Lamentations 3–5

3RD CHAPTER^a

The Prophet—a Man of Despair

¹“I am the man who has experienced suffering under the rod of God’s fury. 

²God has driven me away 

and made me walk in darkness instead of light. 

³He beat me again and again all day long. 

⁴He has made my flesh and my skin waste away. 

He has broken my bones. 

⁵He has attacked me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. 

⁶He has made me live in darkness, 

like those who died a long time ago. 

⁷He has blocked me so that I can’t get out. 

He has put heavy chains on me. 

⁸Even when I cry and call for help, he shuts out my prayer. 

⁹He has blocked my way with cut stones and made my paths crooked. 

¹⁰He is like a bear waiting to ambush me, like a lion in hiding. 

¹¹He has forced me off the road I was taking, torn me to pieces, 

and left me with nothing. 

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

¹³He has shot the arrows from his quiver into my heart. 

¹⁴I have become a laughingstock to all my people. 

All day long ⸤they make fun of me⸥ with their songs. 

¹⁵He has filled me with bitterness. 

He has made me drink wormwood. 

¹⁶He has ground my teeth with gravel. 

He has trampled me into the dust. 

¹⁷“My soul has been kept from enjoying peace. 

I have forgotten what happiness is. 

¹⁸I said, ‘I’ve lost my strength ⸤to live⸥ and my hope in the Lord.’ 

¹⁹Remember my suffering and my ⸤aimless⸥ wandering, 

the wormwood and poison. 

²⁰My soul continues to remember ⸤these things⸥ and is so discouraged. 

The Prophet—a Man of Hope

²¹“The reason I can ⸤still⸥ find hope is that I keep this one thing in mind: 

²²the Lord’s mercy. 

We were not completely wiped out. 

His compassion is never limited. 

²³It is new every morning. 

His faithfulness is great. 

²⁴My soul can say, ‘The Lord is my lot ⸤in life⸥. 

That is why I find hope in him.’ 

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

to anyone who seeks help from him. 

²⁶“It is good to continue to hope and wait silently 

for the Lord to save us. 

²⁷It is good for people to endure burdens when they’re young. 

²⁸They should sit alone and remain silent 

because the Lord has laid these burdens on them. 

²⁹They should put their mouths in the dust. 

Maybe a reason to hope exists. 

³⁰They should turn their cheeks to the one who strikes them 

and take their fill of insults. 

³¹“The Lord will not reject ⸤such⸥ people forever. 

³²Even if he makes us suffer, 

he will have compassion 

in keeping with the richness of his mercy. 

³³He does not willingly bring suffering or grief to anyone, 

³⁴crush any prisoner on earth underfoot, 

³⁵deny people their rights in the presence of the Most High God, 

³⁶or deprive people of justice in court. 

The Lord isn’t happy to see ⸤these things⸥. 

³⁷Who was it who spoke and it came into being? 

It was the Lord who gave the order. 

³⁸Both good and bad come from the mouth of the Most High God. 

³⁹“Why should any living mortal (any person) 

complain about being punished for sin? 

⁴⁰Let us look closely at our ways and examine them 

and then return to the Lord. 

⁴¹Let us raise our hearts and hands to God in heaven. 

⁴²“We have been disobedient and rebellious. 

You haven’t forgiven us. 

⁴³You covered yourself with anger and pursued us. 

You killed without pity. 

⁴⁴You covered yourself with a cloud 

so that no prayer could get through it. 

⁴⁵You made us the scum and trash of the nations. 

⁴⁶All our enemies gawk at us. 

⁴⁷Panic and pitfalls have found us, so have devastation and destruction. 

⁴⁸“Streams of tears run down from my eyes 

over the ruin of my dear people. 

⁴⁹My eyes will keep flowing without stopping for a moment 

⁵⁰until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees. 

⁵¹What I see with my eyes disturbs me deeply 

because of all the young women in my city. 

⁵²“Those who were my enemies for no reason hunted me like a bird. 

⁵³They threw me alive into a pit and threw rocks at me. 

⁵⁴Water flowed over my head. I thought I was finished. 

⁵⁵“I call your name from the deepest pit, O Lord. 

⁵⁶Listen to my cry ⸤for help⸥. 

Don’t close your ears when I cry out for relief. 

⁵⁷Be close at hand when I call to you. You told me not to be afraid. 

⁵⁸Plead my case for me, O Lord. Reclaim my life. 

⁵⁹Look at the wrong that has been done to me, O Lord. 

Give me a fair verdict. 

⁶⁰Look at all their malice, all their plots against me. 

⁶¹Listen to their insults, all their plots against me. 

⁶²The words and thoughts of those who attack me 

are directed against me all day long. 

⁶³Look at them! Whether they are sitting or standing, 

they make fun of me in their songs. 

⁶⁴Pay them back, O Lord, for what they deserve, 

for what their own hands have done. 

⁶⁵Make them stubborn. Let your curse be on them. 

⁶⁶Pursue them in anger, and wipe them out from under the Lord’s heaven.” 

4TH CHAPTER^a

The Prophet Speaks Out: Zion’s Suffering Was Worse Than Sodom’s

¹“Look how the gold has become tarnished! 

The fine gold has changed! 

