Lamentations 3
1 Aleph. I am the man that see my poverty by the rod of his indignation.
I am the man that hath seen affliction under the rod of His wrath;
2 Aleph. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, and not into light.
He hath led me and brought me into darkness, and not into light;
3 Aleph. Only against me he hath turned, and turned again his hand all the day.
Yea, against me doth he again and again turn his hand all the day long.
4 Beth. My skin and my flesh he hath made old, he hath broken my bones.
My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.
5 Beth. He hath built round about me, and he hath compassed me with gall and labour.
He hath builded against me, and encompassed me with bitterness and woe.
6 Beth. He hath set me in dark places as those that are dead for ever.
He hath set me in dark places, as those that have long been dead.
7 Ghimel. He hath built against me round about, that I may not get out: he hath made my fetters heavy.
He hath hedged me about, so that I cannot get out; he hath made my chain heavy;
8 Ghimel. Yea, and when I cry, and entreat, he hath shut out my prayer.
Yea, when I cry and call aloud, he shutteth out my prayer.
9 Ghimel. He hath shut up my ways with square stones, he hath turned my paths upside down.
He blocketh up my way with hewn stone; he maketh my paths crooked.
10 Daleth. He is become to me as a bear lying in wait: as a lion in secret places.
A bear lying in wait hath he been to me, a lion in lurking-places.
11 Daleth. He hath turned aside my paths, and hath broken me in pieces, he hath made me desolate.
He hath turned aside my ways, and torn me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
12 Daleth. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He. He hath shot into my reins the daughters of his quiver.
He hath caused the sons of his quiver to pierce my reins.
14 He. I am made a derision to all my people, their song all the day long.
I have been a laughing-stock to all my people, their song all the day.
15 He. He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood.
He hath filled me with bitterness; he hath made me drunk with wormwood.
16 Vau. And he hath broken my teeth one by one, he hath fed me with ashes.
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel-stones; He hath covered me with ashes.
17 Vau. And my soul is removed far off from peace, I have forgotten good things.
Yea, thou hast removed my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.
18 Vau. And I said: My end and my hope is perished from the Lord.
And I say, “My confidence and my hope in Jehovah are gone!”
19 Zain. Remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood, and the gall.
Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall!
20 Zain. I will be mindful and remember, and my soul shall languish within me.
Yea, thou wilt remember them, for my soul sinketh within me!
21 Zain. These things I shall think over in my heart, therefore will I hope.
This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope;
22 Heth. The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because his commiserations have not failed.
It is of the mercy of Jehovah that we are not consumed; yea, his compassion faileth not;
23 Heth. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.
It is new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
24 Heth. The Lord is my portion, said my soul: therefore will I wait for him.
Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul, therefore do I hope in him.
25 Teth. The Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.
Jehovah is good to them that trust in him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 Teth. It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God.
It is good that a man hope, and quietly wait for salvation from Jehovah.
27 Teth. It is good for a man, when he hath borne the yoke from his youth.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth;
28 Jod. He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it up upon himself.
That he sit alone and keep silence, since He layeth it upon him;
29 Jod. He shall put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
That he put his mouth in the dust, [[saying to himself, ]] “Perhaps there may be hope!”
30 Jod. He shall give his cheek to him that striketh him, he shall be filled with reproaches.
That he offer his cheek to the smiter; that he be filled with reproach.
31 Caph. For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
For the Lord will not cast off forever;
32 Caph. For if he hath cast off, he will also have mercy, according to the multitude of his mercies.
For though he cause grief, yet doth he have compassion according to his great mercy;
33 Caph. For he hath not willingly afflicted, nor cast off the children of men.
For he doth not willingly afflict and grieve the children of men.
34 Lamed. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,
Doth one trample under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 Lamed. To turn aside the judgment of a man before the face of the most High,
Doth he bend the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36 Lamed. To destroy a man wrongfully in his judgment, the Lord hath not approved.
Doth he subvert a man in his cause, and shall not the Lord behold it?
37 Mem. Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not?
Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord hath not commanded?
38 Mem. Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Highest?
Cometh not evil, as well as good, from the mouth of the Most High?
39 Mem. Why hath a living man murmured, man suffering for his sins?
Wherefore then murmureth the living man? Let him murmur at his own sin!
40 Nun. Let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord.
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah!
41 Nun. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens.
Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens!
42 Nun. We have done wickedly, and provoked thee to wrath: therefore thou art inexorable.
We have transgressed; we have rebelled; thou hast not forgiven!
43 Samech. Thou hast covered in thy wrath, and hast struck us: thou hast killed and hast not spared.
Thou hast hidden thyself in anger, and hast pursued us; thou hast slain and hast not spared;
44 Samech. Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that our prayer may not pass through.
Thou hast hidden thyself in a cloud, that our prayer may not pass through;
45 Samech. Thou hast made me as an outcast, and refuse in the midst of the people.
Thou hast made us the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the nations.
46 Phe. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
All our enemies have opened their mouths against us;
47 Phe. Prophecy is become to us a fear, and a snare, and destruction.
Terror and the pit have come upon us, desolation and destruction;
48 Phe. My eye hath run down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Mine eye runneth down with streams of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 Ain. My eye is afflicted, and hath not been quiet, because there was no rest:
Mine eye trickleth down and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
50 Ain. Till the Lord regarded and looked down from the heavens.
Until Jehovah look down and behold from heaven.
51 Ain. My eye hath wasted my soul because of all the daughters of my city.
Mine eye is painful to me on account of all the daughters of my city.
52 Sade. My enemies have chased me and caught me like a bird, without cause.
They that are my enemies without cause hunt me down like a bird;
53 Sade. My life is fallen into the pit, and they have laid a stone over me.
They take away my life in the dungeon; they cast a stone upon me;
54 Sade. Waters have flowed over my head: I said: I am cut off.
Waters flow over my head; I say, “I am undone!”
55 Coph. I have called upon thy name, O Lord, from the lowest pit.
I call upon thy name, O Jehovah, from the deep dungeon;
56 Coph. Thou hast heard my voice: turn not away thy ear from my sighs, and cries.
Hear thou my voice! hide not thine ear from my cry for relief!
57 Coph. Thou drewest near in the day, when I called upon thee, thou saidst: Fear not.
Be near to me, when I call upon thee! Say, “Fear not!”
58 Res. Thou hast judged, O Lord, the cause of my soul, thou the Redeemer of my life.
Thou maintainest my cause, O Lord; thou redeemest my life!
59 Res. Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge thou my judgment.
Thou, O Jehovah, seest the wrong done to me; Maintain thou my cause!
60 Res. Thou hast seen all their fury, and all their thoughts against me.
Thou seest all their vengeance, all their devices against me.
61 Sin. Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, all their imaginations against me.
Thou hearest their reproach, O Jehovah, all their devices against me,
62 Sin. The lips of them that rise up against me: and their devices against me all the day.
The words of my adversaries, and their machinations against me all the day long!
63 Sin. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up, I am their song.
Behold their sitting down and their rising up! I am their song.
64 Thau. Thou shalt render them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.
Render to them a recompense, O Jehovah, according to the work of their hands!
65 Thau. Thou shalt give them a buckler of heart, thy labour.
Give them blindness of mind! thy curse be upon them!
66 Thau. Thou shalt persecute them in anger, and shalt destroy them from under the heavens, O Lord.
Pursue them in thine anger, and destroy them from under Jehovah's heaven!
