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Lamentations 3
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Lamentations3

Great Is Your Faithfulness
13:1 Jer. 20:18I am the man who has seen affliction
under the 3:1 Ps. 2:9rod of his wrath;
2he has driven and brought me
3:2 Isa. 5:30into darkness without any light;
3surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.

4He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
3:4 Ps. 51:8; Isa. 38:13; Jer. 50:17he has broken my bones;
53:5 [Job 19:12] he has besieged and enveloped me
with 3:5 ver. 19; Deut. 29:18bitterness and tribulation;
63:6 Ps. 143:3he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.

73:7 Job 19:8He has walled me about so that 3:7 Ps. 88:8I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8though 3:8 Job 19:7; 30:20; Ps. 22:2I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
93:9 [See ver. 7above]he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.

103:10 See Hos. 13:8He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
113:11 [Jer. 18:15] he turned aside my steps and 3:11 [See ver. 10above] tore me to pieces;
3:11 ch. 1:13he has made me desolate;
123:12 ch. 2:4he bent his bow 3:12 [Job 16:12]and set me
as a target for his arrow.

13He drove into my kidneys
3:13 Job 6:4; Ps. 38:2the arrows of his quiver;
143:14 See Jer. 20:7I have become the laughingstock of all my people,3:14 Some manuscripts all peoples
3:14 ver. 63; Job 30:9; Ps. 69:12the object of their taunts all day long.
153:15 [Isa. 51:17, 21] He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with 3:15 Jer. 9:15wormwood.

163:16 [Prov. 20:17] He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and 3:16 See Jer. 6:26made me cower in ashes;
17my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness3:17 Hebrew good is;
183:18 [Ps. 9:18]so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”

193:19 [ch. 1:9, 11, 20] Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
3:19 [See ver. 15above] the wormwood and 3:19 ver. 5the gall!
20My soul continually remembers it
3:20 Ps. 42:6; 44:25and is bowed down within me.
21But this I call to mind,
and 3:21 [Ps. 42:5, 11]therefore I have hope:

223:22 [Mal. 3:6]The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;3:22 Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Because of the steadfast love of the Lord, we are not cut off
3:22 [Mal. 3:6]his mercies never come to an end;
23they are new 3:23 Job 7:18every morning;
3:23 Ps. 36:5great is your faithfulness.
243:24 Ps. 16:5; 73:26“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
3:24 [See ver. 21above]“therefore I will hope in him.”

25The Lord is good to those who 3:25 Ps. 130:6; [Isa. 30:18]wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
263:26 Ps. 130:5, 7; Mic. 7:7It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
273:27 [Matt. 11:29] It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke 3:27 [Eccles. 12:1]in his youth.

28Let him 3:28 ch. 1:1; 2:10; Isa. 3:26sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
293:29 Job 42:6let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
303:30 Isa. 50:6; Matt. 5:39let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.

313:31 Ps. 103:9For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32for, though he 3:32 ch. 1:5cause grief, 3:32 Ps. 103:8he will have compassion
3:32 Ps. 106:45according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
333:33 [Heb. 12:6, 10] for he does not afflict from his heart
or 3:33 [Heb. 12:11]grieve the children of men.

34To crush underfoot
all 3:34 [Ps. 107:10]the prisoners of the earth,
353:35 [Hab. 1:13]to deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
36to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
3:36 [See ver. 35above]the Lord does not approve.

373:37 [Ps. 33:9]Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
383:38 Isa. 45:7; Amos 3:6Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
393:39 Prov. 19:3Why should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?

40Let us test and examine our ways,
3:40 Joel 2:12, 13and return to the Lord!
413:41 Ps. 25:1; 119:48Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
423:42 See Dan. 9:5“We have transgressed and 3:42 Ps. 78:17rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.

43“You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
3:43 ch. 2:2, 17, 21killing without pity;
443:44 ver. 8; [ch. 2:1]you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
453:45 [1 Cor. 4:13]You have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.

463:46 ch. 2:16, 17“All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
473:47 Isa. 24:17; Jer. 48:43panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and 3:47 Isa. 51:19destruction;
483:48 ch. 1:16; See Jer. 13:17my eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

493:49 [See ver. 48above]“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
503:50 Ps. 14:2; Isa. 63:15until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees;
51my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

523:52 ch. 4:18“I have been hunted 3:52 Ps. 11:1like a bird
by those who were my enemies 3:52 See Ps. 35:19without cause;
533:53 Jer. 37:16; 38:6, 9, 10they flung me alive into the pit3:53 Or they end my life in the pit
3:53 [Dan. 6:17]and cast stones on me;
543:54 Ps. 69:2water closed over my head;
I said, 3:54 Ps. 88:5; [Ezek. 37:11]‘I am lost.’

553:55 Ps. 130:1“I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
563:56 [Ps. 130:2]you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
573:57 [James 4:8] You came near when I called on you;
you said, 3:57 See Josh. 1:9‘Do not fear!’

58“You have 3:58 Ps. 119:154taken up my cause, 3:58 [1 Sam. 24:15]O Lord;
you have 3:58 Ps. 119:154redeemed my life.
59You have seen the wrong done to me, 3:59 Ps. 35:22, 23O Lord;
judge my cause.
60You have seen all their vengeance,
all 3:60 See Jer. 11:19their plots against me.

613:61 ch. 5:1“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all 3:61 [See ver. 60above]their plots against me.
62The lips and thoughts 3:62 Ps. 18:39, 48of my assailants
are against me all the day long.
633:63 [Ps. 139:2] Behold their sitting and their rising;
3:63 See ver. 14I am the object of their taunts.

643:64 See Jer. 11:20“You will repay them,3:64 Or Repay them O Lord,
3:64 Ps. 28:4; [2 Tim. 4:14]according to the work of their hands.
65You will give them3:65 Or Give them dullness of heart;
your curse will be3:65 Or place your curse on them.
66You will pursue them3:66 Or Pursue them in anger and 3:66 [Deut. 25:19; Jer. 10:11] destroy them
from under 3:66 Ps. 8:3your heavens, O Lord.”3:66 Syriac (compare Septuagint, Vulgate); Hebrew the heavens of the Lord