Lamentations 3–5

Israel’s Affliction

3I am a man who has seen misery,

under the rod of his wrath.

²He has driven me along, he brought

darkness and not light.

³Surely he has turned his hand against me,

all day long.

⁴He has worn out my flesh and skin,

he has broken my bones.

⁵He has besieged^a and engulfed me

with bitterness and hardship.

⁶In darkness he has let me dwell

like the dead of long ago.

⁷He has built a wall around me, I cannot go out;

he has made my bronze fetters heavy.

⁸Though I cry out for help,

he shuts out my prayers.

⁹He has blocked my ways with dressed stones;

he has made my paths crooked.

¹⁰To me he is like a bear lying in wait,

a lion in hiding.

¹¹He has forsaken my way and torn me to pieces;

he has caused me desolation.

¹²He has bent his bow and set me

as the target for the arrow.

¹³He shot the arrows of his quiver^b

into my kidneys.

¹⁴I have become a laughingstock for all the people,

their mocking song all day long.

¹⁵He has filled me with bitterness,

he has drenched me with wormwood.

¹⁶He has broken my teeth on grit,

he has trampled me down in ash.

¹⁷My life has been removed from peace,

I have forgotten goodness.

¹⁸And I have said, “My glory is ruined,

my expectation from Yahweh.”

¹⁹Remember my misery and bitterness,

the wormwood^c and venom!

²⁰Surely my soul remembers

and bows down within me.

²¹This I have reminded myself,^d

therefore I will hope.

²²The loyal love of Yahweh does not cease;

his compassions do not come to an end.

²³They are new in the morning,

great is your faithfulness.

²⁴“Yahweh is my portion,”

says my soul,

“Thus I will hope on him.”

²⁵Yahweh is good to those who wait on him,

to the person that seeks him.

²⁶It is good to wait in silence

for the salvation of Yahweh.

²⁷It is good for a man who carries

the yoke of his childhood.

²⁸Let him sit alone and be silent

when he^e has laid it on him.

²⁹Let him put^f his mouth in the dust;

perhaps there is hope.

³⁰Let him give a cheek to his smiter,

let him be filled with disgrace.

³¹For the Lord will not reject

forever.

³²For even though he causes grief he has compassion

according to the greatness of his loyal love.

³³He does not afflict willingly,^g

or grieve anyone.^h

³⁴To crush under his feet

all the prisoners of the earth;

³⁵to deprive one of justiceⁱ

before the face of the Most High;

³⁶to subvert a person in a legal dispute

—the Lord has not found delight in these things.

³⁷Who can speak^j and it will happen

if the Lord has not commanded it?

³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most High

that disaster and good will come?

³⁹Why should any living person complain

about his sin?

⁴⁰Let us test and examine our ways;

let us return to Yahweh.

⁴¹Let us lift up our hearts with our hands

to God in the heavens.

⁴²We ourselves have transgressed and rebelled,

you have not forgiven.

⁴³You have covered yourself in anger^k and pursued us,

you have slain and not shown mercy.

⁴⁴You have covered yourself in a cloud

so that prayer cannot pass through.^l

⁴⁵You have made us scum and refuse

in the midst of the nations.

⁴⁶All our enemies

have opened their mouth against us.

⁴⁷Fear and a pit have come upon us,

desolation and destruction.

⁴⁸Channels of water run down my eyes

because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹My eyes have poured down unceasingly

without respite,

⁵⁰until Yahweh looks down

and sees from heaven.

⁵¹My eyes inflict my soul

because of all the daughters of my city.

⁵²My enemies hunt me without cause,

like a bird.

⁵³They have silenced me in a pit,^m

they have thrown a stone at me.

⁵⁴Water has flown over my head,

I said, “I am cut off.”

⁵⁵I have called your name, O Yahweh,

from the depths of the pit.

⁵⁶You have heard my cry, “Do not shut your ear

to my cry for help, for my relief!”

⁵⁷You came near on a day when I called you,

you said, “Do not fear!”

⁵⁸O Lord, you have pleaded for my cause,ⁿ

you have redeemed my life.

⁵⁹You have seen my injustice, O Yahweh;

judge my case.

⁶⁰You have seen all their vengeance,

all their plans against me.

⁶¹You have heard their disgrace, O Yahweh,

all their plans against me.

⁶²The lips and meditation of my assailants

are against me all day long.

⁶³Look at their sitting and their standing,

I am their mocking song.

⁶⁴Return to them what is deserved, O Yahweh,

according to the work of their hands.

