Lamentations 3–5

The Meaning of Suffering

3I am a man who has seen the suffering

that comes from the rod of the Lord’s anger.

²He led me

into darkness, not light.

³He turned his hand against me

again and again, all day long.

⁴He wore out my flesh and skin

and broke my bones.

⁵He surrounded me with sadness

and attacked me with grief.

⁶He made me sit in the dark,

like those who have been dead a long time.

⁷He shut me in so I could not get out;

he put heavy chains on me.

⁸I cry out and beg for help,

but he ignores my prayer.

⁹He blocked my way with a stone wall

and led me in the wrong direction.

¹⁰He is like a bear ready to attack me,

like a lion in hiding.

¹¹He led me the wrong way and let me stray

and left me without help.

¹²He prepared to shoot his bow

and made me the target for his arrows.

¹³He shot me in the kidneys

with the arrows from his bag.

¹⁴I was a joke to all my people,

who make fun of me with songs all day long.

¹⁵The Lord filled me with misery;

he made me drunk with suffering.

¹⁶He broke my teeth with gravel

and trampled me into the dirt.

¹⁷I have no more peace.

I have forgotten what happiness is.

¹⁸I said, “My strength is gone,

and I have no hope in the Lord.”

¹⁹Lord, remember my suffering and my misery,

my sorrow and trouble.

²⁰Please remember me

and think about me.

²¹But I have hope

when I think of this:

²²The Lord’s love never ends;

his mercies never stop.

²³They are new every morning;

Lord, your loyalty is great.

²⁴I say to myself, “The Lord is mine,

so I hope in him.”

²⁵The Lord is good to those who hope in him,

to those who seek him.

²⁶It is good to wait quietly

for the Lord to save.

²⁷It is good for someone to work hard

while he is young.

²⁸He should sit alone and be quiet;

the Lord has given him hard work to do.

²⁹He should bow down to the ground;

maybe there is still hope.

³⁰He should let anyone slap his cheek;

he should be filled with shame.

³¹The Lord will not reject

his people forever.

³²Although he brings sorrow,

he also has mercy and great love.

³³He does not like to punish people

or make them sad.

³⁴He sees if any prisoner of the earth

is crushed under his feet;

³⁵he sees if someone is treated unfairly

before the Most High God;

³⁶the Lord sees

if someone is cheated in his case in court.

³⁷Nobody can speak and have it happen

unless the Lord commands it.

³⁸Both bad and good things

come by the command of the Most High God.

³⁹No one should complain

when he is punished for his sins.

⁴⁰Let us examine and see what we have done

and then return to the Lord.

⁴¹Let us lift up our hands and pray from our hearts

to God in heaven:

⁴²“We have sinned and turned against you,

and you have not forgiven us.

⁴³“You wrapped yourself in anger and chased us;

you killed us without mercy.

⁴⁴You wrapped yourself in a cloud,

and no prayer could get through.

⁴⁵You made us like scum and trash

among the other nations.

⁴⁶“All of our enemies

open their mouths and speak against us.

⁴⁷We have been frightened and fearful,

ruined and destroyed.”

⁴⁸Streams of tears flow from my eyes,

because my people are destroyed.

⁴⁹My tears flow continually,

without stopping,

⁵⁰until the Lord looks down

and sees from heaven.

⁵¹I am sad when I see

what has happened to all the women of my city.

⁵²Those who are my enemies for no reason

hunted me like a bird.

⁵³They tried to kill me in a pit;

they threw stones at me.

⁵⁴Water came up over my head,

and I said, “I am going to die.”

⁵⁵I called out to you, Lord,

from the bottom of the pit.

⁵⁶You heard me calling, “Do not close your ears

and ignore my gasps and shouts.”

⁵⁷You came near when I called to you;

you said, “Don’t be afraid.”

⁵⁸Lord, you have taken my case

and given me back my life.

⁵⁹Lord, you have seen how I have been wronged.

Now judge my case for me.

⁶⁰You have seen how my enemies took revenge on me

and made evil plans against me.

⁶¹Lord, you have heard their insults

and all their evil plans against me.

⁶²The words and thoughts of my enemies

are against me all the time.

⁶³Look! In everything they do

they make fun of me with songs.

⁶⁴Pay them back, Lord,

for what they have done.

