[1] I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; [2] he
has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; [3] surely
against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. [4] He has
made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones; [5] he has
besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; [6] he has made
me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. [7] He has walled me about
so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; [8] though I call
and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; [9] he has blocked my ways with
hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked. [10] He is to me like a bear
lying in wait, like a lion in hiding; [11] he led me off my way and tore me
to pieces; he has made me desolate; [12] he bent his bow and set me as a
mark for his arrow. [13] He drove into my heart the arrows of his quiver;
[14] I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the burden of their
songs all day long. [15] He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me
with wormwood. [16] He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower
in ashes; [17] my soul is bereft of peace, I have forgotten what happiness
is; [18] so I say, "Gone is my glory, and my expectation from the LORD."
[19] Remember my affliction and my bitterness, the wormwood and the gall!
[20] My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. [21] But
this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: [22] The steadfast love of
the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; [23] they are new
every morning; great is thy faithfulness. [24] "The LORD is my portion,"
says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." [25] The LORD is good to
those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. [26] It is good that
one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. [27] It is good for
a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. [28] Let him sit alone in silence
when he has laid it on him; [29] let him put his mouth in the dust-- there
may yet be hope; [30] let him give his cheek to the smiter, and be filled
with insults. [31] For the Lord will not cast off for ever, [32] but,
though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance
of his steadfast love; [33] for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the
sons of men. [34] To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth, [35]
to turn aside the right of a man in the presence of the Most High, [36] to
subvert a man in his cause, the Lord does not approve. [37] Who has
commanded and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it? [38] Is it
not from the mouth of the Most High that good and evil come? [39] Why
should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? [40]
Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! [41] Let us lift
up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: [42] "We have transgressed and
rebelled, and thou hast not forgiven. [43] "Thou hast wrapped thyself with
anger and pursued us, slaying without pity; [44] thou hast wrapped thyself
with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. [45] Thou hast made us
offscouring and refuse among the peoples. [46] "All our enemies rail
against us; [47] panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and
destruction; [48] my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the
destruction of the daughter of my people. [49] "My eyes will flow without
ceasing, without respite, [50] until the LORD from heaven looks down and
sees; [51] my eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the maidens of my
city. [52] "I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies
without cause; [53] they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me;
[54] water closed over my head; I said, `said, "I am lost.' [55] "I called
on thy name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; [56] thou didst hear my
plea, `ot close thine ear to my cry for help!' [57] Thou didst come near
when I called on thee; thou didst say, `b [58] "Thou hast taken up my
cause, O Lord, thou hast redeemed my life. [59] Thou hast seen the wrong
done to me, O LORD; judge thou my cause. [60] Thou hast seen all their
vengeance, all their devices against me. [61] "Thou hast heard their
taunts, O LORD, all their devices against me. [62] The lips and thoughts of
my assailants are against me all the day long. [63] Behold their sitting
and their rising; I am the burden of their songs. [64] "Thou wilt requite
them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. [65] Thou wilt give
them dullness of heart; thy curse will be on them. [66] Thou wilt pursue
them in anger and destroy them from under thy heavens, O LORD."