3:1 ALEPH. I am the man that sees poverty,
through the rod of his wrath upon me.
3:2 He has taken me, and led me away into darkness, and not [into] light.
3:3 Nay, against me has he turned his hand all the day.
3:4 He has made old my flesh and my skin; he has broken my bones.
3:5 BETH. He has built against me, and compassed my head, and brought
travail [upon me].
3:6 He has set me in dark places, as them that have long been dead.
3:7 He has builded against me, and I cannot come forth: he has made my
brazen [chain] heavy.
3:8 GIMEL. Yea, [though] I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer.
3:9 DALETH. He has built up my ways, he has hedged my paths;
3:10 he has troubled me, [as] a she-bear lying in wait: he is to me [as] a
lion in secret places.
3:11 He pursued [me] after I departed, and brought me to a stand: he has
utterly ruined me.
3:12 HE. He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
3:13 He has caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.
3:14 I became a laughing-sock to all my people; and their song all the day.
3:15 VAU. He has filled me with bitterness, he has drenched me with gall.
3:16 And he has dashed out my teeth with gravel, he has fed me with ashes.
3:17 He has also removed my soul from peace: I forgot prosperity.
3:18 Therefore my success has perished, and my hope from the Lord.
3:19 ZAIN. I remembered by reason of my poverty, and because of persecution
my bitterness and gall shall be remembered;
3:20 and my soul shall meditate with me.
3:21 This will I lay up in my heart, therefore I will endure.
3:22 HETH. [It is] the mercies of the Lord, that he has not failed me,
because his compassions are not exhausted. Pity [us], O Lord, early [every]
month: for we are not brought to an end, because his compassions are not
exhausted.
3:23 [They are] new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
3:24 The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore will I wait for him.
3:25 TETH. The Lord is good to them that wait for him: the soul which shall
seek him
3:26 [is] good, and shall wait for, and quietly expect salvation of the
Lord.
3:27 TETH. [It is] good for a man when he bears a yoke in his youth.
3:28 He will sit alone, and be silent, because he has borne [it] upon him.
3:29
3:30 JOD. He will give [his] cheek to him that smites him: he will be filled
full with reproaches.
3:31 For the Lord will not reject for ever.
3:32 CHAPH. For he that has brought down will pity, and [that] according to
the abundance of his mercy.
3:33 He has not answered [in anger] from his heart, though he has brought
low the children of a man.
3:34 LAMED. To bring down under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
3:35 to turn aside the judgment of a man before the face of the Most High,
3:36 to condemn a man [unjustly] in his judgment, the Lord has not given
commandment.
3:37 Who has thus spoken, and it has come to pass? the Lord has not
commanded it.
3:38 Out of the mouth of the Most High there shall not come forth evil and
good.
3:39 MEM. Why should a living man complain, a man concerning his in?
3:40 NUN. Our way has been searched out and examined, and we will turn to
the Lord.
3:41 Let us lift up our hearts with [our] hand to the lofty One in heaven.
3:42 We have sinned, we have transgressed; and thou hast not pardoned.
3:43 SAMECH. Thou has visited [us] in wrath, and driven us away: thou has
slain, thou has not pitied.
3:44 Thou hast veiled thyself with a cloud because of prayer, that I might
be blind,
3:45 and be cast off. AIN. Thou hast set us [alone] in the midst of the
nations.
3:46 All our enemies have opened their mouth against us.
3:47 Fear and wrath are come upon us, suspense and destruction.
3:48 Mine eye shall pour down torrents of water, for the destruction of the
daughter of my people.
3:49 PHE. Mine eye is drowned [with tears], and I will not be silent, so
that there shall be no rest,
3:50 until the Lord look down, and behold from heaven.
3:51 Mine eye shall prey upon my soul, because of all the daughters of the
city.
3:52 TSADE. The fowlers chased me as a sparrow, all mine enemies destroyed
my life in a pit without cause,
3:53 and laid a stone upon me.
3:54 Water flowed over my head: I said, I am cut off.
3:55 KOPH. I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the lowest dungeon.
3:56 Thou heardest my voice: close not thine ears to my supplication.
3:57 Thou drewest nigh to my help: in the day wherein I called upon thee
thou saidst to me, Fear not.
3:58 RECHS. O Lord, thou has pleaded the causes of my soul; thou has
redeemed my life.
3:59 Thou hast seen, O Lord, my troubles: thou hast judged my cause.
3:60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance, [thou hast looked] on all their
devices against me.
3:61 CHSEN. Thou hast heard their reproach [and] all their devices against
me;
3:62 the lips of them that rose up against me, and their plots against me
all the day;
3:63 their sitting down and their rising up: look thou upon their eyes.
3:64 Thou wilt render them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of
their hands.
3:65 THAU. Thou wilt give them [as] a covering, the grief of my heart.
3:66 Thou wilt persecute them in anger, and wilt consume them from under the
heaven, O Lord. |
3:1 I AM the man that hath seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath.
3:2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
3:3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the
day.
3:4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.
3:5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
3:6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
3:7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain
heavy.
3:8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.
3:9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.
3:10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
3:11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me
desolate.
3:12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
3:13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.
3:14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.
3:15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with
wormwood.
3:16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me
with ashes.
3:17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.
3:18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
3:19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
3:20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
3:21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
3:22 It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his
compassions fail not.
3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
3:24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
3:25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh
him.
3:26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the
salvation of the LORD.
3:27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke of his youth.
3:28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon
him.
3:29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
3:30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with
reproach.
3:31 For the LORD will not cast off for ever:
3:32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the
multitude of his mercies.
3:33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
3:34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth.
3:35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,
3:36 To subvert a man in his cause, the LORD approveth not.
3:37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth
it not?
3:38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?
3:39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his
sins?
3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
3:41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
3:42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
3:43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou
hast not pitied.
3:44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass
through.
3:45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the
people.
3:46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
3:47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.
3:48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the
daughter of my people.
3:49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission.
3:50 Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.
3:51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.
3:52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
3:53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
3:54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
3:55 I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.
3:56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my
cry.
3:57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear
not.
3:58 O LORD, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my
life.
3:59 O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.
3:60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against
me.
3:61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations
against me;
3:62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me
all the day.
3:63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.
3:64 Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their
hands.
3:65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.
3:66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD. |