> [[lamentations-02|← Previous]] | [[lamentations-00|TOC]] | [[lamentations-04|Next →]] --- # Lamentations, Chapter 3 ## Chapter 3 ### The Voice of a Suffering Individual 1 I am one who has known affliction ^lamentations-03-1 under the rod of God’s anger, 2 One whom he has driven and forced to walk ^lamentations-03-2 in darkness, not in light; 3 Against me alone he turns his hand— ^lamentations-03-3 again and again all day long. 4 He has worn away my flesh and my skin, ^lamentations-03-4 he has broken my bones; 5 He has besieged me all around ^lamentations-03-5 with poverty and hardship; 6 He has left me to dwell in dark places ^lamentations-03-6 like those long dead. 7 He has hemmed me in with no escape, ^lamentations-03-7 weighed me down with chains; 8 Even when I cry for help, ^lamentations-03-8 he stops my prayer; 9 He has hemmed in my ways with fitted stones, ^lamentations-03-9 and made my paths crooked. 10 He has been a bear lying in wait for me, ^lamentations-03-10 a lion in hiding! 11 He turned me aside and tore me apart, ^lamentations-03-11 leaving me ravaged. 12 He bent his bow, and set me up ^lamentations-03-12 as a target for his arrow. 13 He pierced my kidneys ^lamentations-03-13 with shafts from his quiver. 14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people, ^lamentations-03-14 their taunt all day long; 15 He has sated me with bitterness, ^lamentations-03-15 filled me with wormwood. 16 He has made me eat gravel, ^lamentations-03-16 trampled me into the dust; 17 My life is deprived of peace, ^lamentations-03-17 I have forgotten what happiness is; 18 My enduring hope, I said, ^lamentations-03-18 has perished before the LORD. 19 The thought of my wretched homelessness ^lamentations-03-19 is wormwood and poison; 20 Remembering it over and over, ^lamentations-03-20 my soul is downcast. 21 But this I will call to mind; ^lamentations-03-21 therefore I will hope: 22 The LORD’s acts of mercy are not exhausted, ^lamentations-03-22 his compassion is not spent; 23 They are renewed each morning— ^lamentations-03-23 great is your faithfulness! 24 The LORD is my portion, I tell myself, ^lamentations-03-24 therefore I will hope in him. 25 The LORD is good to those who trust in him, ^lamentations-03-25 to the one that seeks him; 26 It is good to hope in silence ^lamentations-03-26 for the LORD’s deliverance. 27 It is good for a person, when young, ^lamentations-03-27 to bear the yoke, 28 To sit alone and in silence, ^lamentations-03-28 when its weight lies heavy, 29 To put one’s mouth in the dust— ^lamentations-03-29 there may yet be hope— 30 To offer one’s cheek to be struck, ^lamentations-03-30 to be filled with disgrace. 31 For the Lord does not ^lamentations-03-31 reject forever; 32 Though he brings grief, he takes pity, ^lamentations-03-32 according to the abundance of his mercy; 33 He does not willingly afflict ^lamentations-03-33 or bring grief to human beings. 34 That someone tramples underfoot ^lamentations-03-34 all the prisoners in the land, 35 Or denies justice to anyone ^lamentations-03-35 in the very sight of the Most High, 36 Or subverts a person’s lawsuit— ^lamentations-03-36 does the Lord not see? 37 Who speaks so that it comes to pass, ^lamentations-03-37 unless the Lord commands it? 38 Is it not at the word of the Most High ^lamentations-03-38 that both good and bad take place? 39 What should the living complain about? ^lamentations-03-39 about their sins! 40 Let us search and examine our ways, ^lamentations-03-40 and return to the LORD! 41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands ^lamentations-03-41 toward God in heaven! 42 We have rebelled and been obstinate; ^lamentations-03-42 you have not forgiven us. 43 You wrapped yourself in wrath and pursued us, ^lamentations-03-43 killing without pity; 44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud, ^lamentations-03-44 which no prayer could pierce. 45 You have made us filth and rubbish ^lamentations-03-45 among the peoples. 