Lam 3 | ESV | STEP | I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath ;

1 ^aI am the man who has seen affliction
under the ^brod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
^cinto darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
^dhe has broken my bones;
5 ^ehe has besieged and enveloped me
with ^fbitterness and tribulation;
6 ^ghe has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 ^hHe has walled me about so that ⁱI cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8 though ^jI call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 ^khe has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 ^lHe is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
11 ^mhe turned aside my steps and ⁿtore me to pieces;
^ohe has made me desolate;
12 ^phe bent his bow ^qand set me
as a target for his arrow.
13 He drove into my kidneys
^rthe arrows of his quiver;
14 ^sI have become the laughingstock of all my people, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts all peoples}
^uthe object of their taunts all day long.
15 ^vHe has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with ^wwormwood.
16 ^xHe has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and ^ymade me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness ^{▼▼Hebrew good} is;
18 ^aaso I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”
19 ^abRemember my affliction and my wanderings,
^acthe wormwood and ^adthe gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
^aeand is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and ^aftherefore I have hope:
22 ^agThe steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; ^{▼▼Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Because of the steadfast love of the Lord, we are not cut off}
^aihis mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new ^ajevery morning;
^akgreat is your faithfulness.
24 ^al“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
^am“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who ^anwait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 ^aoIt is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 ^apIt is good for a man that he bear
the yoke ^aqin his youth.
28 Let him ^arsit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
29 ^aslet him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30 ^atlet him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
31 ^auFor the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32 for, though he ^avcause grief, ^awhe will have compassion
^axaccording to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 ^ayfor he does not afflict from his heart
or ^azgrieve the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot
all ^bathe prisoners of the earth,
35 ^bbto deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
^bcthe Lord does not approve.
37 ^bdWho has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 ^beIs it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
39 ^bfWhy should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways,
^bgand return to the Lord!
41 ^bhLet us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
42 ^bi“We have transgressed and ^bjrebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
^bkkilling without pity;
44 ^blyou have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 ^bmYou have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.
46 ^bn“All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
47 ^bopanic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and ^bpdestruction;
48 ^bqmy eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 ^br“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
50 ^bsuntil the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees;
51 my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
52 ^bt“I have been hunted ^bulike a bird
by those who were my enemies ^bvwithout cause;
53 ^bwthey flung me alive into the pit ^{▼▼Or they end my life in the pit}
^byand cast stones on me;
54 ^bzwater closed over my head;
I said, ^ca‘I am lost.’
55 ^cb“I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
56 ^ccyou heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
57 ^cdYou came near when I called on you;
you said, ^ce‘Do not fear!’
58 “You have ^cftaken up my cause, ^cgO Lord;
you have ^chredeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, ^ciO Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all ^cjtheir plots against me.
61 ^ck“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all ^cltheir plots against me.
62 The lips and thoughts ^cmof my assailants
are against me all the day long.
63 ^cnBehold their sitting and their rising;
^coI am the object of their taunts.
64 ^cp“You will repay them, ^{▼▼Or Repay them} O Lord,
^craccording to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them ^{▼▼Or Give them} dullness of heart;
your curse will be ^{▼▼Or place your curse} on them.
66 You will pursue them ^{▼▼Or Pursue them} in anger and ^cvdestroy them
from under ^cwyour heavens, O Lord.” ^{▼▼Syriac (compare Septuagint, Vulgate); Hebrew the heavens of the Lord}