turn back to the Lord.^ag

⁴¹Let’s lift up our hearts and our hands^a

to God in heaven:

⁴²“We have sinned and rebelled;

you have not forgiven.^b

ס Samek

⁴³“You have covered yourself in anger and pursued us;

you have killed without compassion.^c

⁴⁴You have covered yourself with a cloud

so that no prayer can get through.^d

⁴⁵You have made us disgusting filth

among the peoples.^e

פ Pe

⁴⁶“All our enemies

open their mouths against us.^f

⁴⁷We have experienced panic and pitfall,^g

devastation and destruction.”

⁴⁸My eyes flow with streams of tears

because of the destruction of my dear people.

ע Ayin

⁴⁹My eyes overflow unceasingly,

without end,^h

⁵⁰until the Lord looks down

from heaven and sees.ⁱ

⁵¹My eyes bring me grief

because of the fate of all the women in my city.

צ Tsade

⁵²For no reason, my enemies^B

hunted me like a bird.^j

⁵³They smothered my life in^C a pit^k

and threw stones on me.

⁵⁴Water flooded over my head,^l

and I thought, “I’m going to die!”^m

ק Qoph

⁵⁵I called on your name, Lord,

from the depths of the pit.

⁵⁶You heard my plea:

Do not ignore my cry for relief.

⁵⁷You came near whenever I called you;

you said, “Do not be afraid.”

ר Resh

⁵⁸You championed my cause, Lord;ⁿ

you redeemed my life.^o

⁵⁹Lord, you saw the wrong done to me;

judge my case.

⁶⁰You saw all their vengefulness,

all their plots against me.^p

שׂ Sin/ שׁ Shin

⁶¹Lord, you heard their insults,^q

all their plots against me.

⁶²The slander^A and murmuring of my opponents

attack me all day long.

⁶³When they sit and when they rise, look,

I am mocked by their songs.^r

ת Taw

⁶⁴You will pay them back what they deserve, Lord,

according to the work of their hands.^s

⁶⁵You will give them a heart filled with anguish.^Bt

May your curse be on them!

⁶⁶You will pursue them in anger and destroy them

under your heavens.^Cu

TERRORS OF THE BESIEGED CITY

א Aleph

4How the gold has become tarnished,

the fine gold become dull!

The stones of the temple^D lie scattered

at the head of every street.^v

ב Beth

²Zion’s precious children—

once worth their weight in pure gold^w —

how they are regarded as clay jars,

the work of a potter’s hands!

ג Gimel

³Even jackals offer their breasts

to nurse their young,

but my dear people have become cruel

like ostriches^x in the wilderness.

ד Daleth

⁴The nursing baby’s tongue

clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.^y

Infants beg for food,

but no one gives them any.

ה He

⁵Those who used to eat delicacies

are destitute in the streets;

those who were reared in purple garments^a

huddle in trash heaps.

ו Waw

⁶The punishment of my dear people

is greater than that of Sodom,^b

which was overthrown in an instant

without a hand laid on it.

ז Zayin

⁷Her dignitaries were brighter than snow,

whiter than milk;

their bodies^A were more ruddy than coral,

their appearance like lapis lazuli.

ח Cheth

⁸Now they appear darker than soot;^c

they are not recognized in the streets.

Their skin has shriveled on their bones;

it has become dry like wood.

ט Teth

⁹Those slain by the sword are better off

than those slain by hunger,

who waste away, pierced with pain

because the fields lack produce.

י Yod

¹⁰The hands of compassionate women

have cooked their own children;^d

they became their food

during the destruction of my dear people.^e

כ Kaph

¹¹The Lord has exhausted his wrath,

poured out his burning anger;

he has ignited a fire in Zion,

and it has consumed her foundations.^f

ל Lamed

¹²The kings of the earth

and all the world’s inhabitants did not believe

that an enemy or adversary

could enter Jerusalem’s gates.^g

מ Mem

¹³Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets

and the iniquities of her priests,

who shed the blood of the righteous within her.^h

נ Nun

¹⁴Blind, they stumbled in the streets,ⁱ

defiled by this blood,^j

so that no one dared

to touch their garments.

ס Samek

¹⁵“Stay away! Unclean!” people shouted at them.

“Away, away! Don’t touch us!”^k

So they wandered aimlessly.^l

It was said among the nations,

“They can stay here no longer.”

פ Pe

¹⁶The Lord himself has scattered them;

he no longer watches over them.

The priests are not respected;

the elders find no favor.

ע Ayin

¹⁷All the while our eyes were failing

as we looked in vain for help;^m

we watched from our towers

for a nation that would not save us.

צ Tsade

¹⁸Our steps were closely followed

so that we could not walk in our streets.

Our end approached;ⁿ our time ran out.

Our end had come!

ק Qoph

¹⁹Those who chased us were swifter

than eagles in the sky;^o

they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains

and ambushed us in the wilderness.

ר Resh

²⁰The Lord’s anointed, the breath of our life,^Ap

was captured in their traps.

We had said about him,

“We will live under his protection among the nations.”

שׂ Sin

²¹So rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,^a

you resident of the land of Uz!^b

Yet the cup^c will pass to you as well;

you will get drunk and expose yourself.

ת Taw

²²Daughter Zion, your punishment is complete;

he will not lengthen your exile.^B

But he will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom,

and will expose your sins.^d

PRAYER FOR RESTORATION

5Lord, remember what has happened to us.

Look, and see our disgrace!^e

²Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

our houses to foreigners.

³We have become orphans, fatherless;

our mothers are widows.

⁴We must pay for the water we drink;

our wood comes at a price.

⁵We are closely pursued;

we are tired, and no one offers us rest.

⁶We made a treaty with^C Egypt

and with Assyria, to get enough food.^f

⁷Our ancestors sinned; they no longer exist,

but we bear their punishment.

⁸Slaves rule over us;^g

no one rescues us from them.

⁹We secure our food at the risk of our lives

because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin is as hot^D as an oven^h

from the ravages of hunger.

¹¹Women have been raped in Zion,

virgins in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes have been hung up by their hands;

elders are shown no respect.ⁱ

¹³Young men labor at millstones;^j

boys stumble under loads of wood.

¹⁴The elders have left the city gate,

the young men, their music.^k

¹⁵Joy has left our hearts;^l

our dancing has turned to mourning.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head.^m

Woe to us, for we have sinned.ⁿ

¹⁷Because of this, our heart is sick;

because of these, our eyes grow dim:^o

¹⁸because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate

and has jackals prowling in it.^p

¹⁹You, Lord, are enthroned forever;

your throne endures from generation to generation.^q

²⁰Why do you continually forget us,^r

abandon us for our entire lives?

²¹Lord, bring us back to yourself, so we may return;^s

renew our days as in former times,

²²unless you have completely rejected us

and are intensely angry with us.