Lamentations 3
1 ALEPH. I am a man watching my own poverty by the rod of his indignation.
I [, the one who am writing this, ] am a man who has been afflicted/punished [MTY] by Yahweh because he was angry.
2 ALEPH. He has driven me and led me into darkness, and not into light.
[It was as though] he caused me to walk in a very dark place without any light [at all].
3 ALEPH. Against me only, he has turned and turned again his hand, all day long.
He has punished [IDM] me many times, all day, [every] day.
4 BETH. My skin and my flesh, he has made old; he has crushed my bones.
He has caused my skin and my flesh to become old. He has broken my bones.
5 BETH. He has built all around me, and he has encircled me with gall and hardship.
He has surrounded me [DOU] with bitterness and suffering.
6 BETH. He has gathered me into darkness, like those who are forever dead.
[It is as though] he has buried me in a dark place like [SIM] [the graves of] those who have been dead for a long time.
7 GHIMEL. He has built against me all around, so that I may not depart. He has increased the burden of my confinement.
[It is as though] [MET] he has built a wall around me, and fastened/tied me with heavy chains, and I cannot escape.
8 GHIMEL. Yet even when I cry out and beg, he excludes my prayer.
Although I call out and cry out for him to help me, he does not pay attention to my prayers.
9 GHIMEL. He has enclosed my ways with square stones; he has subverted my paths.
[It is as though] he has blocked my path with a [high] stone [wall] and has caused my path to become crooked.
10 DALETH. He has become to me like a bear lying in ambush, like a lion in hiding.
He has waited to attack me like [SIM] a bear or a lion hides and waits [to attack other animals].
11 DALETH. He has subverted my paths, and he has broken me. He has placed me in desolation.
[It is as though] he has dragged me off the path and (mauled me/torn me into pieces), and left me without help.
12 DALETH. He has bent his bow, and he has positioned me like a target for his arrows.
[It is as though] [MET] he bent his bow and caused me to become the target [at which he shot] his arrows.
13 HE. He has shot into my kidneys the daughters of his quiver.
[It is as though] he shot his arrows deep into my body.
14 HE. I have become a derision to all my people, their song throughout the day.
All my relatives laugh at me; all day, [every] day they sing songs that make fun of me.
15 HE. He has filled me with bitterness; he has inebriated me with wormwood.
He has filled me with (bitterness/great suffering), [like] [MET] someone who drinks a very bitter liquid suffers.
16 VAU. And he has broken each one of my teeth; he has fed me with ashes.
[It is as though] he has caused me to chew gravel that broke my teeth, and he has trampled me in the dirt.
17 VAU. And my soul has been driven away from peace; I have forgotten what is good.
Things no longer go well for me; I no longer remember being prosperous.
18 VAU. And I said, “My end and my hope from the Lord has perished.”
I [continued to] say [to myself], “I no longer expect to live much longer; I no longer confidently expect [to receive good things] from Yahweh!”
19 ZAIN. Remember my poverty and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall.
When I think about my suffering and my wandering [away from home], [it is like drinking] a very bitter [DOU] liquid.
20 ZAIN. I will call to mind the past, and my soul shall languish within me.
I will never forget this time when I feel very depressed/discouraged [IDM].
21 ZAIN. These recollections are in my heart; therefore, I shall hope.
However, I confidently expect [Yahweh to do good things for me again] when I think about this:
22 HETH. By the mercies of the Lord, we are not consumed. For his compassion has not passed away.
Yahweh never stops faithfully loving [us], and he never stops being kind to us.
23 HETH. I know it at first light; great is your faithfulness.
[He is the one whom we can] always trust/lean on. Every morning he is merciful [to us again].
24 HETH. “The Lord is my portion,” said my soul. Because of this, I will wait for him.
[So] I say to myself, “Yahweh is all that I need; so I will confidently wait for him [to do good things for me].”
25 TETH. The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.
Yahweh is good to [all] those who depend on him, to those who seek his [help].
26 TETH. It is good to stand ready in silence for the salvation of God.
[So] it is good for us to wait quietly for Yahweh to save/rescue [us].
27 TETH. It is good for a man, when he has carried the yoke from his youth.
And it is good for us to [patiently] endure [suffering] while we are young.
28 JOD. He shall sit solitary and silent. For he has lifted it upon himself.
Those [who seek his help] should sit by themselves, silently, [knowing that] it is Yahweh who has allowed/caused them to suffer.
29 JOD. He shall place his mouth in the dirt, if perhaps there may be hope.
They should lie in the dirt, with their faces on the ground, [because] they can still hope [that Yahweh will help them].
30 JOD. He shall give his cheek to those who strike him; he shall be saturated with reproaches.
If someone strikes us on one cheek, we should turn the other cheek toward that person [in order that he may strike it, too], and accept/endure it when we are insulted.
31 CAPH. For the Lord will not rebuke forever.
Yahweh does not abandon [us his people] forever.
32 CAPH. For, if he has cast down, he will also have compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies.
Sometimes he causes us to suffer, but sometimes he is kind [to us] because he continually and faithfully loves [us].
