Lamentationes 3
1 ALEPH. Ego vir videns paupertatem meam in virga indignationis eius.
I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
2 ALEPH. Me minavit, et adduxit in tenebras, et non in lucem.
He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.
3 ALEPH. Tantum in me vertit, et convertit manum suam tota die.
Surely he turns his hand against me again and again all day long.
4 BETH. Vetustam fecit pellem meam, et carnem meam, contrivit ossa mea.
He has made my flesh and my skin old. He has broken my bones.
5 BETH. Ædificavit in gyro meo, et circumdedit me felle, et labore.
He has built against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6 BETH. In tenebrosis collocavit me, quasi mortuos sempiternos.
He has made me dwell in dark places, as those who have been long dead.
7 GHIMEL. Circumædificavit adversum me, ut non egrediar: aggravavit compedem meum.
He has walled me about, so that I can’t go out. He has made my chain heavy.
8 GHIMEL. Sed et cum clamavero, et rogavero, exclusit orationem meam.
Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
9 GHIMEL. Conclusit vias meas lapidibus quadris, semitas meas subvertit.
He has walled up my ways with cut stone. He has made my paths crooked.
10 DALETH. Ursus insidians factus est mihi: leo in absconditis.
He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in hiding.
11 DALETH. Semitas meas subvertit, et confregit me: posuit me desolatam.
He has turned away my path, and pulled me in pieces. He has made me desolate.
12 DALETH. Tetendit arcum suum, et posuit me quasi signum ad sagittam.
He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 HE. Misit in renibus meis filias pharetræ suæ.
He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys.
14 HE. Factus sum in derisum omni populo meo, canticum eorum tota die.
I have become a derision to all my people, and their song all day long.
15 HE. Replevit me amaritudinibus, inebriavit me absynthio.
He has filled me with bitterness. He has stuffed me with wormwood.
16 VAU. Et fregit ad numerum dentes meos, cibavit me cinere.
He has also broken my teeth with gravel. He has covered me with ashes.
17 VAU. Et repulsa est a pace anima mea, oblitus sum bonorum.
You have removed my soul far away from peace. I forgot prosperity.
18 VAU. Et dixi: Periit finis meus, et spes mea a Domino.
I said, “My strength has perished, along with my expectation from the LORD.”
19 ZAIN. Recordare paupertatis, et transgressionis meæ, absinthii, et fellis.
Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the bitterness.
20 ZAIN. Memoria memor ero, et tabescet in me anima mea.
My soul still remembers them, and is bowed down within me.
21 ZAIN. Hæc recolens in corde meo, ideo sperabo.
This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope.
22 HETH. Misericordiæ Domini quia non sumus consumpti: quia non defecerunt miserationes eius.
It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail.
23 HETH. Novi diluculo, multa est fides tua.
They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
24 HETH. Pars mea Dominus, dixit anima mea: propterea expectabo eum.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”
25 TETH. Bonus est Dominus sperantibus in eum, animæ quærenti illum.
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
26 TETH. Bonum est præstolari cum silentio salutare Dei.
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
27 TETH. Bonum est viro, cum portaverit iugum ab adolescentia sua.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 IOD. Sedebit solitarius, et tacebit: quia levavit super se.
Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he has laid it on him.
29 IOD. Ponet in pulvere os suum, si forte sit spes.
Let him put his mouth in the dust, if it is so that there may be hope.
30 IOD. Dabit percutienti se maxillam, saturabitur opprobriis.
Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him. Let him be filled full of reproach.
31 CAPH. Quia non repellet in sempiternum Dominus.
For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 CAPH. Quia si abiecit, et miserebitur secundum multitudinem misericordiarum suarum.
For though he causes grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
33 CAPH. Non enim humiliavit ex corde suo, et abiecit filios hominum,
For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
34 LAMED. Ut conteret sub pedibus suis omnes vinctos terræ,
To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 LAMED. Ut declinaret iudicium viri in conspectu vultus Altissimi.
to turn away the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36 LAMED. Ut perverteret hominem in iudicio suo, Dominus ignoravit.
to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord doesn’t approve.
