Lamentations 3:34–66

³⁴To crush underfoot

all ^cthe prisoners of the earth,

^35dto deny a man justice

in the presence of the Most High,

³⁶to subvert a man in his lawsuit,

^dthe Lord does not approve.

^37eWho has spoken and it came to pass,

unless the Lord has commanded it?

^38fIs it not from the mouth of the Most High

that good and bad come?

^39gWhy should a living man complain,

a man, about the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰Let us test and examine our ways,

^hand return to the Lord!

⁴¹ⁱLet us lift up our hearts and hands

to God in heaven:

^42j“We have transgressed and ^krebelled,

and you have not forgiven.

⁴³“You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,

^lkilling without pity;

^44myou have wrapped yourself with a cloud

so that no prayer can pass through.

⁴⁵ⁿYou have made us scum and garbage

among the peoples.

^46o“All our enemies

open their mouths against us;

^47ppanic and pitfall have come upon us,

devastation and ^qdestruction;

^48rmy eyes flow with rivers of tears

because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

^49r“My eyes will flow without ceasing,

without respite,

^50suntil the Lord from heaven

looks down and sees;

⁵¹my eyes cause me grief

at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

^52t“I have been hunted ^ulike a bird

by those who were my enemies ^vwithout cause;

^53wthey flung me alive into the pit⁴

^xand cast stones on me;

^54ywater closed over my head;

I said, ^z‘I am lost.’

^55a“I called on your name, O Lord,

from the depths of the pit;

^56byou heard my plea, ‘Do not close

your ear to my cry for help!’

^57cYou came near when I called on you;

you said, ^d‘Do not fear!’

⁵⁸“You have ^etaken up my cause, ^fO Lord;

you have ^eredeemed my life.

⁵⁹You have seen the wrong done to me, ^gO Lord;

judge my cause.

⁶⁰You have seen all their vengeance,

all ^htheir plots against me.

⁶¹ⁱ“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,

all ^htheir plots against me.

⁶²The lips and thoughts ^jof my assailants

are against me all the day long.

^63kBehold their sitting and their rising;

^lI am the object of their taunts.

^64m“You will repay them,⁵ O Lord,

ⁿaccording to the work of their hands.

⁶⁵You will give them⁶ dullness of heart;

your curse will be⁷ on them.

⁶⁶You will pursue them⁸ in anger and ^odestroy them

from under ^pyour heavens, O Lord.”⁹