Lamentations 3
1I am the gever that hath seen affliction 1 by the rod of His wrath. 1
2He hath driven me away, and brought me 1 into choshech, but not into ohr. 1
3Surely against me is He turned; 1 He turneth His yad against me kol hayom. 1
4My basar and my ohr (skin) hath He made old; 1 He hath broken my atzmot. 1
5He hath set up siegeworks against me, 1 and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. 1
6He hath set me in dark places, 1 like the mesei olam (long dead). 1
7He hath hedged me about, that I cannot escape; 1 He hath made my chain heavy. 1
8Also when I cry and call out, 1 He shutteth out my tefillah. 1
9He hath barred my ways with hewn stone, 1 He hath made my paths crooked. 1
10He was unto me like a dov (bear) lying in wait, 1 and like an aryeh in mistarim (hiding places). 1
11He hath turned aside the darkhei of mine, and pulled me in pieces; 1 He hath made me desolate. 1
12He hath bent His keshet, 1 and set me as a target for the khetz (arrow). 1
13He hath caused the arrows of His quiver 1 to enter into my organs. 1
14I was a derision to kol ami; 1 and their + 3:14 mocking song kol hayom. 1
15He hath filled me with merorim (bitter herbs); 1 He hath made me drunk with suffering. 1
16He hath also broken my teeth with gravel, 1 He hath covered me with aphar. 1
17And Thou hast removed my nefesh far off from shalom; 1 I forgot tovah (prosperity). 1
18And I said: My strength and my hope 1 is perished from Hashem. 1
19Remember mine oni (affliction) and my misery, 1 the sorrow and the trouble. 1
20My nefesh hath them still in remembrance, 1 and is downcast in me. 1
21This I recall to my lev, 1 therefore have I hope: 1
22Because of the chasdei Hashem we are not consumed, 1 for His rachamim fail not. 1
23They are chadashim every boker; 1 great is Thy faithfulness. 1
24Hashem is my chelek, saith my nefesh; 1 therefore in hope will I wait for Him. 1
25Hashem is tov unto them that wait for Him, 1 to the nefesh that seeketh Him. 1
26It is good that a man should both hope 1 and quietly wait for the Teshu'at Hashem. 1
27It is tov for a gever that 1 he bear the ol (yoke) from his youth. 1
28He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, 1 because He hath laid it upon him. 1
29He putteth his mouth in the aphar; 1 there may yet be tikvah. 1
30He offereth his lekhi (cheek) to him that striketh him; 1 he is filled full with reproach. + 3:30 Isa 50:6 1
31For Adonoi will not cast off l'olam (forever); 1
32But though He cause grief, 1 yet will He have compassion according to the rov chasadav (the multitude of His mercies). 1
33For He doth not afflict willingly 1 nor bring grief to Bnei Ish. 1
34To crush under His feet 1 kol asirei eretz (all the prisoners of the earth), 1
35To turn aside the mishpat gever (the right of a man) 1 before the face of Elyon, 1
36To subvert a man in his cause, 1 Adonoi approveth not. 1
37Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, 1 when Adonoi commandeth it not? 1
38Out of the mouth of Elyon proceedeth not 1 hara'ot (the woe) and hatov (the good)? 1
39Why doth an adam chai (any man alive) complain, 1 a gever for the punishment of his sins? 1
40Let us search and test derakheinu (our ways), 1 and let us turn again to Hashem. 1
41Let us lift up levavenu (our heart) with our hands 1 unto El baShomayim. 1
42We have transgressed and have rebelled; 1 Atah lo salachta (Thou hast not pardoned, forgiven). 1
43Thou hast covered with af (anger), and pursued us; 1 Thou hast slain, Thou hast not pitied. 1
44Thou hast covered Thyself with an anan, 1 that our tefillah not pass through. 1
45Thou hast made us as the offscouring 1 and refuse among the amim. 1
46Kol oyveinu (all our enemies) 1 have opened their mouths against us. 1
47Pachad (terror) and a snare is come upon us, 1 ruin and destruction. 1
48Mine eye runneth down with streams of mayim 1 for the destruction of Bat Ami. 1
49Mine eye will flow down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission 1
50Till Hashem look down, and behold from Shomayim. 1
51Mine eye affecteth mine nefesh 1 because of all the banot of my city. 1
52Mine enemies hunted me down, 1 like a tzippor (bird), without cause. 1
53They have cut off my life in the bor (pit) 1 and cast an even (stone) upon me. 1
54Mayim flowed over mine rosh; 1 then I said: I am cut off. 1
55I called upon Thy Shem, Hashem, 1 out of the lowest pit. 1
56Thou hast heard my voice; 1 close not thine ear at my sighing, 1 at my cry. 1
57Thou drewest near on the Yom that I called upon Thee; 1 Thou saidst: Fear not. 1
58Adonoi, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my nefesh; 1 Thou hast redeemed my life. 1
59Hashem, Thou hast seen my wrong; 1 uphold my cause. 1
60Thou hast seen all their vengeance 1 and all their machsh'vot against me. 1
61Thou hast heard their reproach, Hashem, 1 and all their machsh'vot against me; 1
62The whisperings of those that rose up against me, 1 and their muttering against me kol hayom. 1
63Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; 1 Ani (I) am their mocking song. 1
64Render unto them a gemul (recompence), Hashem, 1 according to the work of their hands. 1
65Give them hardness of lev as thy curse unto them. 1
66Pursue in anger and destroy them 1 from under HaShomayim of Hashem.