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Lamentations 3
Lam
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Chapter 3
Aleph
1
I am the man familiar with misery under the rod of his anger;
2
I am the one he has driven and forced to walk in darkness, and without any light.
3
Against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long.
Beth
4
He has wasted my flesh and skin away, has broken my bones.
5
He has made a yoke for me, has encircled my head with weariness.
6
He has forced me to dwell in darkness with the dead of long ago.
Ghimel
7
He has walled me in; I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy;
8
and when I call and shout, he shuts out my prayer.
9
He has blocked my ways with cut stones, he has obstructed my paths.
Daleth
10
For me he has been a lurking bear, a lion on the watch.
11
He has filled my paths with briars and torn me, he has made me a thing of horror.
12
He has bent his bow and taken aim, making me the target for his arrows.
He
13
In my back he has planted his darts, the children of his quiver.
14
I have become the laughing-stock of my whole nation, their butt all day long.
15
He has given me my fill of bitterness, he has made me drunk with wormwood.
Waw
16
He has broken my teeth with gravel, he has given me ashes for food.
17
My soul is shut out from peace; I have forgotten happiness.
18
And now I say, ‘My strength is gone, that hope which came from Yahweh’.
Zain
19
Brooding on my anguish and affliction is gall and wormwood.
20
My spirit ponders it continually and sinks within me.
21
This is what I shall tell my heart, and so recover hope:
Heth
22
the favours of Yahweh are not all past, his kindnesses are not exhausted;
23
every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness.
24
‘My portion is Yahweh’ says my soul ‘and so I will hope in him.’
Teth
25
Yahweh is good to those who trust him, to the soul that searches for him.
26
It is good to wait in silence for Yahweh to save.
27
It is good for a man to bear the yoke from youth onwards,
Yod
28
to sit in solitude and silence when the Lord fastens it on him,
29
to put his lips to the dust – perhaps there still is hope –
30
to offer his cheek to the striker, to be overwhelmed with insults.
Kaph
31
For the Lord does not reject mankind for ever and ever.
32
If he has punished, he has compassion so great is his kindness;
33
since he takes no pleasure in abasing and afflicting the human race.
Lamed
34
When all the prisoners in a country are crushed and trampled underfoot,
35
when a man’s rights are overridden in defiance of the Most High,
36
when a man is deprived of justice, does not the Lord see it?
Mem
37
Who has only to speak to make things exist? Who commands, if not the Lord?
38
From where, if not from the mouth of the Most High, do evil and good come?
39
Why then should man complain? Better for him to be bold against his sins.
Nun
40
Let us examine our path, let us ponder it and return to Yahweh.
41
Let us stretch out our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
42
We are the ones who have sinned, who have rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
Samek
43
You have wrapped yourself in wrath, pursued us, slaughtered us without pity.
44
You have wrapped yourself in a cloud too thick for prayer to pierce.
45
You have reduced us to rubbish to the scourings of the nations.
Pe
46
Our enemies have opened their mouths in chorus against us.
47
Dread and pitfall have been our lot, ravage and ruin.
48
My eyes dissolve in torrents of tears over the ruin of the daughters of my people.
Ain
49
My eyes weep ceaselessly, without relief
50
until Yahweh looks down and sees from heaven.
51
My eyes have grown sore over all the daughters of my Citadel.
Sade
52
They hunted me, harried me like a bird, they who hate me for no reason.
53
They tumbled my life into a pit, they threw stones down on me.
54
The waters went over my head; I said, ‘I am lost’.
Qoph
55
Yahweh, I called on your name from the deep pit.
56
You heard me crying, ‘Do not close your ear to my prayer’.
57
You came near that day when I called to you; you said, ‘Do not be afraid’.
Resh
58
You have defended the cause of my soul, you have redeemed my life.
59
Yahweh, you have seen the wrong done to me; grant me redress.
60
You have seen all their frenzy, all their plots against me.
Shin
61
Yahweh, you have heard their insults, all their plots against me,
62
my opponents slandering me under their breath all day long.
63
Whether they sit, or whether they stand, see, I am their butt.
Tau
64
Yahweh, repay them as their deeds deserve.
65
Give them hardness of heart, your curse be on them.
66
Pursue them in fury, root them out from underneath your heavens.
Chapters of Lamentations
1
2
3
4
5
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