⁶⁵Give them a stubborn heart;

curse them!

⁶⁶Pursue them in anger^o and destroy them

from under the heavens of Yahweh.

Zion Is Punished

4How the gold has grown dim,

the pure gold has changed.

The stones of holiness are scattered

at the head of every street.

²The precious sons of Zion

weighed against fine gold,

how they are thought of as earthen vessels of clay,

the work of the potter’s hands.

³Even the jackal bear the breast

and nurse their cubs;

but the daughter of my people has become ruthless,

like ostriches in the wilderness.

⁴The tongue of the nursling cleaves

to its palate in thirst.

Children beg for food,

no one lays it out before them.^a

⁵The ones who eat delicacies,

they are ruined in the streets;

the ones nurtured in purple

lie on piles of trash.

⁶The iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater

than the sin of Sodom;

it was overthrown in a moment

and no hands were laid on her.

⁷Her princes were purer than snow,

they were whiter than milk;

their bodies were more ruddy than rubies,

sapphire their appearance.

⁸Now their appearance is blacker than soot,

they are not recognized in the streets;

their skin has shriveled on their bones,

it has become dry like wood.

⁹Happier were the victims of the sword

than the victims of famine;

they have pined away, very hungry

for the crops of my field.

¹⁰The hands of compassionate women,

have cooked their children;

they became as something to eat

in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹Yahweh has completed his anger,

he has poured out his fierce anger;^b

he has kindled a fire in Zion,

it consumed her^c foundations.

¹²The kings of the earth did not believe,

and all the inhabitants of the world,

that a foe and an enemy could enter

into the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³Because of the sins of her prophets,

the guilt of her priests,

who shed blood in her midst,

of righteous people.

¹⁴They wander blindly in the streets;

they were defiled with the blood,

their clothes

could not be touched.

¹⁵“Go away! Defiled!” they shout to them.

“Go away! Go away! Do not touch!”

so they left, they left; it was said among the nations,

“They will no longer dwell with us.”^d

¹⁶The presence of Yahweh has scattered them,

he will no longer watch over them;

they did not honor the priests,^e

they did not show mercy to elders.

¹⁷Still our eyes failed,

looking for our help in vain;

in our watchtower, we kept watch

for a nation that could not save.

¹⁸They hunted our steps,

from walking in our streets;

our end has come near, our days are finished,^f

our end has come.

¹⁹Our pursuers were swifter

than the eagles of the heavens;

they chased us on the mountains,

they have set an ambush for us in the desert.

²⁰The breath of our nostrils, the anointed one of Yahweh,

was captured in their pits;

of whom we said, “In his shadow

we will live among the nations.”

²¹Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,

you who dwell in the land of Uz;

but to you also the cup will pass,

you will become drunk and strip yourself bare.

²²The punishment of your iniquity is completed, O daughter of Zion,

your exile will not continue;

but he will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom,

he will reveal your sins.

A Request for Mercy

5Remember, O Yahweh, what has become of us;

take note, and see our disgrace!

²Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

our houses, to foreigners.

³We have become orphans, fatherless,

our mothers are like widows.

⁴We pay for water with money,^a

our wood comes to us at a price.

⁵We are driven on our necks;

we are weary, there is no rest for us.

⁶We have made a deal with Egypt and Assyria

to be satisfied with food.

⁷Our fathers have sinned, they are no more;

we bear their iniquity.

⁸Slaves rule over us;

there is no one to deliver us from their hand.

⁹We risk our life for food^b

because of the sword of the desert.

¹⁰Our skin is hot like an oven

because of the scorching famine.

¹¹They raped women in Zion,

young women^c in the cities of Judah.

¹²They hang princes by their hand;

they do not show respect before elders.

¹³Young men must carry a hand-mill

and boys stumble under the wood.

¹⁴Elders are no longer at the gate,

young men no longer play stringed instruments.

¹⁵The joy of our hearts has stopped;

our circle-dancing has changed to a mourning ceremony.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head;

woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷Because of this, our heart has become faint,

because of these, our eyes have become dim.

¹⁸Because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate,

foxes tread on it.^d

¹⁹You, O Yahweh, will sit forever

on your throne for generation to generation.

²⁰Why have you forgotten us forever?

Why have you forsaken us for so long?^e

²¹Restore us to you, O Yahweh, that we will be restored;

renew our days as of old.

²²Unless you have utterly rejected us,

unless you are angry with us beyond measure.