Lamentations 3:1-29 ▼

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

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

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

4 He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away; He has shattered my bones.

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

6 He has made me live in dark places Like those who have long been dead.

7 He walled me in so that I cannot get out; He has weighted down my chain.

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

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

10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait, And like a lion [hiding] in secret places.

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

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

13 He has caused the arrows of His quiver To enter my inner parts.

14 I have become the [object of] ridicule to all my people, And [the subject of] their mocking song all the day.

15 He has filled me with bitterness; He has made me drunk with wormwood (bitterness).

16 He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has [covered me with ashes and] made me cower in the dust.

17 My soul has been cast far away from peace; I have forgotten happiness.

18 So I say, “My strength has perished And so has my hope and expectation from the LORD.”

19 Remember [O LORD] my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall (bitterness).

20 My soul continually remembers them And is bowed down within me.

21 But this I call to mind, Therefore I have hope.

22 It is because of the LORD’S lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, Because His [tender] compassions never fail.

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

24 “The LORD is my portion and my inheritance,” says my soul; “Therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.”

25 The LORD is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him, To those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].

26 It is good that one waits quietly For the salvation of the LORD.

27 It is good for a man that he should bear The yoke [of godly discipline] in his youth.

28 Let him sit alone [in hope] and keep quiet, Because God has laid it on him [for his benefit].

29 Let him put his mouth in the dust [in recognition of his unworthiness]; There may yet be hope.