Lamentations 3:19-40

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.

כ (Kaf)

3:31 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.

ל (Lamed)

3:34 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!

מ (Mem)

3:37 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?

נ (Nun)

3:40 Let us carefully examine our ways,

and let us return to the Lord.