Lamentations 3:1–20

Hope in the Lord’s Faithfulness

¹I am the one who has seen the afflictions

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

²He has led me into darkness,

shutting out all light.

³He has turned his hand against me

again and again, all day long.

⁴He has made my skin and flesh grow old.

He has broken my bones.

⁵He has besieged and surrounded me

with anguish and distress.

⁶He has buried me in a dark place,

like those long dead.

⁷He has walled me in, and I cannot escape.

He has bound me in heavy chains.

⁸And though I cry and shout,

he has shut out my prayers.

⁹He has blocked my way with a high stone wall;

he has made my road crooked.

¹⁰He has hidden like a bear or a lion,

waiting to attack me.

¹¹He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces,

leaving me helpless and devastated.

¹²He has drawn his bow

and made me the target for his arrows.

¹³He shot his arrows

deep into my heart.

¹⁴My own people laugh at me.

All day long they sing their mocking songs.

¹⁵He has filled me with bitterness

and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.

¹⁶He has made me chew on gravel.

He has rolled me in the dust.

¹⁷Peace has been stripped away,

and I have forgotten what prosperity is.

¹⁸I cry out, “My splendor is gone!

Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!”

¹⁹The thought of my suffering and homelessness

is bitter beyond words.

²⁰I will never forget this awful time,

as I grieve over my loss.