⁶⁵Make them stubborn,

and put your curse on them.

⁶⁶Chase them in anger, Lord,

and destroy them from under your heavens.

The Attack on Jerusalem

4See how the gold has lost its shine,

how the pure gold has dulled!

The stones of the Temple are scattered

at every street corner.

²The precious people of Jerusalem

were more valuable than gold,

but now they are thought of as clay jars

made by the hands of a potter.

³Even wild dogs give their milk

to feed their young,

but my people are cruel

like ostriches in the desert.

⁴The babies are so thirsty

their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths.

Children beg for bread,

but no one gives them any.

⁵Those who once ate fine foods

are now starving in the streets.

People who grew up wearing nice clothes

now pick through trash piles.

⁶My people have been punished

more than Sodom was.

Sodom was destroyed suddenly,

and no hands reached out to help her.

⁷Our princes were purer than snow,

and whiter than milk.

Their bodies were redder than rubies;

they looked like sapphires.

⁸But now they are blacker than coal,

and no one recognizes them in the streets.

Their skin hangs on their bones;

it is as dry as wood.

⁹Those who were killed in the war were better off

than those killed by hunger.

They starve in pain and die,

because there is no food from the field.

¹⁰With their own hands kind women

cook their own children.

They became food

when my people were destroyed.

¹¹The Lord turned loose all of his anger;

he poured out his strong anger.

He set fire to Jerusalem,

burning it down to the foundations.

¹²Kings of the earth and people of the world

could not believe

that enemies and foes

could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³It happened because her prophets sinned

and her priests did evil.

They killed in the city

those who did what was right.

¹⁴They wandered in the streets

as if they were blind.

They were dirty with blood,

so no one would touch their clothes.

¹⁵“Go away! You are unclean,” people shouted at them.

“Get away! Get away! Don’t touch us!”

So they ran away and wandered.

Even the other nations said, “Don’t stay here.”

¹⁶The Lord himself scattered them

and did not look after them anymore.

No one respects the priests

or honors the elders.

¹⁷Also, our eyes grew tired,

looking for help that never came.

We kept watch from our towers

for a nation to save us.

¹⁸Our enemies hunted us,

so we could not even walk in the streets.

Our end is near. Our time is up.

Our end has come.

¹⁹Those who chased us

were faster than eagles in the sky.

They ran us into the mountains

and ambushed us in the desert.

²⁰The Lord’s appointed king, who was our very breath,

was caught in their traps.

We had said about him, “We will be protected by him

among the nations.”

²¹Be happy and glad, people of Edom,

you who live in the land of Uz.

The cup of God’s anger will come to you;

then you will get drunk and go naked.

²²Your punishment is complete, Jerusalem.

He will not send you into captivity again.

But the Lord will punish the sins of Edom;

he will uncover your evil.

A Prayer to the Lord

5Remember, Lord, what happened to us.

Look and see our disgrace.

²Our land has been turned over to strangers;

our houses have been given to foreigners.

³We are like orphans with no father;

our mothers are like widows.

⁴We have to buy the water we drink;

we must pay for the firewood.

⁵Those who chase after us want to catch us by the neck.

We are tired and find no rest.

⁶We made an agreement with Egypt

and with Assyria to get enough food.

⁷Our ancestors sinned against you, but they are gone;

now we suffer because of their sins.

⁸Slaves have become our rulers,

and no one can save us from them.

⁹We risk our lives to get our food;

we face death in the desert.

¹⁰Our skin is hot like an oven;

we burn with starvation.

¹¹The enemy abused the women of Jerusalem

and the girls in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes were hung by the hands;

they did not respect our elders.

¹³The young men ground grain at the mill,

and boys stumbled under loads of wood.

¹⁴The elders no longer sit at the city gates;

the young men no longer sing.

¹⁵We have no more joy in our hearts;

our dancing has turned to sadness.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head.

How terrible it is because we sinned.

¹⁷Because of this we are afraid,

and now our eyes are dim.

¹⁸Mount Zion is empty,

and wild dogs wander around it.

¹⁹But you rule forever, Lord.

You will be King from now on.

²⁰Why have you forgotten us for so long?

Have you left us forever?

²¹Bring us back to you, Lord, and we will return.

Make our days as they were before,

²²or have you completely rejected us?

Are you so angry with us?