Lamentations 3

1Aleph. I am the man that see my poverty by the rod of his indignation.

2Aleph. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, and not into light.

3Aleph. Only against me he hath turned, and turned again his hand all the day.

4Beth. My skin and my flesh he hath made old, he hath broken my bones.

5Beth. He hath built round about me, and he hath compassed me with gall and labour.

6Beth. He hath set me in dark places as those that are dead for ever.

7Ghimel. He hath built against me round about, that I may not get out: he hath made my fetters heavy.

8Ghimel. Yea, and when I cry, and entreat, he hath shut out my prayer.

9Ghimel. He hath shut up my ways with square stones, he hath turned my paths upside down.

10Daleth. He is become to me as a bear lying in wait: as a lion in secret places.

11Daleth. He hath turned aside my paths, and hath broken me in pieces, he hath made me desolate.

12Daleth. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.

13He. He hath shot into my reins the daughters of his quiver.

14He. I am made a derision to all my people, their song all the day long.

15He. He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood.

16Vau. And he hath broken my teeth one by one, he hath fed me with ashes.

17Vau. And my soul is removed far off from peace, I have forgotten good things.

18Vau. And I said: My end and my hope is perished from the Lord.

19Zain. Remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood, and the gall.

20Zain. I will be mindful and remember, and my soul shall languish within me.

21Zain. These things I shall think over in my heart, therefore will I hope.

22Heth. The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because his commiserations have not failed.

23Heth. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.

24Heth. The Lord is my portion, said my soul: therefore will I wait for him.

25Teth. The Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26Teth. It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God.

27Teth. It is good for a man, when he hath borne the yoke from his youth.

28Jod. He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it up upon himself.

29Jod. He shall put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.

30Jod. He shall give his cheek to him that striketh him, he shall be filled with reproaches.

31Caph. For the Lord will not cast off for ever.

32Caph. For if he hath cast off, he will also have mercy, according to the multitude of his mercies.

33Caph. For he hath not willingly afflicted, nor cast off the children of men.

34Lamed. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,

35Lamed. To turn aside the judgment of a man before the face of the most High,

36Lamed. To destroy a man wrongfully in his judgment, the Lord hath not approved.

37Mem. Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not?

38Mem. Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Highest?

39Mem. Why hath a living man murmured, man suffering for his sins?

40Nun. Let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord.

41Nun. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens.

42Nun. We have done wickedly, and provoked thee to wrath: therefore thou art inexorable.

43Samech. Thou hast covered in thy wrath, and hast struck us: thou hast killed and hast not spared.

44Samech. Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that our prayer may not pass through.

45Samech. Thou hast made me as an outcast, and refuse in the midst of the people.

46Phe. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

47Phe. Prophecy is become to us a fear, and a snare, and destruction.

48Phe. My eye hath run down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49Ain. My eye is afflicted, and hath not been quiet, because there was no rest:

50Ain. Till the Lord regarded and looked down from the heavens.

51Ain. My eye hath wasted my soul because of all the daughters of my city.

52Sade. My enemies have chased me and caught me like a bird, without cause.

53Sade. My life is fallen into the pit, and they have laid a stone over me.

54Sade. Waters have flowed over my head: I said: I am cut off.

55Coph. I have called upon thy name, O Lord, from the lowest pit.

56Coph. Thou hast heard my voice: turn not away thy ear from my sighs, and cries.

57Coph. Thou drewest near in the day, when I called upon thee, thou saidst: Fear not.

58Res. Thou hast judged, O Lord, the cause of my soul, thou the Redeemer of my life.

59Res. Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge thou my judgment.

60Res. Thou hast seen all their fury, and all their thoughts against me.

61Sin. Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, all their imaginations against me.

62Sin. The lips of them that rise up against me: and their devices against me all the day.

63Sin. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up, I am their song.

64Thau. Thou shalt render them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.

65Thau. Thou shalt give them a buckler of heart, thy labour.

66Thau. Thou shalt persecute them in anger, and shalt destroy them from under the heavens, O Lord.

1[Aleph Ego vir videns paupertatem meam in virga indignationis ejus.

2Aleph Me minavit, et adduxit in tenebras, et non in lucem.

3Aleph Tantum in me vertit et convertit manum suam tota die.

4Beth Vetustam fecit pellem meam et carnem meam; contrivit ossa mea.

5Beth Ædificavit in gyro meo, et circumdedit me felle et labore.

6Beth In tenebrosis collocavit me, quasi mortuos sempiternos.

7Ghimel Circumædificavit adversum me, ut non egrediar; aggravavit compedem meum.

8Ghimel Sed et cum clamavero, et rogavero, exclusit orationem meam.