33 CAPH. For he has not humiliated from his heart, nor has he thrown aside the sons of men,
And he is not happy about causing human beings to suffer or to be sad.
34 LAMED. as if to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,
If people (mistreat all the prisoners/crush all the prisoners under their feet)
35 LAMED. as if to turn aside the judgment of a man in the sight of the presence of the Most High,
or if they rebel against God by refusing to give to people the things that it is right for them [to receive],
36 LAMED. as if to pervert a man in his judgment: the Lord does not do this.
or if they cause judges to decide matters unjustly, (does Yahweh not see all those things?/Yahweh certainly sees all those things!) [RHQ]
37 MEM. Who is this, who said to do what the Lord did not command?
No one can [RHQ] command something to happen [and then cause it to happen] if Yahweh has not already decided that it should happen.
38 MEM. Does not both misfortune and good proceed from the mouth of the Most High?
God in heaven [MTY] is [RHQ] the one who causes disasters to happen, and he [also] causes good things to happen.
39 MEM. Why has a living man murmured, a man suffering for his sins?
[So] it is certainly not [RHQ] right for us, who are only humans, to complain when he punishes us for the sins that we have committed.
40 NUN. Let us examine our ways, and seek out, and return to the Lord.
Instead, we should (examine/think carefully about) our behavior; we should turn back to Yahweh.
41 NUN. Let us lift up our hearts, with our hands, toward the Lord in the heavens.
We should pray [IDM] sincerely and lift up our arms toward God in heaven, [and say, ]
42 NUN. We have acted sinfully, and we have provoked to wrath. About this, you are relentless.
“We have sinned and rebelled [against you], and you have not forgiven [us].
43 SAMECH. You have covered us in your fury, and you have struck us. You have killed, and have not spared.
You have surrounded us with your anger and pursued us; you have slaughtered [us] without pitying us.
44 SAMECH. You have set a cloud opposite you, lest our prayer pass through.
You have hidden yourself in a cloud, with the result that you do not hear [us] when we pray.
45 SAMECH. In the midst of the peoples, you have uprooted me and cast me out.
You have caused [the people of other] nations to consider us to be only garbage [DOU].
46 PHE. All our enemies have opened their mouths over us.
All our enemies have insulted us.
47 PHE. Prediction has become for us a dread, and a snare, and a grief.
We are constantly afraid [DOU], [because] we have experienced disasters and ruin [DOU].”
48 PHE. My eye has brought forth streams of water at the contrition of the daughter of my people.
I cry a lot because my people have been destroyed.
49 AIN. My eye has been afflicted, and it has not been quieted, because there would be no rest
My tears continually flow; they will not stop
50 AIN. until the Lord looked down and saw from the heavens.
until Yahweh looks down from heaven and sees [us].
51 AIN. My eye has exhausted my soul over every one of the daughters of my city.
I am very grieved because of [what has happened to] the women of my city.
52 SADE. My enemies have chased me, and they have caught me like a bird, without reason.
Those who are my enemies hunted for me like [SIM] [people hunt for] a bird [to kill it] [even though] there was no reason [for them to do that].
53 SADE. My life has fallen into a pit, and they have placed a stone over me.
They threw me into a pit to kill me, and they threw stones on top of me.
54 SADE. The waters have flooded over my head. I said, “I am lost.”
The water [in the pit] rose above my head, and I said [to myself], “I am about to die/drown!”
55 COPH. I called upon your name, O Lord, from the furthest pit.
But from the bottom of the pit I cried out to you [MTY], “Yahweh, [help me]!”
56 COPH. You have heard my voice. Do not turn away your ear from my sobbing and my cries.
I pleaded with you, “Do not refuse to heed [MTY] me while I cry out to you!”
57 COPH. You drew near in the daytime, when I called upon you. You said, “Fear not.”
Then you answered me and said, “Do not be afraid!”
58 RES. You have judged, O Lord, the case of my soul. You are the Redeemer of my life.
Yahweh, you defended me; you did not allow me to die.
59 RES. You have seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me. Judge my case.
[Now], Yahweh, you have seen the evil things that my enemies have done to me, [so] decide my case [and show that I am right]!
60 RES. You have seen all their fury, every one of their thoughts is against me.
You know the evil things that they have planned to do to me.
61 SIN. You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their thoughts are against me.
Yahweh, you have heard them insult [me] and what they have planned to do to me.
62 SIN. The lips of those who rise up against me, and their meditations, are against me all day long.
Every day they whisper and mutter things about me, all day long.
63 SIN. Watch their sitting down and their rising up: I am their psalm.
Look at them! Whether they are standing or sitting they make fun of me with the songs that they sing.
64 THAU. You shall pay a recompense to them, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.
Yahweh, cause them to suffer in return for their causing [me] to suffer!
65 THAU. You shall give them a heavy shield of the heart: your hardship.
Curse them [IDM] [for] their being very stubborn [IDM].
66 THAU. You shall pursue them in fury, and you shall destroy them under the heavens, O Lord.
Because you are angry with them, pursue them and get rid of them, [until none of them remain] on the earth.
