Lamentations 3

1'I am the man who sees poverty By the rod of His anger upon me.

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2He took me and led me away Into darkness, and not into light.

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3Surely He has turned His hand against me Throughout the day.

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4'He has aged my flesh and my skin And has broken my bones.

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5He has besieged me And surrounded my head; He has worn me down with hardships.

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6He set me in dark places As those long dead.

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7'He hedged me in, And I cannot come forth; He made my brazen chain heavy.

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8Though I will call and cry out, He shuts out my prayer.

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9He has blocked my ways And obstructed my paths; He has troubled me.

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10'He is a bear lying in wait for me Like a lion in a hidden place.

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11After I departed, He eagerly pursued and caught me; He has utterly ruined me.

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12He bent his bow And set me up as a target for the arrow.

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13'He caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins.

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14I became a laughingstock to all my people, And their song all the day.

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15He has filled me with bitterness And drenched me with gall.

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16'He also broke my teeth with gravel And fed me with ashes.

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17He took away peace from my soul, And I have forgotten the good things.

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18Therefore I said, 'My victory and my hope Have perished from the Lord.'

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19'I remembered by reason of my poverty, And because of my persecution, I remembered my bitterness and gall.

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20My soul shall remember And meditate within me.

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21I will fix this in my heart; Therefore, I will endure.

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22'The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who will seek Him, the Good One.

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23He will wait for and quietly expect The salvation of the Lord.

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24It is good for a man when he takes up A yoke in his youth.

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25'He will sit alone and be silent, Because he bears it on himself.

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26He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him, And he will be filled with insults.

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27Yet the Lord shall not reject him forever.

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28'For He who humbles will have compassion According to the abundance of His mercy.

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29For He does not afflict willingly, Though He humbles the children of men.

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30'To humble all the prisoners of the earth Under His feet,

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31'To turn aside the judgment of a man Before the face of the Most High,

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32And to condemn a man Before he is judged, The Lord does not command.

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33Who thus speaks, And it comes to pass? The Lord has not commanded it,

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34'For evil and good shall not proceed From the mouth of the Most High.

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35Why should a living man complain, A man concerning his sin?

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36Our way has been searched out and examined; Therefore we shall turn to the Lord.

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37'Let us lift our hearts and our hands To the Most High in heaven.

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38We have sinned and acted in an ungodly way; Thus You have not shown us mercy.

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39But You visited us in anger And drove us away. You have put us to death And not spared us.

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40'You veiled Yourself with a cloud Because of our prayer.

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41To close my eyes and to reject me, You have placed us in the midst of the peoples.

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42All our enemies have opened Their mouth against us.

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43'Fear and anger have come upon us, Yes, devastation and destruction.

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44My eyes will shed tears for forgiveness Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

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45My eyes are drowned with tears, And I will not keep silent; So there shall be no rest,

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46'Until the Lord bends down And sees from heaven.

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47My eyes will bring suffering in my soul Because of all the daughters of the city.

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48My enemies hunted me down Without cause, like a sparrow.

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49'They put my life to death in the pit And threw a stone at me.

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50Water flowed over my head; I said, 'I am rejected.'

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51I called on Your name, O Lord, From the lowest pit.

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52'You heard my voice; Do not hide Your ears from my supplication.

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53You drew near at my call on the day I called upon You. You said to me, 'Do not fear.'

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54O Lord, You pleaded the case for my soul; You redeemed my life.

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55'O Lord, You saw my troubles; You judged my cause.

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56You saw all their vengeance In all their reasoning against me.

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57You heard their taunts And all their plots against me,

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58'And the lips of those who rose up against me, And their meditations against me all the day.

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59Look at their eyes As they sit down and rise up.

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60You shall render a recompense to them, O Lord, According to the works of their hands.

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61'You shall repay them as a covering Your hardship for them.

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62You shall pursue them in Your wrath and utterly destroy them From under heaven, O Lord.

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