46 They have opened their mouths against us, ^lamentations-03-46 all our enemies; 47 Panic and the pit have been our lot, ^lamentations-03-47 desolation and destruction; 48 My eyes stream with tears over the destruction ^lamentations-03-48 of the daughter of my people. 49 My eyes will flow without ceasing, ^lamentations-03-49 without rest, 50 Until the LORD from heaven ^lamentations-03-50 looks down and sees. 51 I am tormented by the sight ^lamentations-03-51 of all the daughters of my city. 52 Without cause, my enemies snared me ^lamentations-03-52 as though I were a bird; 53 They tried to end my life in the pit, ^lamentations-03-53 pelting me with stones. 54 The waters flowed over my head: ^lamentations-03-54 and I said, “I am lost!” 55 I have called upon your name, O LORD, ^lamentations-03-55 from the bottom of the pit; 56 You heard me call, “Do not let your ear be deaf ^lamentations-03-56 to my cry for help.” 57 You drew near on the day I called you; ^lamentations-03-57 you said, “Do not fear!” 58 You pleaded my case, Lord, ^lamentations-03-58 you redeemed my life. 59 You see, LORD, how I am wronged; ^lamentations-03-59 do me justice! 60 You see all their vindictiveness, ^lamentations-03-60 all their plots against me. 61 You hear their reproach, LORD, ^lamentations-03-61 all their plots against me, 62 The whispered murmurings of my adversaries, ^lamentations-03-62 against me all day long; 63 Look! Whether they sit or stand, ^lamentations-03-63 I am the butt of their taunt. 64 Give them what they deserve, LORD, ^lamentations-03-64 according to their deeds; 65 Give them hardness of heart; ^lamentations-03-65 your curse be upon them; 66 Pursue them in wrath and destroy them ^lamentations-03-66 from under the LORD’s heaven! \* (3:1] – [66) This chapter is focused less on the destruction of Jerusalem than are chaps. [1] and [2] and more on the suffering of an individual. The identity of the individual is never given, and one probably should not search for a specific identification of the speaker. The figure of the representative sufferer makes concrete the pain of the people in a way similar to the personification of Zion as a woman in chaps. [1] and [2]. Indeed, in vv. [40] – [48] the individual voice gives way to a communal voice, returning in vv. [49] – [66] to the individual sufferer. \* (3:21] – [24) In the midst of a description of suffering, the speaker offers this brief but compelling statement of hope in God’s ultimate mercy. It is a hard-won and precarious hope, nearly submerged by the volume and intensity of the surrounding lament, but it is hope nonetheless. \* (3:29) To put one’s mouth in the dust: a sign of humiliation and submission; cf. v. [16]; [Ps 72:9]. \* (3:40] – [66) The plural voice in this lament suggests that a communal lament begins here; it then continues in the singular voice in vv. [55] – [66]. \* (3:48] – [51) These verses are more appropriate on the lips of the poet, who speaks of “my city” (v. [51]). Daughters of my city: here as elsewhere “daughter” may refer to villages dependent on a larger city. a. (3:1) [Jer 20:18]. b. (3:4) [Jb 30:30]; [Is 38:13]. c. (3:6) [Ps 143:3]. d. (3:8) ([[psalm-18|Ps 18]]:41]; [22:2]; [88:14] – [15]. e. (3:10) [Jb 10:16]; [[hosea-13|Hos 13]]:8. f. (3:11) [Lam 1:13]. g. (3:12) [Lam 2:4]; [Jb 16:12]. h. (3:13) [Jb 6:4]; [Ps 38:3]. i. (3:14) [Jb 30:9]; [Ps 69:13]. j. (3:15) [Jer 9:14]; [23:15]. k. (3:22) [1 Sm 20:15]; [Neh 9:31]. l. (3:24) ([[psalm-16|Ps 16]]:5]; [73:26]. m. (3:25) [Ps 130:6]; [Is 30:18]. n. (3:30) [Is 50:6]; ([[matthew-05|Mt 5]]:39]. o. (3:31) [Ps 85:6]; [103:9]. p. (3:32) [1 Sm 2:6] – [7]; [Tb 13:2]; [Is 54:8]. q. (3:33) [Ex 34:6] – [7]. r. (3:38) [Is 45:7]. s. (3:40) [Jl 2:12] – [13]. t. (3:43) [Lam 2:21]. u. (3:45) ([[1-corinthians-04|1 Cor 4]]:13]. v. (3:47) [[isaiah-24|Is 24]]:17 – [18]; [Jer 48:43] – [44]. w. (3:48) [Lam 1:16]; [2:11]; [Jer 8:23]; [9:17]. x. (3:54) [Ps 69:2] – [3]; [88:8]; [Jon 2:4]. y. (3:55] – [56) [Ps 130:1] – [2]. z. (3:58] – [59) [Ps 35:23] – [24]; [43:1]; [119:154]. a. (3:65) [Jer 11:20]; [2 Tm 4:14]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[lamentations-02|← Previous]] | [[lamentations-00|TOC]] | [[lamentations-04|Next →]]