New American Standard Bible

New King James Version

Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Affliction

I am the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.

1

The Prophet’s Anguish and Hope

I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.

2

He has driven me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.

2

He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.

3

Surely against me He has turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.

3

Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.

4

He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has broken my bones.

4

He has aged my flesh and my skin,
And broken my bones.

5

He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.

5

He has besieged me
And surrounded me with bitterness and [a]woe.

6

In dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.

6

He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.

7

He has walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my chain heavy.

7

He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.

8

Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.

8

Even when I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.

9

He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.

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.

10

He has been to me a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in [b]ambush.

11

He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.

11

He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.

12

He bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow.

12

He has bent His bow
And set me up as a target for the arrow.

13

He made the arrows of His quiver
To enter into my inward parts.

13

He has caused the [c]arrows of His quiver
To pierce my [d]loins.

14

I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking song all the day.

14

I have become the ridicule of all my people —
Their taunting song all the day.

15

He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.

15

He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink wormwood.

16

He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has made me cower in the dust.

16

He has also broken my teeth with gravel,
And [e]covered me with ashes.

17

My soul has been rejected from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.

17

You have moved my soul far from peace;
I have forgotten [f]prosperity.

18

So I say, “My strength has perished,
And so has my hope from the LORD.”

18

And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from the Lord.”

19

Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy

Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.

19

Remember my affliction and roaming,
The wormwood and the [g]gall.

20

Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me.

20

My soul still remembers
And [h]sinks within me.

21

This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.

21

This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.

22

The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.

22

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.

23

They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

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.”

24

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

25

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.

25

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.

26

It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.

26

It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.

27

It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.

27

It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.

28

Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.

28

Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;

29

Let him put his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope.

29

Let him put his mouth in the dust —
There may yet be hope.

30

Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.

30

Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.

31

For the Lord will not reject forever,

31

For the Lord will not cast off forever.

32

For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.

32

Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.

33

For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.

33

For He does not afflict [i]willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.

34

To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,

34

To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,

35

To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,

35

To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,

36

To defraud a man in his lawsuit —
Of these things the Lord does not approve.

36

Or subvert a man in his cause —
The Lord does not approve.

37

Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?

37

Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?

38

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both good and ill go forth?

38

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That woe and well-being proceed?

39

Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?

39

Why should a living man [j]complain,
A man for the punishment of his sins?

40

Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD.

40

Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the Lord;

41

We lift up our heart and hands
Toward God in heaven;

41

Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.

42

We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned.

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.

43

You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and not pitied.

44

You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.

44

You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
That prayer should not pass through.

45

You have made us mere offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.

45

You have made us an offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.

46

All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

46

All our enemies
Have opened their mouths against us.

47

Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;

47

Fear and a snare have come upon us,
Desolation and destruction.

48

My eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

48

My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49

My eyes pour down unceasingly,
Without stopping,

49

My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,

50

Until the LORD looks down
And sees from heaven.

50

Till the Lord from heaven
Looks down and sees.

51

My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.

51

My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.

52

My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird;

52

My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird.

53

They have silenced me in the pit
And have placed a stone on me.

53

They [k]silenced my life in the pit
And threw [l]stones at me.

54

Waters flowed over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”

54

The waters flowed over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”

55

I called on Your name, O LORD,
Out of the lowest pit.

55

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

56

You have heard my voice,
“Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”

56

You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”

57

You drew near when I called on You;
You said, “Do not fear!”

57

You drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, “Do not fear!”

58

O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have redeemed my life.

58

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

59

O LORD, You have seen my oppression;
Judge my case.

59

O Lord, You have seen [m]how I am wronged;
Judge my case.

60

You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.

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.

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.

62

The lips of my enemies
And their whispering against me all the day.

63

Look on their sitting and their rising;
I am their mocking song.

63

Look at their sitting down and their rising up;
I am their taunting song.

64

You will recompense them, O LORD,
According to the work of their hands.

64

Repay them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.

65

You will give them hardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.

65

Give them [n]a veiled heart;
Your curse be upon them!

66

You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD!

66

In Your anger,
Pursue and destroy them
From under the heavens of the Lord.

Parallel

New American Standard Bible

New King James Version

Lamentations 3

Lamentations 3