9Ghimel Conclusit vias meas lapidibus quadris; semitas meas subvertit.

10Daleth Ursus insidians factus est mihi, leo in absconditis.

11Daleth Semitas meas subvertit, et confregit me; posuit me desolatam.

12Daleth Tetendit arcum suum, et posuit me quasi signum ad sagittam.

13He Misit in renibus meis filias pharetræ suæ.

14He Factus sum in derisum omni populo meo, canticum eorum tota die.

15He Replevit me amaritudinibus; inebriavit me absinthio.

16Vau Et fregit ad numerum dentes meos; cibavit me cinere.

17Vau Et repulsa est a pace anima mea; oblitus sum bonorum.

18Vau Et dixi: Periit finis meus, et spes mea a Domino.

19Zain Recordare paupertatis, et transgressionis meæ, absinthii et fellis.

20Zain Memoria memor ero, et tabescet in me anima mea.

21Zain Hæc recolens in corde meo, ideo sperabo.

22Heth Misericordiæ Domini, quia non sumus consumpti; quia non defecerunt miserationes ejus.

23Heth Novi diluculo, multa est fides tua.

24Heth Pars mea Dominus, dixit anima mea; propterea exspectabo eum.

25Teth Bonus est Dominus sperantibus in eum, animæ quærenti illum.

26Teth Bonum est præstolari cum silentio salutare Dei.

27Teth Bonum est viro cum portaverit jugum ab adolescentia sua.

28Jod Sedebit solitarius, et tacebit, quia levavit super se.

29Jod Ponet in pulvere os suum, si forte sit spes.

30Jod Dabit percutienti se maxillam: saturabitur opprobriis.

31Caph Quia non repellet in sempiternum Dominus.

32Caph Quia si abjecit, et miserebitur, secundum multitudinem misericordiarum suarum.

33Caph Non enim humiliavit ex corde suo et abjecit filios hominum.

34Lamed Ut conteret sub pedibus suis omnes vinctos terræ.

35Lamed Ut declinaret judicium viri in conspectu vultus Altissimi.

36Lamed Ut perverteret hominem in judicio suo; Dominus ignoravit.

37Mem Quis est iste qui dixit ut fieret, Domino non jubente?

38Mem Ex ore Altissimi non egredientur nec mala nec bona?

39Mem Quid murmuravit homo vivens, vir pro peccatis suis?

40Nun Scrutemur vias nostras, et quæramus, et revertamur ad Dominum.

41Nun Levemus corda nostra cum manibus ad Dominum in cælos.

42Nun Nos inique egimus, et ad iracundiam provocavimus; idcirco tu inexorabilis es.

43Samech Operuisti in furore, et percussisti nos; occidisti, nec pepercisti.

44Samech Opposuisti nubem tibi, ne transeat oratio.

45Samech Eradicationem et abjectionem posuisti me in medio populorum.

46Phe Aperuerunt super nos os suum omnes inimici.

47Phe Formido et laqueus facta est nobis vaticinatio, et contritio.

48Phe Divisiones aquarum deduxit oculus meus, in contritione filiæ populi mei.

49Ain Oculus meus afflictus est, nec tacuit, eo quod non esset requies.

50Ain Donec respiceret et videret Dominus de cælis.

51Ain Oculus meus deprædatus est animam meam in cunctis filiabus urbis meæ.

52Sade Venatione ceperunt me quasi avem inimici mei gratis.

53Sade Lapsa est in lacum vita mea, et posuerunt lapidem super me.

54Sade Inundaverunt aquæ super caput meum; dixi: Perii.

55Coph Invocavi nomen tuum, Domine, de lacu novissimo.

56Coph Vocem meam audisti; ne avertas aurem tuam a singultu meo et clamoribus.

57Coph Appropinquasti in die quando invocavi te; dixisti: Ne timeas.

58Res Judicasti, Domine, causam animæ meæ, redemptor vitæ meæ.

59Res Vidisti, Domine, iniquitatem illorum adversum me: judica judicium meum.

60Res Vidisti omnem furorem, universas cogitationes eorum adversum me.

61Sin Audisti opprobrium eorum, Domine, omnes cogitationes eorum adversum me.

62Sin Labia insurgentium mihi, et meditationes eorum adversum me tota die.

63Sin Sessionem eorum et resurrectionem eorum vide; ego sum psalmus eorum.

64Thau Redes eis vicem, Domine, juxta opera manuum suarum.

65Thau Dabis eis scutum cordis, laborem tuum.

66Thau Persequeris in furore, et conteres eos sub cælis, Domine.]

1ALEPH. I am a man watching my own poverty by the rod of his indignation.

