Lamentations 3:1–20

Hope through God’s Mercy

א Alef

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. ^y

³Yes, He repeatedly turns His hand

against me all day long.

ב Bet

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

He has shattered my bones. ^a

⁵He has laid siege against me, ^b

encircling me with bitterness and hardship. ^c

⁶He has made me dwell in darkness

like those who have been dead for ages. ^d

ג Gimel

⁷He has walled me in so I cannot escape; ^e

He has weighed me down with chains.

⁸Even when I cry out and plead for help,

He rejects my prayer. ^f

⁹He has walled in my ways with cut stones; ^g

He has made my paths crooked. ^h

ד Dalet

¹⁰He is ⁱa bear waiting in ambush,

a lion in hiding. ^j

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

He left me desolate.

¹²He strung His bow ^k

and set me as the target for His arrow.

ה He

¹³He pierced my kidneys

with His arrows. ^l

¹⁴I am a laughingstock ^mto all my people, ⁿ

mocked by their songs ^oall day long.

¹⁵He filled me with bitterness,

satiated me with wormwood. ^p

ו Vav

¹⁶He ground my teeth on gravel ^q

and made me cower ^rin the dust.

¹⁷My soul has been deprived ^sof peace; ^t

I have forgotten what happiness is.

¹⁸Then I thought: My future ^uis lost,

as well as my hope from the Lord.

ז Zayin

¹⁹Remember ^vmy affliction and my homelessness, ^w

the wormwood and the poison. ^x

²⁰I continually remember them

and have become depressed. ^yz