1 I am a man who has known calamity from the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me into darkness, not into the light.
3 He turns his hand against me alone, all the day long, again and again.
4 He has worn away my flesh and skin; he has broken all my bones.
5 He assails me and surrounds me with tribulation and bitterness.
6 He leaves me to dwell in darkness, like those who have long been dead.
7 He has walled me in without escape; he has weighed me down with chains.
8 I could not even cry for help, for he has stopped my prayer.
9 He bars my way with stones and left me helplessly alone.
10 Like a bear lying in ambush, like a lion waiting for its prey,
11 he lunged at me, tore me to pieces, and left me alone and helpless.
12 Then he drew his bow and aimed his arrow at me.
13 He pierced my sides with arrows from his quiver.
14 I have become a laughingstock, a topic of songs for all the peoples.
15 He has sated me with bitter food; he has made me drunk with wormwood.
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel and thrown me down in the ashes.
17 He has deprived my soul of peace, till I have forgotten happiness.
18 Now I say, "Gone are my hopes and all my confidence in the Lord."
19 Recalling my affliction and homelessness is wormwood and gall.
20 Thinking it over and over makes my soul downcast.
21 But this, when I ponder, is what gives me hope:
22 Yahweh's love abides unceasingly. His compassion is never consumed;
23 every morning it is renewed. And his love remains ever faithful.
24 "My portion is Yahweh," says my soul. "On him shall I rely."
25 Yahweh is good to those who hope in him, to souls who search for him.
26 It is rewarding to wait in silence for the Lord's salvation.
27 It is good for man to bear the yoke from his youth.
28 Let him sit alone in silence when Yahweh fastens the yoke on him.
29 Let him put his lips to the dust there may still be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to be struck; let him be overwhelmed with insult.
31 For it is not forever that the Lord rejects man.
32 In the abundance of his love he punishes, but has compassion.
33 For he does not willingly abase or afflict the human race.
34 To trample underfoot the prisoners of the land,
35 to deny a man his rights in the presence of the Most High,
36 to deprive people of justice - the Lord does not approve of this.
37 Who can command and execute what the Lord has not willed?
38 From the mouth of the Most High come all things, good or bad.
39 Why should then mortals complain when punished for their sin?
40 Let us search and examine our ways and return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven, and say:
42 "We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us.
43 Clothed in anger you have pursued us without mercy.
44 You have wrapped yourself in clouds so that no prayer can reach you.
45 You have reduced us to dust and refuse among the nations.
46 Our foes have opened wide their mouths against us.
47 Terror is our lot: pitfall, ruin and desolation.
48 Great is my grief over the downfall of the daughter of my people.
49 No respite, no relief, as my tears flow ceaselessly,
50 till the Lord looks down from heaven and sees.
51 My soul will grieve in torment for the women of my city.
52 Like a bird I have been hunted by my foes without cause.
53 They flung me alive into a pit and cast stones at me.
54 As the waters closed over my head, I thought I would never again live.
55 Out of the depths I called on your name, O Yahweh.
56 You heard; you have not been deaf to my cry for relief.
57 When I called, you even came near and told me not to fear.
58 O Lord, you took up my case and redeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong they did me, uphold my cause!
60 You have seen how resentfully they plotted to destroy my life.
61 O Yahweh, you have heard the insults hurled at me, their insidious plots;
62 You have been aware of their thoughts, their muttering against me all day long.
63 Look at them - sitting or standing - mocking me in their song!
64 Repay them as they deserve, according to their deeds, O Yahweh.
65 Harden their hearts; hold them under your curse.
66 Pursue and destroy them in fury from under the heavens, O Yahweh.
Versículos relacionados com Lamentations, 3:
Lamentations 3 is a chapter in which the author expresses his lament and sadness in the face of the afflictions he is facing. He feels downcast, suffers and cries out for help and mercy. Below are five verses related to the themes of the chapter:
Psalm 22:1 - "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This verse is an expression of anguish similar to that of the author of lamentations 3, who feels abandoned and alone in his pain.
Psalm 42:5 - "Why are you slaughtered, O my soul, and why are you disturbed in me? Wait in God, for I will still praise you for the salvation of your face." The psalmist here is encouraging his soul to trust God and wait for his help, which is a message similar to that of the author of lamentation 3.
Isaiah 49:15 - "Can a woman forget so much of her son who creates, that he does not sympathize with him, the son of his womb? But even if he forgot him, but I will not forget you." This verse is a reminder of God's unconditional love for his people, even in the midst of difficulties.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 - "In everything we are troubled, but not distressed; perplexed but not discouraged; persecuted but not helpless; slaughtered but not destroyed." The apostle Paul here talks about the nature of the difficulties we face, but emphasizes that we can persevere in God, as well as the author of lamentations 3.
Romans 8:38-39 - "For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, no principles, nor things, nor future, nor powered by height, no depth, nor any other creature It can separate us from the love of God, who is in Christ Jesus our Lord. " This verse is a promise that God's love is unshakable and that we can trust his faithfulness, even when we face the greatest difficulties.
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