Lamentations 3:34–66

³⁴The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison;

³⁵He knows when we are denied the rights he gave us;

³⁶When justice is perverted in court, he knows.

³⁷The will of the Lord alone is always carried out.^f

³⁸Good and evil alike take place at his command.

³⁹Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?^g

⁴⁰Let us examine our ways and turn back to the Lord.

⁴¹Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray,

⁴²“We have sinned and rebelled, and you, O Lord, have not forgiven us.

⁴³“You pursued us and killed us; your mercy was hidden by your anger,

⁴⁴By a cloud of fury too thick for our prayers to get through.

⁴⁵You have made us the refuse heap of the world.

⁴⁶“We are insulted and mocked by all our enemies.

⁴⁷We have been through disaster and ruin; we live in danger and fear.

⁴⁸My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people.

⁴⁹“My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream

⁵⁰Until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees us.

⁵¹My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women of the city.

⁵²“I was trapped like a bird by enemies who had no cause to hate me.

⁵³They threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone.

⁵⁴Water began to close over me, and I thought death was near.

⁵⁵“From the bottom of the pit, O Lord, I cried out to you,

⁵⁶And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard.

⁵⁷You answered me and told me not to be afraid.

⁵⁸“You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life.

⁵⁹Judge in my favour; you know the wrongs done against me.

⁶⁰You know how my enemies hate me and how they plot against me.

⁶¹“You have heard them insult me, O Lord; you know all their plots.

⁶²All day long they talk about me and make their plans.

⁶³From morning till night they jeer at me.

⁶⁴“Punish them for what they have done, O Lord;

⁶⁵Curse them and fill them with despair!

⁶⁶Hunt them down and wipe them off the earth!”