3:1 I am the man1 who has experienced2 affliction
from the disciplining rod3 of his wrath.
3:2 He has driven me into captivity,4
and made me walk5 in deep darkness.6
3:3 He repeatedly7 attacked me8
over and over, continually.9
b (Bet)
3:4 He has caused my mortal skin10 to waste away;
he has broken my bones.
3:5 He has besieged11 and surrounded12 me
with bitter hardship.13
3:6 He has made me reside in intense darkness14
like those who died long ago.
g (Gimel)
3:7 He has walled me in15 so that I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with heavy prison chains.16
3:8 Even though I cry out desperately17 for help,18
he shuts his ears to my prayer.19
3:9 He has blocked20 every road I take21 with a wall of fitted stones;
he has made every path on which I flee22 impossible to traverse.23
d (Dalet)
3:10 He is like a bear lying in wait for me,24
like a hidden lion25 stalking its prey.26
3:11 He dragged me from the path27 and tore me to pieces,
and mangled me beyond rescue.28
and made me30 the target for his arrows.31
h (He)
into my heart.34
3:14 I have become the laughingstock of all people;35
I am the subject of their mockery36 continually.37
3:15 He has made me eat bitter herbs,
and made me drink stagnant water.38
w (Vav)
3:16 He has broken39 my teeth with gravel;
he has made me cower40 in ashes.
3:17 I41 am deprived42 of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is.
3:18 So I said, “My endurance has perished,
I have lost all hope of deliverance43 from the Lord.”
z (Zayin)
3:19 Just thinking about44 my impoverished and homeless condition45
is bitter poison.46
3:20 When I47 continually think about48 this,
I49 become emotionally depressed.50
3:21 But this I call51 to mind,52
therefore I have hope:
j (Khet)
3:22 The Lord’s many kindnesses never cease,53
for his great compassion54 never comes to an end.
3:23 They are renewed55 every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!56
3:24 I said to myself,57 “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance;58
therefore, I will put my hope in him.”
f (Tet)
3:25 The Lord is good to those who trust59 in him,
to the one60 who seeks him.
3:26 It is good to wait patiently61
for deliverance to come62 from the Lord.63
3:27 It is good for a man64 to bear the yoke65
while he is young.66
y (Yod)
3:28 Let a person67 sit alone in silence,
when the Lord68 is disciplining69 him.
3:29 Let him bury his face in the dust;70
there may yet be hope.
3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him;71
let him have his fill of insults.
k (Kaf)
reject us forever.73
3:32 Though he has caused us74 grief, he will have compassion on us,75
according to the abundance of his kindness.76
3:33 For he does not enjoy bringing affliction77
nor causing grief to mortal men.78
l (Lamed)
3:34 To crush underfoot
all the prisoners in the land,79
3:35 to deprive a man of his rights
in the presence of the Most High,
3:36 to subvert a man in his just cause—
the Lord80 does not approve81 of such things!
m (Mem)
3:37 Whose command was ever fulfilled82
unless the Lord83 had decreed it?
3:38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes—
both calamity and blessings?84
3:39 Why should any living man complain
when he is punished for his sins?85
n (Nun)
3:40 Let us carefully examine our ways,86
and let us return to the Lord.
3:41 Let us lift up our hearts87 and our hands
to God in heaven:
3:42 “We have sinned rebelliously;88
you have not forgiven.”
s (Samek)
3:43 You have clothed yourself with anger and pursued us;
you have slaughtered us without pity.
3:44 You have hidden89 yourself in a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
3:45 You have made us like filthy excrement90
in the estimation91 of the nations.
p (Pe)
3:46 All our enemies brashly proclaim threats92
against us.
3:47 Panic and pitfall93 have come upon us,
devastation and destruction.94
3:48 Streams95 of tears flow from my eyes96
because my people97 are destroyed.98
u (Ayin)
3:49 Tears flow from my eyes99 unceasingly;
they will not stop100
3:50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees what has happened.101
3:51 What my eyes see102 causes grief to me103
on account of the abuse of104 all the women in my city.
x (Tsade)
3:52 For no good reason,105 my enemies
have hunted me down106 like a bird.
3:53 They have tried to end my life in a pit,
by107 throwing stones on me.
3:54 The waters closed over my head,
I thought108 that I was about to die.109
q (Qof)
3:55 I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit.110
“Do not close your ears to my cry for help!”112
3:57 You came near when I called to you;
you said, “Do not fear!”
r (Resh)
3:58 You championed my113 cause, O Lord;114
you redeemed my life.
3:59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
may you issue judgment on my behalf!115
3:60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all their plots against me.116
? (Sin/Shin)
3:61 You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all their plots against me.
3:62 My assailants revile and conspire117
against me all day long.
3:63 Look at them!118 From morning to evening119
I am the object of their mocking songs.
t (Tav)
3:64 Pay them back120 what they deserve,121 O Lord,
according to what they122 have done.123
3:65 Render their hearts hard;124
may your curse be on them!
3:66 Pursue them125 in anger and eradicate them
from under heaven, which belongs to you, O Lord!126
The Prophet Speaks:
a (Alef)