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Texts -- Lamentations 3:1-54 (NET)

Context
The Prophet Speaks:
3:1 א (Alef ) I am the man who has experienced affliction from the rod of his 3:2 He drove me into captivity and made me walk in darkness and not light . 3:3 He repeatedly attacks me, he turns his hand against me all day long. 3:4 ב(Bet) He has made my mortal skin waste away ; he has broken my bones . 3:5 He has besieged and surrounded me with bitter hardship . 3:6 He has made me reside in deepest darkness like those who died long ago . 3:7 ג(Gimel) He has walled me in so that I cannot get out ; he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains . 3:8 Also , when I cry out desperately for help , he has shut out my prayer . 3:9 He has blocked every road I take with a wall of hewn stones ; he has made every path impassable . 3:10 ד(Dalet) To me he is like a bear lying in ambush , like a hidden lion stalking its prey. 3:11 He has obstructed my paths and torn me to pieces ; he has made me desolate . 3:12 He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrow . 3:13 ה(He) He shot his arrows into my heart . 3:14 I have become the laughingstock of all people , their mocking song all day long. 3:15 He has given me my fill of bitter herbs and made me drunk with bitterness . 3:16 ו(Vav) He ground my teeth in gravel ; he trampled me in the dust . 3:17 I am deprived of peace ; I have forgotten what happiness is. 3:18 So I said , “My endurance has expired ; I have lost all hope of deliverance from the Lord .” 3:19 ז(Zayin) Remember my impoverished and homeless condition , which is a bitter poison . 3:20 I continually think about this, and I am depressed . 3:21 But this I call to mind ; therefore I have hope : 3:22 ח(Khet) The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. 3:23 They are fresh every morning ; your faithfulness is abundant ! 3:24 “My portion is the Lord ,” I have said to myself , so I will put my hope in him. 3:25 ט(Tet) The Lord is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him. 3:26 It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the Lord . 3:27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young . 3:28 י(Yod) Let a person sit alone in silence , when the Lord is disciplining him. 3:29 Let him bury his face in the dust ; perhaps there is hope . 3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; let him have his fill of insults . 3:31 כ(Kaf) For the Lord will not reject us forever . 3:32 Though he causes us grief , he then has compassion on us according to the abundance of his loyal kindness . 3:33 For he is not predisposed to afflict or to grieve people . 3:34 ל(Lamed) To crush underfoot all the earth’s prisoners , 3:35 to deprive a person of his rights in the presence of the Most High , 3:36 to defraud a person in a lawsuit – the Lord does not approve of such things! 3:37 מ(Mem) Whose command was ever fulfilled unless the Lord decreed it? 3:38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes – both calamity and blessing ? 3:39 Why should any living person complain when punished for his sins ? 3:40 נ(Nun) Let us carefully examine our ways , and let us return to the Lord . 3:41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven : 3:42 “We have blatantly rebelled ; you have not forgiven .” 3:43 ס(Samek) You shrouded yourself with anger and then pursued us; you killed without mercy . 3:44 You shrouded yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through . 3:45 You make us like filthy scum in the estimation of the nations . 3:46 פ(Pe) All our enemies have gloated over us; 3:47 Panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction . 3:48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed . 3:49 ע(Ayin) Tears flow from my eyes and will not stop ; there will be no break 3:50 until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees what has happened. 3:51 What my eyes see grieves me– all the suffering of the daughters in my city . 3:52 צ(Tsade) For no good reason my enemies hunted me down like a bird . 3:53 They shut me up in a pit and threw stones at me. 3:54 The waters closed over my head ; I thought I was about to die .

Pericope

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Arts

Hymns

(Note: In "active" or "on" condition, the hymns music will be played automatically when mouse hover on a hymns title)
  • Hai Umat, Nyanyilah [KJ.232]
  • Insan, Tangisi Dosamu [KJ.157]
  • Setiap Pagi RahmatMu [KJ.321]
  • Tuhan, Betapa Banyaknya [KJ.393]
  • [Lam 3:22] Every Morning Mercies New
  • [Lam 3:22] God Of Our Life
  • [Lam 3:22] Great Is Thy Faithfulness
  • [Lam 3:22] Like Dews Of The Morning
  • [Lam 3:22] New Every Morning Is The Love
  • [Lam 3:22] Sovereign Protector I Have, A
  • [Lam 3:22] Sun Is On The Land And Sea, The
  • [Lam 3:22] Sweet Is The Breath Of Morning Air
  • [Lam 3:22] Thy Goodness, Lord, Our Souls Confess
  • [Lam 3:24] My Heart Is Resting, O My God
  • [Lam 3:41] Lift Up Your Hearts
  • [Lam 3:41] We Lift Our Hearts To Thee