2ALEPH. He has driven me and led me into darkness, and not into light.

3ALEPH. Against me only, he has turned and turned again his hand, all day long.

4BETH. My skin and my flesh, he has made old; he has crushed my bones.

5BETH. He has built all around me, and he has encircled me with gall and hardship.

6BETH. He has gathered me into darkness, like those who are forever dead.

7GHIMEL. He has built against me all around, so that I may not depart. He has increased the burden of my confinement.

8GHIMEL. Yet even when I cry out and beg, he excludes my prayer.

9GHIMEL. He has enclosed my ways with square stones; he has subverted my paths.

10DALETH. He has become to me like a bear lying in ambush, like a lion in hiding.

11DALETH. He has subverted my paths, and he has broken me. He has placed me in desolation.

12DALETH. He has bent his bow, and he has positioned me like a target for his arrows.

13HE. He has shot into my kidneys the daughters of his quiver.

14HE. I have become a derision to all my people, their song throughout the day.

15HE. He has filled me with bitterness; he has inebriated me with wormwood.

16VAU. And he has broken each one of my teeth; he has fed me with ashes.

17VAU. And my soul has been driven away from peace; I have forgotten what is good.

18VAU. And I said, “My end and my hope from the Lord has perished.”

19ZAIN. Remember my poverty and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall.

20ZAIN. I will call to mind the past, and my soul shall languish within me.

21ZAIN. These recollections are in my heart; therefore, I shall hope.

22HETH. By the mercies of the Lord, we are not consumed. For his compassion has not passed away.

23HETH. I know it at first light; great is your faithfulness.

24HETH. “The Lord is my portion,” said my soul. Because of this, I will wait for him.

25TETH. The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.

26TETH. It is good to stand ready in silence for the salvation of God.

27TETH. It is good for a man, when he has carried the yoke from his youth.

28JOD. He shall sit solitary and silent. For he has lifted it upon himself.

29JOD. He shall place his mouth in the dirt, if perhaps there may be hope.

30JOD. He shall give his cheek to those who strike him; he shall be saturated with reproaches.

31CAPH. For the Lord will not rebuke forever.

32CAPH. For, if he has cast down, he will also have compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies.

33CAPH. For he has not humiliated from his heart, nor has he thrown aside the sons of men,

34LAMED. as if to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,

35LAMED. as if to turn aside the judgment of a man in the sight of the presence of the Most High,

36LAMED. as if to pervert a man in his judgment: the Lord does not do this.

37MEM. Who is this, who said to do what the Lord did not command?

38MEM. Does not both misfortune and good proceed from the mouth of the Most High?

39MEM. Why has a living man murmured, a man suffering for his sins?

40NUN. Let us examine our ways, and seek out, and return to the Lord.

41NUN. Let us lift up our hearts, with our hands, toward the Lord in the heavens.

42NUN. We have acted sinfully, and we have provoked to wrath. About this, you are relentless.

43SAMECH. You have covered us in your fury, and you have struck us. You have killed, and have not spared.

44SAMECH. You have set a cloud opposite you, lest our prayer pass through.

45SAMECH. In the midst of the peoples, you have uprooted me and cast me out.

46PHE. All our enemies have opened their mouths over us.

47PHE. Prediction has become for us a dread, and a snare, and a grief.

48PHE. My eye has brought forth streams of water at the contrition of the daughter of my people.

49AIN. My eye has been afflicted, and it has not been quieted, because there would be no rest

50AIN. until the Lord looked down and saw from the heavens.

51AIN. My eye has exhausted my soul over every one of the daughters of my city.

52SADE. My enemies have chased me, and they have caught me like a bird, without reason.

53SADE. My life has fallen into a pit, and they have placed a stone over me.

54SADE. The waters have flooded over my head. I said, “I am lost.”

55COPH. I called upon your name, O Lord, from the furthest pit.

56COPH. You have heard my voice. Do not turn away your ear from my sobbing and my cries.

57COPH. You drew near in the daytime, when I called upon you. You said, “Fear not.”

58RES. You have judged, O Lord, the case of my soul. You are the Redeemer of my life.

59RES. You have seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me. Judge my case.

60RES. You have seen all their fury, every one of their thoughts is against me.

61SIN. You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their thoughts are against me.

62SIN. The lips of those who rise up against me, and their meditations, are against me all day long.

63SIN. Watch their sitting down and their rising up: I am their psalm.

64THAU. You shall pay a recompense to them, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.

65THAU. You shall give them a heavy shield of the heart: your hardship.

66THAU. You shall pursue them in fury, and you shall destroy them under the heavens, O Lord.