GodsWord - Lamentations - 3

3:1  "I am the man who has experienced suffering under the rod of God's fury.

3:2  God has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light.

3:3  He beat me again and again all day long.

3:4  He has made my flesh and my skin waste away. He has broken my bones.

3:5  He has attacked me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

3:6  He has made me live in darkness, like those who died a long time ago.

3:7  He has blocked me so that I can't get out. He has put heavy chains on me.

3:8  Even when I cry and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.

3:9  He has blocked my way with cut stones and made my paths crooked.

3:10  He is like a bear waiting to ambush me, like a lion in hiding.

3:11  He has forced me off the road I was taking, torn me to pieces, and left me with nothing.

3:12  He has drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows.

3:13  He has shot the arrows from his quiver into my heart.

3:14  I have become a laughingstock to all my people. All day long they make fun of me with their songs.

3:15  He has filled me with bitterness. He has made me drink wormwood.

3:16  He has ground my teeth with gravel. He has trampled me into the dust.

3:17  "My soul has been kept from enjoying peace. I have forgotten what happiness is.

3:18  I said, 'I've lost my strength to live and my hope in the LORD.'

3:19  Remember my suffering and my aimless wandering, the wormwood and poison.

3:20  My soul continues to remember these things and is so discouraged.

3:21  "The reason I can still find hope is that I keep this one thing in mind:

3:22  the LORD's mercy. We were not completely wiped out. His compassion is never limited.

3:23  It is new every morning. His faithfulness is great.

3:24  My soul can say, 'The LORD is my lot in life. That is why I find hope in him.'

3:25  The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to anyone who seeks help from him.

3:26  "It is good to continue to hope and wait silently for the LORD to save us.

3:27  It is good for people to endure burdens when they're young.

3:28  They should sit alone and remain silent because the LORD has laid these burdens on them.

3:29  They should put their mouths in the dust. Maybe a reason to hope exists.

3:30  They should turn their cheeks to the one who strikes them and take their fill of insults.

3:31  "The Lord will not reject such people forever.

3:32  Even if he makes us suffer, he will have compassion in keeping with the richness of his mercy.

3:33  He does not willingly bring suffering or grief to anyone,

3:34  crush any prisoner on earth underfoot,

3:35  deny people their rights in the presence of the Most High God,

3:36  or deprive people of justice in court. The Lord isn't happy to see these things.

3:37  Who was it who spoke and it came into being? It was the Lord who gave the order.

3:38  Both good and bad come from the mouth of the Most High God.

3:39  "Why should any living mortal (any person) complain about being punished for sin?

3:40  Let us look closely at our ways and examine them and then return to the LORD.

3:41  Let us raise our hearts and hands to God in heaven.

3:42  "We have been disobedient and rebellious. You haven't forgiven us.

3:43  You covered yourself with anger and pursued us. You killed without pity.

3:44  You covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer could get through it.

3:45  You made us the scum and trash of the nations.

3:46  All our enemies gawk at us.

3:47  Panic and pitfalls have found us, so have devastation and destruction.

3:48  "Streams of tears run down from my eyes over the ruin of my dear people.

3:49  My eyes will keep flowing without stopping for a moment

3:50  until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.

3:51  What I see with my eyes disturbs me deeply because of all the young women in my city.

3:52  "Those who were my enemies for no reason hunted me like a bird.

3:53  They threw me alive into a pit and threw rocks at me.

3:54  Water flowed over my head. I thought I was finished.

3:55  "I call your name from the deepest pit, O LORD.

3:56  Listen to my cry for help. Don't close your ears when I cry out for relief.

3:57  Be close at hand when I call to you. You told me not to be afraid.

3:58  Plead my case for me, O LORD. Reclaim my life.

3:59  Look at the wrong that has been done to me, O LORD. Give me a fair verdict.

3:60  Look at all their malice, all their plots against me.

3:61  Listen to their insults, all their plots against me.

3:62  The words and thoughts of those who attack me are directed against me all day long.

3:63  Look at them! Whether they are sitting or standing, they make fun of me in their songs.

3:64  Pay them back, O LORD, for what they deserve, for what their own hands have done.

3:65  Make them stubborn. Let your curse be on them.

3:66  Pursue them in anger, and wipe them out from under the LORD's heaven."