37 MEM. Quis est iste, qui dixit ut fieret, Domino non iubente?
Who is he who says, and it comes to pass, when the Lord doesn’t command it?
38 MEM. Ex ore Altissimi non egredientur nec mala nec bona?
Doesn’t evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?
39 MEM. Quid murmuravit homo vivens, vir pro peccatis suis?
Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 NUN. Scrutemur vias nostras, et quæramus, et revertamur ad Dominum.
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
41 NUN. Levemus corda nostra cum manibus ad Dominum in cælos.
Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.
42 NUN. Nos inique egimus, et ad iracundiam provocavimus: idcirco tu inexorabilis es.
“We have transgressed and have rebelled. You have not pardoned.
43 SAMECH. Operuisti in furore, et percussisti nos: occidisti, nec pepercisti.
“You have covered us with anger and pursued us. You have killed. You have not pitied.
44 SAMECH. Opposuisti nubem tibi, ne transeat oratio.
You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.
45 SAMECH. Eradicationem, et abiectionem posuisti me in medio populorum.
You have made us an off-scouring and refuse in the middle of the peoples.
46 PHE. Aperuerunt super nos os suum omnes inimici.
“All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
47 PHE. Formido, et laqueus facta est nobis vaticinatio, et contritio.
Terror and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction.”
48 PHE. Divisiones aquarum deduxit oculus meus, in contritione filiæ populi mei.
My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 AIN. Oculus meus afflictus est, nec tacuit, eo quod non esset requies,
My eye pours down and doesn’t cease, without any intermission,
50 AIN. Donec respiceret et videret Dominus de cælis.
until the LORD looks down, and sees from heaven.
51 AIN. Oculus meus deprædatus est animam meam in cunctis filiabus urbis meæ.
My eye affects my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.
52 SADE. Venatione ceperunt me quasi avem inimici mei gratis.
They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.
53 SADE. Lapsa est in lacum vita mea, et posuerunt lapidem super me.
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone on me.
54 SADE. Inundaverunt aquæ super caput meum: dixi: Perii.
Waters flowed over my head. I said, “I am cut off.”
55 COPH. Invocavi nomen tuum Domine de lacu novissimo.
I called on your name, LORD, out of the lowest dungeon.
56 COPH. Vocem meam audisti: ne avertas aurem tuam a singultu meo, et clamoribus.
You heard my voice: “Don’t hide your ear from my sighing, and my cry.”
57 COPH. Appropinquasti in die, quando invocavi te: dixisti: Ne timeas.
You came near in the day that I called on you. You said, “Don’t be afraid.”
58 RES. Iudicasti Domine causam animæ meæ, Redemptor vitæ meæ.
Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul. You have redeemed my life.
59 RES. Vidisti Domine iniquitatem illorum adversum me: iudica iudicium meum.
LORD, you have seen my wrong. Judge my cause.
60 RES. Vidisti omnem furorem, universas cogitationes eorum adversum me.
You have seen all their vengeance and all their plans against me.
61 SIN. Audisti opprobrium eorum Domine, omnes cogitationes eorum adversum me:
You have heard their reproach, LORD, and all their plans against me,
62 SIN. Labia insurgentium mihi; et meditationes eorum adversum me tota die.
the lips of those that rose up against me, and their plots against me all day long.
63 SIN. Sessionem eorum, et resurrectionem eorum vide, ego sum psalmus eorum.
You see their sitting down and their rising up. I am their song.
64 THAU. Redes eis vicem Domine iuxta opera manuum suarum.
You will pay them back, LORD, according to the work of their hands.
65 THAU. Dabis eis scutum cordis laborem tuum.
You will give them hardness of heart, your curse to them.
66 THAU. Persequeris in furore, et conteres eos sub cælis Domine.
You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.
