Lamentations 3 — Legacy Standard Bible

Jeremiah’s Heavy Chain

א Aleph

I am the man who has ^aseen afflictionBecause of the rod of His wrath.²He has driven me and made me walkIn ^adarkness and not in light.³Surely against me He has ^aturned His handRepeatedly all the day.

ב Beth

⁴He has caused my ^aflesh and my skin to waste away;He has ^bbroken my bones.⁵He has ^abesieged and encompassed me with ^bgall and hardship.⁶^aDark places He has made me inhabit,Like those who have long been dead.

ג Gimel

⁷He has ^awalled me in so that I cannot go out;He has made my ¹^,^bchain heavy.⁸Even when I cry out and call for help,He ^ashuts out my prayer.⁹He has ^ablocked my ways with cut stone;He has made my paths crooked.

ד Daleth

¹⁰He is to me like a bear lying in wait,Like a lion in secret places.¹¹He has turned aside my ways and ^atorn me to pieces;He has made me desolate.¹²He ^abent His bowAnd ^bset me as a target for the arrow.

ה He

¹³He made the ¹arrows of His ^aquiverTo enter into my ²inward parts.¹⁴I have become a ^alaughingstock to all my people,Their ^bmusic of mockery all the day.¹⁵He has ^asaturated me with bitterness;He has sated me with wormwood.

ו Vav

¹⁶He has ^abroken my teeth with ^bgravel;He has made me cower in the ^cdust.¹⁷My soul has been rejected ^afrom peace;I have forgotten goodness.¹⁸So I say, “My strength has perished,As well as my ^ahopeful waiting which comes from Yahweh.”

The Lord Will Not Reject Forever

ז Zayin

¹⁹Remember my affliction and my ¹homelessness, the ^awormwood and gall.²⁰Surely ^amy soul remembersAnd is ^bbowed down within me.²¹This I will return to my heart;Therefore I will ^await in hope.

ח Heth

²²The ^alovingkindnesses of Yahweh ¹indeed never cease,^bFor His compassions never fail.²³They are new ^aevery morning;Great is ^bYour faithfulness.²⁴“Yahweh is my ^aportion,” says my soul,“Therefore I ^bwait for Him.”

ט Teth

²⁵Yahweh is good to those who ^ahope in Him,To the soul who ^bseeks Him.²⁶It is good that he ^awaits silentlyFor the salvation of Yahweh.²⁷It is good for a man that he should bearThe yoke in his youth.

י Yodh

²⁸Let him ^asit alone and be silentSince He has laid it on him.²⁹Let him ¹put his mouth in the ^adust;Perhaps there is ^bhope.³⁰Let him give his ^acheek to the one who strikes him;Let him be saturated with reproach.

כ Kaph

³¹For the Lord will ^anot reject forever,³²For if He causes grief,Then He will have ^acompassionAccording to His abundant lovingkindness.³³For He ^adoes not afflict from His heartOr grieve the sons of men.

ל Lamedh

³⁴To crush under His feetAll the prisoners of the ¹land,³⁵To ¹deprive a man of ^ajusticeIn the presence of the Most High,³⁶To ¹^,^adefraud a man in his legal case—These things the Lord does not see with approval.

מ Mem

³⁷Who is ¹there who speaks and it ^ahappens,Unless the Lord has commanded it?³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most HighThat ^aboth calamities and ¹good go forth?³⁹Why should any living ¹person or any man^aComplain because of his sins?

נ Nun

⁴⁰Let us ^asearch out and examine our ways,And let us return to Yahweh.⁴¹We ^alift up our heart to our handsToward God in heaven;⁴²We have ^atransgressed and rebelled;You have ^bnot pardoned.

ס Samekh

⁴³You have covered Yourself with ^aangerAnd ^bpursued us;You have killed and ^chave not spared.⁴⁴You have ^acovered Yourself with a cloudSo that ^bno prayer can pass through.⁴⁵You have made us mere ^ascum and refuseIn the midst of the peoples.

פ Pe

⁴⁶All our enemies have ^aopened their mouths against us.⁴⁷^aPanic and pitfall have befallen us,Devastation and destruction;⁴⁸My ¹^,^aeyes run down with streams of waterBecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

ע Ayin

⁴⁹My eyes pour down ^aunceasingly,Without stopping,⁵⁰Until Yahweh ^alooks downAnd sees from heaven.⁵¹My eyes deal severely with my soulBecause of all the daughters of my city.

צ Tsadhe

⁵²My enemies ^awithout causeHunted me down ^blike a bird;⁵³They have silenced my life ^ain the pitAnd have ¹^,^bplaced a stone on me.⁵⁴Waters flowed ^aover my head;I said, “I am cut off!”

ק Qoph

⁵⁵I ^acalled on Your name, O Yahweh,Out of the lowest pit.⁵⁶You have ^aheard my voice,“^bDo not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,From my cry for help.”⁵⁷You ^adrew near when I called on You;You said, “^bDo not fear!”

ר Resh

⁵⁸O Lord, You ^ahave pleaded my soul’s cause;You have ^bredeemed my life.⁵⁹O Yahweh, You have ^aseen my oppression;^bJudge my case.⁶⁰You have seen all their vengeance,All their ^apurposes against me.

שׂ Sin / שׁ Shin

⁶¹You have heard their ^areproach, O Yahweh,All their purposes against me.⁶²The ^alips of those who rise against me and their whisperingAre against me all day long.⁶³Look on their ^asitting and their rising;^bI am their mocking song.

ת Tav

⁶⁴You will ^arecompense them, O Yahweh,According to the work of their hands.⁶⁵You will give them ¹^,^adullness of heart;Your curse will be on them.⁶⁶You will ^apursue them in anger and destroy themFrom under the ^bheavens of Yahweh!