1 I am the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath. | |
2 He has driven me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light. | |
3 Surely against me He has turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day. | |
4 He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has broken my bones. | |
5 He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship. | |
6 In dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead. | |
7 He has walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made mya Lit bronze piecechain heavy. | |
8 Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer. | |
9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked. | |
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places. | |
11 He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate. | |
12 He bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow. | |
13 He made theb Lit sonsarrows of His quiver
To enter into myc Lit kidneysinward parts. | |
14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking song all the day. | |
15 He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood. | |
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has made me cower in the dust. | |
17 My soul has been rejected from peace;
I have forgottend Lit goodhappiness. | |
18 So I say, “My strength has perished,
And so has my hope from the LORD.” | |
19 Remember my affliction and mye Or bitternesswandering, the wormwood and bitterness. | |
20 Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me. | |
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope. | |
22 The LORD’S lovingkindnessesf Or that we are not consumedindeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail. | |
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. | |
24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.” | |
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To theg Lit soulperson who seeks Him. | |
26 It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD. | |
27 It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth. | |
28 Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him. | |
29 Let himh Lit giveput his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope. | |
30 Let him give his cheek toi Lit histhe smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach. | |
31 For the Lord will not reject forever, | |
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness. | |
33 For He does not afflictj Lit from His heartwillingly
Or grieve the sons of men. | |
34 To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of thek Or earthland, | |
35 Tol Or turn aside a man’s casedeprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High, | |
36 Tom Lit make crookeddefraud a man in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does notn Lit seeapprove. | |
37 Who iso Lit thisthere who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it? | |
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
Thatp Lit the evil things and the goodboth good and ill go forth? | |
39 Why should any livingq Or human beingmortal, or any man,
Offer complaintr Or on the basis ofin view of his sins? | |
40 Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD. | |
41 We lift up our hearts Lit toward ourand hands
Toward God in heaven; | |
42 We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned. | |
43 You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and have not spared. | |
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through. | |
45 You have made us mere offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples. | |
46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. | |
47 Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction; | |
48 Myt Lit eye bringseyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. | |
49 My eyes pour down unceasingly,
Without stopping, | |
50 Until the LORD looks down
And sees from heaven. | |
51 My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city. | |
52 My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird; | |
53 They have silencedu Lit my lifeme in the pit
And havev Or cast stonesplaced a stone on me. | |
54 Waters flowed over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!” | |
55 I called on Your name, O LORD,
Out of the lowest pit. | |
56 You have heard my voice,
“Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.” | |
57 You drew near when I called on You;
You said, “Do not fear!” | |
58 O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have redeemed my life. | |
59 O LORD, You have seen my oppression;
Judge my case. | |
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me. | |
61 You have heard their reproach, O LORD,
All their schemes against me. | |
62 The lips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long. | |
63 Look on their sitting and their rising;
I am their mocking song. | |
64 You will recompense them, O LORD,
According to the work of their hands. | |
65 You will give themw Or insolencehardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them. | |
66 You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD! | |
