Lamentations 3:1-30

The Prophet Speaks:

א (Alef)

3:1 I am the man who has experienced affliction

from the rod of his wrath.

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.

ב (Bet)

3:4 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.

ג (Gimel)

3:7 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.

ד (Dalet)

3:10 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.

ה (He)

3:13 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.

ו (Vav)

3:16 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.”

ז (Zayin)

3:19 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:

ח (Khet)

3:22 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.

ט (Tet)

3:25 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.

י (Yod)

3:28 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.