New American Standard Bible 1995

English Standard Version

1I am the man who has seen affliction Because of the rod of His wrath.

1I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath;

2He has driven me and made me walk In darkness and not in light.

2he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;

3Surely against me He has turned His hand Repeatedly all the day.

3surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.

4He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away, He has broken my bones.

4He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones;

5He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.

5he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;

6In dark places He has made me dwell, Like those who have long been dead.

6he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.

7He has walled me in so that I cannot go out; He has made my chain heavy.

7He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy;

8Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.

8though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;

9He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.

9he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked.

10He is to me like a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in secret places.

10He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding;

11He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces; He has made me desolate.

11he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate;

12He bent His bow And set me as a target for the arrow.

12he bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.

13He made the arrows of His quiver To enter into my inward parts.

13He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver;

14I have become a laughingstock to all my people, Their mocking song all the day.

14I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long.

15He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with wormwood.

15He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood.

16He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust.

16He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;

17My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness.

17my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;

18So I say, "My strength has perished, And so has my hope from the LORD."

18so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.”

19Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.

19Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!

20Surely my soul remembers And is bowed down within me.

20My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.

21This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.

21But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

22The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.

22The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;

23They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

23they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

24"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."

24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him.

25The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

26It is good that he waits silently For the salvation of the LORD.

26It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

27It is good for a man that he should bear The yoke in his youth.

27It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28Let him sit alone and be silent Since He has laid it on him.

28Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;

29Let him put his mouth in the dust, Perhaps there is hope.

29let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope;

30Let him give his cheek to the smiter, Let him be filled with reproach.

30let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.

31For the Lord will not reject forever,

31For the Lord will not cast off forever,

32For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion According to His abundant lovingkindness.

32but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

33For He does not afflict willingly Or grieve the sons of men.

33for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.

34To crush under His feet All the prisoners of the land,

34To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,

35To deprive a man of justice In the presence of the Most High,

35to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High,

36To defraud a man in his lawsuit-- Of these things the Lord does not approve.

36to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve.

37Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it?

37Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?

38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth?

38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?

39Why should any living mortal, or any man, Offer complaint in view of his sins?

39Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?

40Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the LORD.

40Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!

41We lift up our heart and hands Toward God in heaven;

41Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

42We have transgressed and rebelled, You have not pardoned.

42“We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.

43You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and have not spared.

43“You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity;

44You have covered Yourself with a cloud So that no prayer can pass through.

44you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.

45You have made us mere offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples.

45You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples.

46All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

46“All our enemies open their mouths against us;

47Panic and pitfall have befallen us, Devastation and destruction;

47panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction;

48My eyes run down with streams of water Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

48my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49My eyes pour down unceasingly, Without stopping,

49“My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite,

50Until the LORD looks down And sees from heaven.

50until the LORD from heaven looks down and sees;

51My eyes bring pain to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city.

51my eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

52My enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird;

52“I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause;

53They have silenced me in the pit And have placed a stone on me.

53they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me;

54Waters flowed over my head; I said, "I am cut off!"

54water closed over my head; I said, ‘I am lost.’

55I called on Your name, O LORD, Out of the lowest pit.

55“I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit;

56You have heard my voice, "Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help."

56you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’

57You drew near when I called on You; You said, "Do not fear!"

57You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’

58O Lord, You have pleaded my soul's cause; You have redeemed my life.

58“You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.

59O LORD, You have seen my oppression; Judge my case.

59You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; judge my cause.

60You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me.

60You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me.

61You have heard their reproach, O LORD, All their schemes against me.

61“You have heard their taunts, O LORD, all their plots against me.

62The lips of my assailants and their whispering Are against me all day long.

62The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long.

63Look on their sitting and their rising; I am their mocking song.

63Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the object of their taunts.

64You will recompense them, O LORD, According to the work of their hands.

64“You will repay them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.

65You will give them hardness of heart, Your curse will be on them.

65You will give them dullness of heart; your curse will be on them.

66You will pursue them in anger and destroy them From under the heavens of the LORD!

66You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under your heavens, O LORD.”

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org

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