Lamentations 3
The Prophet Speaks:
א (Alef)1
3:1 I am the man2 who has experienced3 affliction
from the rod4 of his wrath.
3:2 He drove me into captivity5 and made me walk6
in darkness and not light.
3:3 He repeatedly7 attacks me,
he turns his hand8 against me all day long.9
ב (Bet)
3:4 He has made my mortal skin10 waste away;
he has broken my bones.
3:5 He has besieged11 and surrounded12 me
with bitter hardship.13
3:6 He has made me reside in deepest darkness14
like those who died long ago.
ג (Gimel)
3:7 He has walled me in15 so that I cannot get out;
he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains.16
3:8 Also, when I cry out desperately17 for help,18
he has shut out my prayer.19
3:9 He has blocked20 every road I take21 with a wall of hewn stones;
he has made every path impassable.22
ד (Dalet)
3:10 To me he is like a bear lying in ambush,23
like a hidden lion24 stalking its prey.25
3:11 He has obstructed my paths26 and torn me to pieces;27
he has made me desolate.
3:12 He drew28 his bow and made me29
the target for his arrow.
ה (He)
into my heart.32
3:14 I have become the laughingstock of all people,33
their mocking song34 all day long.35
3:15 He has given me my fill of bitter herbs
and made me drunk with bitterness.36
ו (Vav)
3:16 He ground37 my teeth in gravel;
he trampled38 me in the dust.
3:17 I39 am deprived40 of peace;41
I have forgotten what happiness42 is.
3:18 So I said, “My endurance has expired;
I have lost all hope of deliverance43 from the Lord.”
ז (Zayin)
3:19 Remember44 my impoverished and homeless condition,45
which is a bitter poison.46
3:20 I47 continually think about48 this,
3:21 But this I call51 to mind;52
therefore I have hope:
ח (Khet)
3:22 The Lord’s loyal kindness53 never ceases;54
his compassions55 never end.
3:23 They are fresh56 every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!57
3:24 “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself,58
so I will put my hope in him.
ט (Tet)
3:25 The Lord is good to those who trust59 in him,
to the one60 who seeks him.
3:26 It is good to wait patiently61
for deliverance from the Lord.62
3:27 It is good for a man63
to bear64 the yoke65 while he is young.66
י (Yod)
3:28 Let a person67 sit alone in silence,
when the Lord68 is disciplining him.69
3:29 Let him bury his face in the dust;70
perhaps there is hope.
3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him;71
let him have his fill of insults.
כ (Kaf)
3:31 For the Lord72 will not
reject us forever.73
3:32 Though he causes us74 grief, he then has compassion on us75
according to the abundance of his loyal kindness.76
3:33 For he is not predisposed to afflict77
or to grieve people.78
ל (Lamed)
all the earth’s prisoners,79
3:35 to deprive a person80 of his rights81
in the presence of the Most High,
3:36 to defraud a person in a lawsuit –
the Lord82 does not approve83 of such things!
מ (Mem)
3:37 Whose command was ever fulfilled84
unless the Lord85 decreed it?
3:38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes –
both calamity and blessing?86
3:39 Why should any living person87 complain
when punished for his sins?88
נ (Nun)
3:40 Let us carefully examine our ways,89
and let us return to the Lord.
3:41 Let us lift up our hearts90 and our hands
to God in heaven:
3:42 “We91 have blatantly rebelled;92
you93 have not forgiven.”
ס (Samek)
3:43 You shrouded yourself94 with anger and then pursued us;
you killed without mercy.
3:44 You shrouded yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
3:45 You make us like filthy scum95
in the estimation96 of the nations.
פ (Pe)
3:46 All our enemies have gloated over us;97
3:47 Panic and pitfall98 have come upon us,
devastation and destruction.99
3:48 Streams100 of tears flow from my eyes101
because my people102 are destroyed.103
ע (Ayin)
3:49 Tears flow from my eyes104 and will not stop;
there will be no break105
3:50 until the Lord looks down from heaven
and sees what has happened.106
3:51 What my eyes see107 grieves me108 –
all the suffering of the daughters in my city.109
צ (Tsade)
3:52 For no good reason110 my enemies
hunted me down111 like a bird.
3:53 They shut me112 up in a pit
and threw stones at me.
3:54 The waters closed over my head;
I thought113 I was about to die.114
ק (Qof)
3:55 I have called on your name, O Lord,
from the deepest pit.115
“Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!”118
3:57 You came near119 on the day I called to you;
you said,120 “Do not fear!”
ר (Resh)
3:58 O Lord,121 you championed122 my cause,123
you redeemed my life.
3:59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
pronounce judgment on my behalf!124
3:60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all their plots against me.125
ש (Sin/Shin)
3:61 You have heard126 their taunts, O Lord,
all their plots against me.
3:62 My assailants revile and conspire127
against me all day long.
3:63 Watch them from morning to evening;128
I am the object of their mocking songs.
ת (Tav)
3:64 Pay them back129 what they deserve,130 O Lord,
according to what they131 have done.132
3:65 Give them a distraught heart;133
may your curse be on them!
3:66 Pursue them134 in anger and eradicate them
from under the Lord’s heaven.