3:1
I am the man familiar with misery under the rod of his fury.
3:2
He has led and guided me into darkness, not light.
3:3
Against none but me does he turn his hand, again and again, all day.
3:4
He has wasted my flesh and skin away, has broken my bones.
3:5
He has besieged me and made hardship a circlet round my head.
3:6
He has forced me to dwell where all is dark, like those long-dead in their everlasting home.
3:7
He has walled me in so that I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains;
3:8
even when I shout for help, he shuts out my prayer.
3:9
He has closed my way with blocks of stone, he has obstructed my paths.
3:10
For me he is a lurking bear, a lion in hiding.
3:11
Heading me off, he has torn me apart, leaving me shattered.
3:12
He has bent his bow and used me as a target for his arrows.
3:13
He has shot deep into me with shafts from his quiver.
3:14
I have become a joke to all my own people, their refrain all day long.
3:15
He has given me my fill of bitterness, he has made me drunk with wormwood.
3:16
He has broken my teeth with gravel, he has fed me on ashes.
3:17
I have been deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is
3:18
and thought, 'My lasting hope in Yahweh is lost.'
3:19
Bring to mind my misery and anguish; it is wormwood and gall!
3:20
My heart dwells on this continually and sinks within me.
3:21
This is what I shall keep in mind and so regain some hope:
3:22
Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love not exhausted;
3:23
every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness!
3:24
'Yahweh is all I have,' I say to myself, 'and so I shall put my hope in him.'
3:25
Yahweh is good to those who trust him, to all who search for him.
3:26
It is good to wait in silence for Yahweh to save.
3:27
It is good for someone to bear the yoke from a young age,
3:28
to sit in solitude and silence when it weighs heavy,
3:29
to lay one's head in the dust -- maybe there is hope-
3:30
to offer one's cheek to the striker, to have one's fill of disgrace!
3:31
For the Lord will not reject anyone for ever.
3:32
If he brings grief, he will have pity out of the fullness of his faithful love,
3:33
for it is not for his own pleasure that he torments and grieves the human race.
3:34
When all the prisoners in a country are crushed underfoot,
3:35
when human rights are overridden in defiance of the Most High,
3:36
when someone is cheated of justice, does not the Lord see it?
3:37
Who has only to speak and it is so done? Who commands, if not the Lord?
3:38
From where, if not from the mouth of the Most High, do evil and good come?
3:39
Why then should anyone complain? Better to be bold against one's sins.
3:40
Let us examine our path, let us ponder it and return to Yahweh.
3:41
Let us raise our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
3:42
We are the ones who have sinned, who have rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
3:43
You have enveloped us in anger, pursuing us, slaughtering without pity.
3:44
You have wrapped yourself in a cloud too thick for prayer to pierce.
3:45
You have reduced us to rubbish and refuse among the nations.
3:46
Our enemies open their mouths in chorus against us.
3:47
Terror and pitfall have been our lot, ravage and ruin.
3:48
My eyes dissolve in torrents of tears at the ruin of my beloved people.
3:49
My eyes will weep ceaselessly, without relief,
3:50
until Yahweh looks down and sees from heaven.
3:51
My eyes have grown sore over all the daughters of my city.
3:52
Unprovoked, my enemies hunted me down like a bird.
3:53
They shut me finally in a pit, they closed me in with a stone.
3:54
The waters rose over my head; I thought, 'I am lost!'
3:55
Yahweh, I called on your name from the deep pit.
3:56
You heard my voice, do not close your ear to my prayer, to my cry.
3:57
You are near when I call to you. You said, 'Do not be afraid!'
3:58
Lord, you defended my cause, you have redeemed my life.
3:59
Yahweh, you have seen the wrong done to me, grant me redress.
3:60
You have seen their vindictiveness, all their plots against me.
3:61
You have heard their insults, Yahweh, all their plots against me,
3:62
the whispering and murmuring of my enemies against me all day long.
3:63
Look, whether they sit or stand, I am their refrain.
3:64
Yahweh, repay them as their deeds deserve.
3:65
Lay hardness of heart as your curse on them.
3:66
Angrily pursue them, root them out from under your heavens!
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