Lamentations 3 — T4T
Hope in the midst of distress
3Verse 1I , the one who am writing this, am a man who has been afflicted/punished [MTY] by Yahwehbecause he was angry.Verse 2It was as though he caused me to walk in a very dark placewithout any light at all.Verse 3He has punished [IDM] me many times,all day, every day.Verse 4He has caused my skin and my flesh to become old.He has broken my bones.Verse 5He has surrounded me [DOU]with bitterness and suffering.Verse 6It is as though he has buried me in a dark placelike [SIM] the graves of those who have been dead for a long time.Verse 7It is as though [MET] he has built a wall around me,and fastened/tied me with heavy chains,and I cannot escape.Verse 8Although I call out and cry out for him to help me,he does not pay attention to my prayers.Verse 9It is as though he has blocked my path with a high stone walland has caused my path to become crooked.Verse 10He has waited to attack melike [SIM] a bear or a lion hides and waits to attack other animals.Verse 11It is as though he has dragged me off the path and ◄mauled me/torn me into pieces►,and left me without help.Verse 12It is as though [MET] he bent his bow and caused me to become the targetat which he shot his arrows.Verse 13It is as though he shot his arrows deep into my body.
Verse 14All my relatives laugh at me;all day, every day they sing songs that make fun of me.Verse 15He has filled me with ◄bitterness/great suffering►,like [MET] someone who drinks a very bitter liquid suffers.Verse 16It is as though he has caused me to chew gravel that broke my teeth,and he has trampled me in the dirt.Verse 17Things no longer go well for me;I no longer remember being prosperous.Verse 18I continued to say to myself, “I no longer expect to live much longer;I no longer confidently expect to receive good things from Yahweh!”Verse 19When I think about my suffering and my wandering away from home,it is like drinking a very bitter [DOU] liquid.Verse 20I will never forget this timewhen I feel very depressed/discouraged [IDM].Verse 21However, I confidently expect Yahweh to do good things for me againwhen I think about this:Verse 22Yahweh never stops faithfully loving us,and he never stops being kind to us.Verse 23He is the one whom we can always trust/lean on.Every morning he is merciful to us again.Verse 24So I say to myself, “Yahweh is all that I need;so I will confidently wait for him to do good things for me.”Verse 25Yahweh is good to all those who depend on him,to those who seek his help.Verse 26So it is good for us to wait quietlyfor Yahweh to save/rescue us.Verse 27And it is good for us to patiently endure sufferingwhile we are young.Verse 28Those who seek his help should sit by themselves, silently,knowing that it is Yahweh who has allowed/caused them to suffer.Verse 29They should lie in the dirt, with their faces on the ground,because they can still hope that Yahweh will help them.Verse 30If someone strikes us on one cheek,we should turn the other cheek toward that person in order that he may strike it, too,
and accept/endure it when we are insulted.Verse 31Yahweh does not abandon us his people forever.
Verse 32Sometimes he causes us to suffer,but sometimes he is kind to usbecause he continually and faithfully loves us.
Verse 33And he is not happy about causing human beings to sufferor to be sad.Verse 34If people ◄mistreat all the prisoners/crush all the prisoners under their feet►
Verse 35or if they rebel against Godby refusing to give to people the things that it is right for them to receive,Verse 36or if they cause judges to decide matters unjustly,◄does Yahweh not see all those things?/Yahweh certainly sees all those things!► [RHQ]Verse 37No one can [RHQ] command something to happen and then cause it to happenif Yahweh has not already decided that it should happen.Verse 38God in heaven [MTY] is [RHQ] the one who causes disasters to happen,and he also causes good things to happen.Verse 39So it is certainly not [RHQ] right for us, who are only humans, to complainwhen he punishes us for the sins that we have committed.Verse 40Instead, we should ◄examine/think carefully about► our behavior;we should turn back to Yahweh.Verse 41We should pray [IDM] sincerely and lift up our armstoward God in heaven, and say,Verse 42“We have sinned and rebelled against you,and you have not forgiven us.Verse 43You have surrounded us with your anger and pursued us;you have slaughtered us without pitying us.Verse 44You have hidden yourself in a cloud,with the result that you do not hear us when we pray.Verse 45You have caused the people of other nations to consider usto be only garbage [DOU].Verse 46All our enemies have insulted us.
Verse 47We are constantly afraid [DOU],because we have experienced disasters and ruin [DOU].”Verse 48I cry a lotbecause my people have been destroyed.Verse 49My tears continually flow;they will not stopVerse 50until Yahweh looks down from heaven and sees us.
Verse 51I am very grievedbecause of what has happened to the women of my city.Verse 52Those who are my enemies hunted for melike [SIM] people hunt for a bird to kill iteven though there was no reason for them to do that.
Verse 53They threw me into a pit to kill me,and they threw stones on top of me.Verse 54The water in the pit rose above my head,and I said to myself, “I am about to die/drown!”Verse 55But from the bottom of the pit I cried out to you [MTY],“Yahweh, help me!”Verse 56I pleaded with you,“Do not refuse to heed [MTY] me while I cry out to you!”Verse 57Then you answered meand said, “Do not be afraid!”Verse 58Yahweh, you defended me;you did not allow me to die.Verse 59Now, Yahweh, you have seen the evil things that my enemies have done to me,so decide my case and show that I am right!Verse 60You know the evil thingsthat they have planned to do to me.Verse 61Yahweh, you have heard them insult meand what they have planned to do to me.Verse 62Every day they whisper and mutter things about me,all day long.Verse 63Look at them! Whether they are standing or sittingthey make fun of me with the songs that they sing.Verse 64Yahweh, cause them to sufferin return for their causing me to suffer!Verse 65Curse them [IDM]for their being very stubborn [IDM].Verse 66Because you are angry with them, pursue them and get rid of them,until none of them remain on the earth.