Lamentationes 3
1 ALEPH. Ego vir videns paupertatem meam in virga indignationis eius.
I am a man who has seen misery under the rod of Yahweh's fury.
2 ALEPH. Me minavit, et adduxit in tenebras, et non in lucem.
He drove me away and caused me to walk in darkness rather than light.
3 ALEPH. Tantum in me vertit, et convertit manum suam tota die.
Surely he turned his hand against me again and again, the whole day long.
4 BETH. Vetustam fecit pellem meam, et carnem meam, contrivit ossa mea.
He made my flesh and my skin waste away; he broke my bones.
5 BETH. Ædificavit in gyro meo, et circumdedit me felle, et labore.
He built up siege works against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6 BETH. In tenebrosis collocavit me, quasi mortuos sempiternos.
He made me live in dark places, like those who died long ago.
7 GHIMEL. Circumædificavit adversum me, ut non egrediar: aggravavit compedem meum.
He built a wall around me and I cannot escape. He made my chains heavy
8 GHIMEL. Sed et cum clamavero, et rogavero, exclusit orationem meam.
and though I call out and cry for help, he shut out my prayer.
9 GHIMEL. Conclusit vias meas lapidibus quadris, semitas meas subvertit.
He blocked my path with a wall of hewn stone; he made my paths crooked.
10 DALETH. Ursus insidians factus est mihi: leo in absconditis.
He is like a bear waiting to ambush me, a lion in hiding;
11 DALETH. Semitas meas subvertit, et confregit me: posuit me desolatam.
he turned aside my paths, he has made me desolate.
12 DALETH. Tetendit arcum suum, et posuit me quasi signum ad sagittam.
He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.
13 HE. Misit in renibus meis filias pharetræ suæ.
He pierced my kidneys with the arrows of his quiver.
14 HE. Factus sum in derisum omni populo meo, canticum eorum tota die.
I became a laughingstock to all my people, the object of their taunting all day long.
15 HE. Replevit me amaritudinibus, inebriavit me absynthio.
He filled me with bitterness and forced me to drink wormwood.
16 VAU. Et fregit ad numerum dentes meos, cibavit me cinere.
He has made my teeth grind with gravel, and he made me cower in the ashes.
17 VAU. Et repulsa est a pace anima mea, oblitus sum bonorum.
My soul is deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.
18 VAU. Et dixi: Periit finis meus, et spes mea a Domino.
So I say, “My endurance has perished and so has my hope in Yahweh.”
19 ZAIN. Recordare paupertatis, et transgressionis meæ, absinthii, et fellis.
Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and bitterness.
20 ZAIN. Memoria memor ero, et tabescet in me anima mea.
I continually remember it and I am bowed down within me.
21 ZAIN. Hæc recolens in corde meo, ideo sperabo.
But I call this to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 HETH. Misericordiæ Domini quia non sumus consumpti: quia non defecerunt miserationes eius.
The steadfast love of Yahweh never ceases and his compassions never end,
23 HETH. Novi diluculo, multa est fides tua.
they are new every morning; your faithfulness is great.
24 HETH. Pars mea Dominus, dixit anima mea: propterea expectabo eum.
“Yahweh is my inheritance,” I said, therefore I will hope in him.
25 TETH. Bonus est Dominus sperantibus in eum, animæ quærenti illum.
Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the one who seeks him.
26 TETH. Bonum est præstolari cum silentio salutare Dei.
It is good to wait silently for the salvation of Yahweh.
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 in silence, when it is laid upon him.
29 IOD. Ponet in pulvere os suum, si forte sit spes.
Let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope.
30 IOD. Dabit percutienti se maxillam, saturabitur opprobriis.
Let him offer his cheek to the one who strikes him, and let him be filled to the full with reproach.
31 CAPH. Quia non repellet in sempiternum Dominus.
For the Lord will not reject us forever,
32 CAPH. Quia si abiecit, et miserebitur secundum multitudinem misericordiarum suarum.
but though he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
33 CAPH. Non enim humiliavit ex corde suo, et abiecit filios hominum,
For he does not afflict from his heart or torment the children of mankind.