Questions

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • These two verses determine the whole mood of Chronicles. Rather than ending with the failure of man the writer concluded by focusing our attention on the faithfulness of God (cf. Lam. 3:22-23). God was in control of the Persi...
  • We can understand why Mordecai reacted to Haman's decree so strongly (v. 1). Undoubtedly he felt personally responsible for this decree (cf. 3:2-5). However we should not interpret Mordecai's actions in verse 1 as a sign of g...
  • 96:1-3 The new song the people of the earth should sing is a song that praises God for His new blessings. These are fresh every morning (Lam. 3:22-23). All people should hear about God's glory and deeds because they will brin...
  • It becomes clear in this stanza of the song that the Servant's sufferings were not His own fault, as onlookers thought. They were for the sins of humankind and resulted in our healing. Furthermore, He would not merely suffer ...
  • This book does not identify its writer. The common view that Jeremiah wrote it rests on a preface in the Greek Septuagint, which the Latin Vulgate adopted and elaborated on. The Septuagint version of Lamentations begins, "And...
  • The book consists of five laments (funeral or mourning songs, elegies). All but the third of these describe the Babylonians' destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and its aftermath. Each chapter exhibits its own special qualit...
  • There are two books in the Old Testament that deal primarily with the problem of suffering. Job treats the problem of personalsuffering, and Lamentations deals with the problem of nationalsuffering. Both books present the pro...
  • The church at the beginning of the twenty-first century is very similar to Judah at the beginning of the sixth century B.C. Our times are very similar to Jeremiah's times. We minister in a cultural context that is remarkably ...
  • I. The destruction and misery of Jerusalem (the first lament) ch. 1A. An observer's sorrow over Jerusalem's condition 1:1-11B. Jerusalem's sorrow over her own condition 1:12-22II. The divine punishment of Jerusalem (the secon...
  • Jeremiah first viewed Jerusalem's destruction as an outsider looking in. Verses 1-7 describe the extent of the desolation and verses 8-11 its cause.1:1 Jeremiah bewailed the abandoned city of Jerusalem that had once been so g...
  • As mentioned previously, this lament is an acrostic in triplets; the same succeeding Hebrew consonant begins three verses instead of just one, as in the previous chapters. The verses are about one third as long as most of tho...
  • 3:1 Jeremiah claimed to have seen much affliction because Yahweh had struck Jerusalem in His anger (cf. Job 9:34; 21:9; Ps. 89:32; Isa. 10:5)."The two preceding poems ended with sorrowful complaint. This third poem begins wit...
  • 3:19 Jeremiah prayed that the Lord would remember his affliction and bitterness (cf. Job 13:15).3:20-21 He himself remembered something that gave him hope.3:22 The prophet remembered that the Lord's loyal love (Heb. hesed) ne...
  • The following section of the lament falls into two parts marked by Jeremiah's use of the plural (vv. 41-47) and singular personal pronouns (vv. 48-66). In the first part he called on the Judahites to confess their sins to God...
  • This section of the poem consists of two parallel parts (vv. 1-6, 7-11). The Judahites had become despised (vv. 1-2, 7-8), and both children and adults (everyone) suffered (vv. 3-5, 9-10). This calamity was the result of Yahw...
  • This poem, like the one in chapter 3, contains verses of only two lines each. It is the only non-acrostic chapter in the book, though like chapters 1, 2, and 4, it consists of 22 verses. The doleful qinahmeter is also absent ...
  • 5:1 Jeremiah called on Yahweh to remember the calamity that had befallen His people and to consider the reproach in which they now lived (cf. 3:34-36). The humbled condition of the Judahites reflected poorly on the Lord becau...
  • 4:1-2 The Lord instructed Ezekiel to construct a model of Jerusalem under siege. He was to build a model of the city using a clay brick (Heb. lebenah) to represent Jerusalem. The Hebrew word for "brick"describes both clay tab...
  • One of the events that would occur before the realization of these great promises of blessing was Israel's exile, but the burden of this pericope is also future restoration.4:9 Micah, speaking for the Lord, addressed the Jews...
  • 7:8 When Micah's enemies saw him experience some discouraging situation, they rejoiced. He told them not to rejoice, because though he fell God would raise him up. Though he appeared to be groping in the darkness (cf. Lam. 3:...
  • Next a great star (meteor or comet?) fell from heaven on the fresh water sources on earth.316It too was on fire (vv. 7, 8). The ancients sometimes used "torch"(this Greek word, lampas) to describe a meteor shooting through th...
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