Lamentations 3 - New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995)

Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Affliction

3 I am the man who has (A)seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2 He has driven me and made me walk
In (B)darkness and not in light.
3 Surely against me He has (C)turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
4 He has caused my (D)flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has (E)broken my bones.
5 He has (F)besieged and encompassed me with (G)bitterness and hardship.
6 In (H)dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
7 He has (I)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my [a](J)chain heavy.
8 Even when I cry out and call for help,
He (K)shuts out my prayer.
9 He has (L)blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11 He has turned aside my ways and (M)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He (N)bent His bow
And (O)set me as a target for the arrow.
13 He made the [b]arrows of His (P)quiver
To enter into my [c]inward parts.
14 I have become a (Q)laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking (R)song all the day.
15 He has (S)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
16 He has (T)broken my teeth with (U)gravel;
He has made me cower in the (V)dust.
17 My soul has been rejected (W)from peace;
I have forgotten [d]happiness.
18 So I say, “My strength has perished,
And so has my (X)hope from the Lord.”

Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy

19 Remember my affliction and my [e]wandering, the (Y)wormwood and bitterness.
20 Surely (Z)my soul remembers
And is (AA)bowed down within me.
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have (AB)hope.
22 The Lord’s (AC)lovingkindnesses [f]indeed never cease,
(AD)For His compassions never fail.
23 They are new (AE)every morning;
Great is (AF)Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my (AG)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I (AH)have hope in Him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who (AI)wait for Him,
To the [g]person who (AJ)seeks Him.
26 It is good that he (AK)waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him (AL)sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
29 Let him [h]put his mouth in the (AM)dust,
Perhaps there is (AN)hope.
30 Let him give his (AO)cheek to [i]the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
31 For the Lord will (AP)not reject forever,
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have (AQ)compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
33 For He (AR)does not afflict [j]willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
34 To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the [k]land,
35 To [l]deprive a man of (AS)justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36 To [m](AT)defraud a man in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does not [n]approve.
37 Who is [o]there who speaks and it (AU)comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That [p](AV)both good and ill go forth?

39 Why should any living [q]mortal, or any man,
Offer (AW)complaint [r]in view of his sins?
40 Let us (AX)examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the Lord.
41 We (AY)lift up our heart [s]and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have (AZ)transgressed and rebelled,
You have (BA)not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with (BB)anger
And (BC)pursued us;
You have slain and (BD)have not spared.
44 You have (BE)covered Yourself with a cloud
So that (BF)no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere (BG)offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies have (BH)opened their mouths against us.
47 (BI)Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My [t](BJ)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes pour down (BK)unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until the Lord (BL)looks down
And sees from heaven.
51 My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies (BM)without cause
Hunted me down (BN)like a bird;
53 They have silenced [u]me (BO)in the pit
And have [v](BP)placed a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed (BQ)over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”
55 I (BR)called on Your name, O Lord,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (BS)heard my voice,
“(BT)Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You (BU)drew near when I called on You;
You said, “(BV)Do not fear!”
58 O Lord, You (BW)have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have (BX)redeemed my life.
59 O Lord, You have (BY)seen my oppression;
(BZ)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (CA)schemes against me.
61 You have heard their (CB)reproach, O Lord,
All their schemes against me.
62 The (CC)lips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63 Look on their (CD)sitting and their rising;
(CE)I am their mocking song.
64 You will (CF)recompense them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them [w](CG)hardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (CH)pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the (CI)heavens of the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 3:7 Lit bronze piece
  2. Lamentations 3:13 Lit sons
  3. Lamentations 3:13 Lit kidneys
  4. Lamentations 3:17 Lit good
  5. Lamentations 3:19 Or bitterness
  6. Lamentations 3:22 Or that we are not consumed
  7. Lamentations 3:25 Lit soul
  8. Lamentations 3:29 Lit give
  9. Lamentations 3:30 Lit his
  10. Lamentations 3:33 Lit from His heart
  11. Lamentations 3:34 Or earth
  12. Lamentations 3:35 Or turn aside a man’s case
  13. Lamentations 3:36 Lit make crooked
  14. Lamentations 3:36 Lit see
  15. Lamentations 3:37 Lit this
  16. Lamentations 3:38 Lit the evil things and the good
  17. Lamentations 3:39 Or human being
  18. Lamentations 3:39 Or on the basis of
  19. Lamentations 3:41 Lit toward our
  20. Lamentations 3:48 Lit eye brings
  21. Lamentations 3:53 Lit my life
  22. Lamentations 3:53 Or cast stones
  23. Lamentations 3:65 Or insolence

