Lamentations 3:1-40 ▼

1 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath.

2 He has driven me away and forced me to walk in darkness instead of light.

3 Yes, he repeatedly turns his hand against me all day long.

4 He has worn away my flesh and skin; he has broken my bones.

5 He has laid siege against me, encircling me with bitterness and hardship.

6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have been dead for ages.

7 He has walled me in so I cannot get out; he has weighed me down with chains.

8 Even when I cry out and plead for help, he blocks out my prayer.

9 He has walled in my ways with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.

10 He is a bear waiting in ambush, a lion in hiding.

11 He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces; he left me desolate.

12 He strung his bow and set me as the target for his arrow.

13 He pierced my kidneys with shafts from his quiver.

14 I am a laughingstock to all my people, mocked by their songs all day long.

15 He filled me with bitterness, satiated me with wormwood.

16 He ground my teeth with gravel and made me cower in the dust.

17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18 Then I thought, “My future is lost, as well as my hope from the LORD.”

19 Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison.

20 I continually remember them and have become depressed.

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

22 Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end.

23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!

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

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

26 It is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.

27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.

28 Let him sit alone and be silent, for God has disciplined him.

29 Let him put his mouth in the dust — perhaps there is still hope.

30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with disgrace.

31 For the Lord will not reject us forever.

32 Even if he causes suffering, he will show compassion according to the abundance of his faithful love.

33 For he does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.

34 Crushing all the prisoners of the land beneath one’s feet,

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

36 or subverting a person in his lawsuit — the Lord does not approve of these things.

37 Who is there who speaks and it happens, unless the Lord has ordained it?

38 Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?

39 Why should any living person complain, any man, because of the punishment for his sins?

40 Let’s examine and probe our ways, and turn back to the LORD.