Lamentations 3:34–66

³⁴If people crush underfoot

all the prisoners of the land,

³⁵if they deprive others of their rights

in defiance of the Most High,

³⁶if they twist justice in the courts—

doesn’t the Lord see all these things?

³⁷Who can command things to happen

without the Lord’s permission?

³⁸Does not the Most High

send both calamity and good?

³⁹Then why should we, mere humans, complain

when we are punished for our sins?

⁴⁰Instead, let us test and examine our ways.

Let us turn back to the Lord.

⁴¹Let us lift our hearts and hands

to God in heaven and say,

⁴²“We have sinned and rebelled,

and you have not forgiven us.

⁴³“You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down,

and slaughtered us without mercy.

⁴⁴You have hidden yourself in a cloud

so our prayers cannot reach you.

⁴⁵You have discarded us as refuse and garbage

among the nations.

⁴⁶“All our enemies

have spoken out against us.

⁴⁷We are filled with fear,

for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”

⁴⁸Tears stream from my eyes

because of the destruction of my people!

⁴⁹My tears flow endlessly;

they will not stop

⁵⁰until the Lord looks down

from heaven and sees.

⁵¹My heart is breaking

over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.

⁵²My enemies, whom I have never harmed,

hunted me down like a bird.

⁵³They threw me into a pit

and dropped stones on me.

⁵⁴The water rose over my head,

and I cried out, “This is the end!”

⁵⁵But I called on your name, Lord,

from deep within the pit.

⁵⁶You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!

Hear my cry for help!”

⁵⁷Yes, you came when I called;

you told me, “Do not fear.”

⁵⁸Lord, you have come to my defense;

you have redeemed my life.

⁵⁹You have seen the wrong they have done to me, Lord.

Be my judge, and prove me right.

⁶⁰You have seen the vengeful plots

my enemies have laid against me.

⁶¹Lord, you have heard the vile names they call me.

You know all about the plans they have made.

⁶²My enemies whisper and mutter

as they plot against me all day long.

⁶³Look at them! Whether they sit or stand,

I am the object of their mocking songs.

⁶⁴Pay them back, Lord,

for all the evil they have done.

⁶⁵Give them hard and stubborn hearts,

and then let your curse fall on them!

⁶⁶Chase them down in your anger,

destroying them beneath the Lord’s heavens.