Cross references

  1. Lamentations 3:1 : Ps 88:7, 15, 16
  2. Lamentations 3:2 : Job 30:26; Is 59:9; Jer 4:23
  3. Lamentations 3:3 : Ps 38:2; Is 5:25
  4. Lamentations 3:4 : Ps 31:9, 10; 38:2-8; 102:3-5
  5. Lamentations 3:4 : Ps 51:8; Is 38:13
  6. Lamentations 3:5 : Job 19:8
  7. Lamentations 3:5 : Jer 23:15; Lam 3:19
  8. Lamentations 3:6 : Ps 88:5, 6; 143:3
  9. Lamentations 3:7 : Job 3:23; 19:8
  10. Lamentations 3:7 : Jer 40:4
  11. Lamentations 3:8 : Job 30:20; Ps 22:2
  12. Lamentations 3:9 : Is 63:17; Hos 2:6
  13. Lamentations 3:11 : Job 16:12, 13; Jer 15:3; Hos 6:1
  14. Lamentations 3:12 : Ps 7:12; Lam 2:4
  15. Lamentations 3:12 : Job 6:4; 7:20; Ps 38:2
  16. Lamentations 3:13 : Jer 5:16
  17. Lamentations 3:14 : Ps 22:6, 7; 123:4; Jer 20:7
  18. Lamentations 3:14 : Job 30:9; Lam 3:63
  19. Lamentations 3:15 : Jer 9:15
  20. Lamentations 3:16 : Ps 3:7; 58:6
  21. Lamentations 3:16 : Prov 20:17
  22. Lamentations 3:16 : Jer 6:26
  23. Lamentations 3:17 : Is 59:11; Jer 12:12
  24. Lamentations 3:18 : Job 17:15; Ezek 37:11
  25. Lamentations 3:19 : Jer 9:15; Lam 3:5, 15
  26. Lamentations 3:20 : Job 21:6
  27. Lamentations 3:20 : Ps 42:5, 6, 11; 43:5; 44:25
  28. Lamentations 3:21 : Ps 130:7
  29. Lamentations 3:22 : Ps 78:38; Jer 3:12; 30:11
  30. Lamentations 3:22 : Mal 3:6
  31. Lamentations 3:23 : Is 33:2; Zeph 3:5
  32. Lamentations 3:23 : Heb 10:23
  33. Lamentations 3:24 : Ps 16:5; 73:26
  34. Lamentations 3:24 : Ps 33:18
  35. Lamentations 3:25 : Ps 27:14; Is 25:9
  36. Lamentations 3:25 : Is 26:9
  37. Lamentations 3:26 : Ps 37:7
  38. Lamentations 3:28 : Jer 15:17
  39. Lamentations 3:29 : Job 16:15; 40:4
  40. Lamentations 3:29 : Jer 31:17
  41. Lamentations 3:30 : Job 16:10; Is 50:6
  42. Lamentations 3:31 : Ps 77:7; 94:14; Is 54:7-10
  43. Lamentations 3:32 : Ps 78:38; 106:43-45; Hos 11:8
  44. Lamentations 3:33 : Ps 119:67, 71, 75; Ezek 33:11; Heb 12:10
  45. Lamentations 3:35 : Ps 140:12; Prov 17:15
  46. Lamentations 3:36 : Jer 22:3; Hab 1:13
  47. Lamentations 3:37 : Ps 33:9-11
  48. Lamentations 3:38 : Job 2:10; Is 45:7; Jer 32:42
  49. Lamentations 3:39 : Jer 30:15; Mic 7:9; Heb 12:5, 6
  50. Lamentations 3:40 : Ps 119:59; 139:23, 24; 2 Cor 13:5
  51. Lamentations 3:41 : Ps 25:1; 28:2; 141:2
  52. Lamentations 3:42 : Neh 9:26; Jer 14:20; Dan 9:5
  53. Lamentations 3:42 : 2 Kin 24:4; Jer 5:7, 9
  54. Lamentations 3:43 : Lam 2:21
  55. Lamentations 3:43 : Ps 83:15; Lam 3:66
  56. Lamentations 3:43 : Lam 2:2, 17, 21
  57. Lamentations 3:44 : Ps 97:2
  58. Lamentations 3:44 : Lam 3:8; Zech 7:13
  59. Lamentations 3:45 : 1 Cor 4:13
  60. Lamentations 3:46 : Job 30:9, 10; Ps 22:6-8; Lam 2:16
  61. Lamentations 3:47 : Is 24:17, 18; Jer 48:43, 44
  62. Lamentations 3:48 : Ps 119:136; Jer 9:1, 18; Lam 1:16; 2:11, 18
  63. Lamentations 3:49 : Ps 77:2; Jer 14:17
  64. Lamentations 3:50 : Ps 80:14; Is 63:15; Lam 5:1
  65. Lamentations 3:52 : Ps 35:7, 19
  66. Lamentations 3:52 : 1 Sam 26:20; Ps 11:1; 124:7
  67. Lamentations 3:53 : Jer 37:16; 38:6, 9
  68. Lamentations 3:53 : Dan 6:17
  69. Lamentations 3:54 : Ps 69:2; Jon 2:3-5
  70. Lamentations 3:55 : Ps 130:1; Jon 2:2
  71. Lamentations 3:56 : Job 34:28
  72. Lamentations 3:56 : Ps 55:1
  73. Lamentations 3:57 : Ps 145:18
  74. Lamentations 3:57 : Is 41:10, 14
  75. Lamentations 3:58 : Jer 50:34
  76. Lamentations 3:58 : Ps 34:22
  77. Lamentations 3:59 : Jer 18:19, 20
  78. Lamentations 3:59 : Ps 26:1; 43:1
  79. Lamentations 3:60 : Jer 11:19
  80. Lamentations 3:61 : Ps 74:18; 89:50; Lam 5:1; Zeph 2:8
  81. Lamentations 3:62 : Ps 59:7, 12; 140:3; Ezek 36:3
  82. Lamentations 3:63 : Ps 139:2
  83. Lamentations 3:63 : Job 30:9; Lam 3:14
  84. Lamentations 3:64 : Ps 28:4; Jer 51:6, 24, 56
  85. Lamentations 3:65 : Ex 14:8; Deut 2:30; Is 6:10
  86. Lamentations 3:66 : Lam 3:43
  87. Lamentations 3:66 : Ps 8:3

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