34 LAMED. Ut conteret sub pedibus suis omnes vinctos terræ,
To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 LAMED. Ut declinaret iudicium viri in conspectu vultus Altissimi.
to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High,
36 LAMED. Ut perverteret hominem in iudicio suo, Dominus ignoravit.
to deny justice to a person—the Lord would not approve such things!
37 MEM. Quis est iste, qui dixit ut fieret, Domino non iubente?
Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord decreed it?
38 MEM. Ex ore Altissimi non egredientur nec mala nec bona?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and the good come?
39 MEM. Quid murmuravit homo vivens, vir pro peccatis suis?
How can any person alive complain? How can a person complain about the punishment for his sins?
40 NUN. Scrutemur vias nostras, et quæramus, et revertamur ad Dominum.
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to Yahweh.
41 NUN. Levemus corda nostra cum manibus ad Dominum in cælos.
Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in the heavens:
42 NUN. Nos inique egimus, et ad iracundiam provocavimus: idcirco tu inexorabilis es.
“We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
43 SAMECH. Operuisti in furore, et percussisti nos: occidisti, nec pepercisti.
You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us, you have killed and you have not spared.
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 like filthy scum and refuse among the nations.
46 PHE. Aperuerunt super nos os suum omnes inimici.
All our enemies curse us,
47 PHE. Formido, et laqueus facta est nobis vaticinatio, et contritio.
panic and pitfall have come upon us, ruin and destruction.
48 PHE. Divisiones aquarum deduxit oculus meus, in contritione filiæ populi mei.
My eyes flow with streams of tears because my people are destroyed.
49 AIN. Oculus meus afflictus est, nec tacuit, eo quod non esset requies,
My eyes will shed tears without ceasing, without relief,
50 AIN. Donec respiceret et videret Dominus de cælis.
until Yahweh from heaven looks down and sees.
51 AIN. Oculus meus deprædatus est animam meam in cunctis filiabus urbis meæ.
My eyes cause me grief because of all the daughters of my city.
52 SADE. Venatione ceperunt me quasi avem inimici mei gratis.
I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies; they hunted me without a reason.
53 SADE. Lapsa est in lacum vita mea, et posuerunt lapidem super me.
They cast me into a pit and they threw a stone on me,
54 SADE. Inundaverunt aquæ super caput meum: dixi: Perii.
and they caused waters to overflow, covering my head. I said, 'I have been cut off!'
55 COPH. Invocavi nomen tuum Domine de lacu novissimo.
I called on your name, Yahweh, from the depths of the pit.
56 COPH. Vocem meam audisti: ne avertas aurem tuam a singultu meo, et clamoribus.
You heard my voice when I said, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help.'
57 COPH. Appropinquasti in die, quando invocavi te: dixisti: Ne timeas.
You came near on the day I called on you; you said, 'Do not fear.'
58 RES. Iudicasti Domine causam animæ meæ, redemptor vitæ meæ.
Lord, you defended my case, you saved my life!
59 RES. Vidisti Domine iniquitatem illorum adversum me: iudica iudicium meum.
Yahweh, you have seen the wrong they have done to me; judge my case.
60 RES. Vidisti omnem furorem, universas cogitationes eorum adversum me.
You have seen their insults, all their plots against me—
61 SIN. Audisti opprobrium eorum Domine, omnes cogitationes eorum adversum me:
You have heard their scorn, Yahweh, and all their plans regarding me.
62 SIN. Labia insurgentium mihi; et meditationes eorum adversum me tota die.
The lips and the accusations of my enemies come against me all the day.
63 SIN. Sessionem eorum, et resurrectionem eorum vide, ego sum psalmus eorum.
Look at how they sit and then rise up; they mock me with their songs.
64 THAU. Redes eis vicem Domine iuxta opera manuum suarum.
Pay back to them, Yahweh, according to what they have done.
65 THAU. Dabis eis scutum cordis laborem tuum.
You will let their hearts be shameless! May your condemnation be upon them!
66 THAU. Persequeris in furore, et conteres eos sub cælis Domine.
You pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens, Yahweh!”
