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Jeremiah’s Afflictions

¹ I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath.² He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light.³ Indeed, He keeps turning His hand against me all day long.⁴ He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones.⁵ He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.⁶ He has made me dwell in darkness like those dead for ages.⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains.⁸ Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer.⁹ He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked.¹⁰ He is a bear lying in wait, a lion in hiding.¹¹ He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces; He left me without help.¹² He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.¹³ He pierced my kidneys with His arrows.¹⁴ I am a laughingstock to all my people; they mock me in song all day long.¹⁵ He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.¹⁶ He has ground my teeth with gravel and trampled me in the dust.¹⁷ My soul has been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.¹⁸ So I say, “My strength has perished along with my hope from the LORD.”

Jeremiah’s Hope

²¹ Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope:²² Because of the LORD’s loving devotion we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.²³ They are new every morning; great is Your 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 who seeks Him.²⁶ It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence, for God has disciplined him.²⁹ Let him bury his face in the dust—perhaps there is still hope.³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach.³¹ For the Lord will not cast us off forever.³² Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.³³ For He does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men.³⁴ To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,³⁵ to deny a man justice before the Most High,³⁶ to subvert a man in his lawsuit—of these the Lord does not approve.

God’s Justice

³⁷ Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?³⁸ Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?³⁹ Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins?⁴⁰ Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

⁴² “We have sinned and rebelled; You have not forgiven.”⁴³ You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us; You have killed without pity.⁴⁴ You have covered Yourself with a cloud that no prayer can pass through.⁴⁵ You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.⁴⁶ All our enemies open their mouths against us.⁴⁷ Panic and pitfall have come upon us—devastation and destruction.⁴⁸ Streams of tears flow from my eyes over the destruction of the daughter of my people.⁴⁹ My eyes overflow unceasingly, without relief,⁵⁰ until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.⁵¹ My eyes bring grief to my soul because of all the daughters of my city.⁵² Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird.⁵³ They dropped me alive into a pit and cast stones at me.⁵⁴ The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die.

A Prayer for Deliverance

⁵⁵ I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the depths of the Pit.⁵⁶ You heard my plea: “Do not ignore my cry for relief.”⁵⁷ You drew near when I called on You; You said, “Do not be afraid.”⁵⁸ You defend my cause, O Lord; You redeem my life.⁵⁹ You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me; uphold my cause.⁶⁰ You see all their malice, all their plots against me.⁶¹ O LORD, You have heard their insults, all their plots against me—⁶² the slander and murmuring of my opponents against me all day long.⁶³ When they sit and when they rise, see how they mock me in song.⁶⁴ You will pay them back what they deserve, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.⁶⁵ You will give them hardness of heart; may Your curse be upon them!⁶⁶ You will pursue them in anger and exterminate them from under the heavens of the LORD.