The sacred stones are scattered at every street corner. 

²“Zion’s precious children, who are worth their weight in fine gold, 

are now treated like clay pots, 

like those made by a potter’s hands. 

³Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, 

but the women of my people are as cruel as wild ostriches. 

⁴The tongues of nursing infants stick to the roofs of their mouths 

because of their thirst. 

Little children beg for bread, 

but no one will break off a piece for them. 

⁵Those who used to eat delicacies are now destitute in the streets. 

Those who used to wear expensive clothes now pick through piles of garbage. 

⁶The punishment for my people’s wickedness has been more severe 

than the punishment for the sins of Sodom. 

Sodom was destroyed instantly, without one human hand touching it. 

⁷Zion’s princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk. 

Their bodies were more pink than coral. 

Their hair was like sapphires. 

⁸Their faces are ⸤now⸥ blacker than soot. 

No one recognizes them on the streets. 

Their skin has shriveled on their bones. 

It has become as dry as bark. 

⁹Those who were killed with swords are better off 

than those who are dying from starvation. 

Those who were stabbed bled to death. 

The others are dying because there is nothing in the fields to eat. 

¹⁰The hands of loving mothers cooked their own children. 

The children were used for food by my people 

when they were being destroyed ⸤by a blockade⸥. 

¹¹The Lord’s fury has accomplished his purpose. 

He unleashed his burning anger. 

He started a fire in Zion that even burned its foundations. 

¹²Neither the kings of the earth nor anyone living on earth could believe 

that enemies or invaders would ever get through the gates of Jerusalem. 

¹³⸤They got through⸥ because of the sins of Jerusalem’s prophets 

and the crimes of its priests, 

who spilled the blood of righteous people within it. 

¹⁴My people staggered blindly through the streets. 

They were so contaminated with bloodstains 

that no one would touch their clothes. 

¹⁵‘Get away! You’re unclean,’^bpeople yelled at them. 

‘Get away! Get away! Don’t touch anyone.’ 

When they fled and wandered around, 

the people of the nations said, ‘They can’t stay here any longer.’ 

¹⁶The Lord himself has scattered them. 

He will no longer look favorably on them. 

They no longer respected the priests, 

nor did they honor their older leaders.” 

The People of Zion Speak Out

¹⁷“We are still straining our eyes, trying in vain to find help. 

We waited and waited for a nation that didn’t save us. 

¹⁸⸤The enemy⸥ kept tracking us down, 

so we couldn’t even go out into the streets. 

Our end was near. 

Our time was up. 

Our end had come. 

¹⁹Those who were hunting us were faster than eagles in the sky. 

They chased us in the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness. 

²⁰The person the Lord anointed ⸤as king⸥, who is the breath of our life, 

was caught in their pits. 

We had thought that we would live 

in our king’s shadow among the nations.” 

The Prophet Speaks Out: Be Warned about Edom’s Impending Doom

²¹“Rejoice and be glad, people of Edom, inhabitants of the country of Uz. 

The cup ⸤of the Lord’s fury⸥ will be passed to you next. 

You’ll get drunk and take off all your clothes. 

²²People of Zion, the punishment for your wickedness will end. 

The Lord will not let you remain in exile. 

People of Edom, he will punish you for your wickedness. 

He will expose your sins.” 

5TH CHAPTER

A Prayer of the Prophet

¹“Remember, O Lord, what has happened to us. 

Take a look at our disgrace! 

²“The land we inherited has been turned over to strangers. 

Our homes have been turned over to foreigners. 

³We are orphans without a father. 

Our mothers are like widows. 

⁴We have to pay to drink our own water. 

We have to pay to chop our own wood. 

⁵⸤Our enemies⸥ are breathing down our necks. 

We are worn out ⸤and⸥ not permitted to rest. 

⁶We had to beg Egypt and Assyria for food.^a

⁷Our ancestors sinned. 

Now they are gone, 

⸤but⸥ we have to take the punishment for their wickedness. 

⁸Slaves rule us. 

There is no one to rescue us from them. 

⁹To get our food, we have to risk our lives 

in the heatof the desert. 

¹⁰Our skin is as hot as an oven from the burning heat of starvation. 

¹¹Women in Zion are raped, so are the girls in the cities of Judah. 

¹²⸤Our⸥ leaders are hung by their hands. 

⸤Our⸥ older leaders are shown no respect. 

¹³⸤Our⸥ young men work at the mill, 

and ⸤our⸥ boys stagger under loads of wood. 

¹⁴⸤Our⸥ older leaders have stopped meeting at the city gate, 

and ⸤our⸥ young men no longer play their music. 

¹⁵There is no joy left in our hearts. 

Our dancing has turned into mourning. 

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head. 

Because we have sinned, it has been disastrous for us. 

¹⁷This is why we feel sick. 

This is why our eyes see less and less. 

¹⁸Foxes roam around on Mount Zion, which lies in ruins. 

¹⁹“But you, O Lord, sit enthroned forever, 

and your reign continues throughout every generation. 

²⁰Why have you completely forgotten us? 

Why have you abandoned us for such a long time? 

²¹O Lord, bring us back to you, and we’ll come back. 

Give us back the life we had long ago, 

²²unless you have completely…