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^1 (a)I am the man who has seen affliction
    under the ^(b)rod of his wrath;
² he has driven and brought me
    ^(c)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;
    ^(d)he has broken my bones;
^5 (e)he has besieged and enveloped me
    with ^(f)bitterness and tribulation;
^6 (g)he has made me dwell in darkness
    like the dead of long ago.

^7 (h)He has walled me about so that ⁽ⁱ⁾I cannot escape;
    he has made my chains heavy;
⁸ though ^(j)I call and cry for help,
    he shuts out my prayer;
^9 (k)he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
    he has made my paths crooked.

^10 (l)He is a bear lying in wait for me,
    a lion in hiding;
^11 (m)he turned aside my steps and ⁽ⁿ⁾tore me to pieces;
    ^(o)he has made me desolate;
^12 (p)he bent his bow ^(q)and set me
    as a target for his arrow.

¹³ He drove into my kidneys
    ^(r)the arrows of his quiver;
^14 (s)I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
    ^(t)the object of their taunts all day long.
^15 (u)He has filled me with bitterness;
    he has sated me with ^(v)wormwood.

^16 (w)He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
    and ^(x)made me cower in ashes;
¹⁷ my soul is bereft of peace;
    I have forgotten what happiness^[a] is;
^18 (y)so I say, "My endurance has perished;
    so has my hope from the Lord."

^19 (z)Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
    ^(aa)the wormwood and ^(ab)the gall!
²⁰ My soul continually remembers it
    ^(ac)and is bowed down within me.
²¹ But this I call to mind,
    and ^(ad)therefore I have hope:

^22 (ae)The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;^{[b]
    (af)}his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new ^(ag)every morning;
    ^(ah)great is your faithfulness.
^24 (ai)"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
    ^(aj)"therefore I will hope in him."

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who ^(ak)wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
^26 (al)It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
^27 (am)It is good for a man that he bear
    the yoke ^(an)in his youth.

²⁸ Let him ^(ao)sit alone in silence
    when it is laid on him;
^29 (ap)let him put his mouth in the dust—
    there may yet be hope;
^30 (aq)let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
    and let him be filled with insults.

^31 (ar)For the Lord will not
    cast off forever,
³² but, though he ^(as)cause grief, ^(at)he will have compassion
    ^(au)according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
^33 (av)for he does not afflict from his heart
    or ^(aw)grieve the children of men.

³⁴ To crush underfoot
    all ^(ax)the prisoners of the earth,
^35 (ay)to deny a man justice
    in the presence of the Most High,
³⁶ to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
    ^(az)the Lord does not approve.

^37 (ba)Who has spoken and it came to pass,
    unless the Lord has commanded it?
^38 (bb)Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that good and bad come?
^39 (bc)Why should a living man complain,
    a man, about the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰ Let us test and examine our ways,
    ^(bd)and return to the Lord!
^41 (be)Let us lift up our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven:
^42 (bf)"We have transgressed and ^(bg)rebelled,
    and you have not forgiven.

⁴³ "You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
    ^(bh)killing without pity;
^44 (bi)you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can pass through.
^45 (bj)You have made us scum and garbage
    among the peoples.

^46 (bk)"All our enemies
    open their mouths against us;
^47 (bl)panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and ^(bm)destruction;
^48 (bn)my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

^49 (bo)"My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
^50 (bp)until the Lord from heaven
    looks down and sees;
⁵¹ my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

^52 (bq)"I have been hunted ^(br)like a bird
    by those who were my enemies ^(bs)without cause;
^53 (bt)they flung me alive into the pit
    ^(bu)and cast stones on me;
^54 (bv)water closed over my head;
    I said, ^(bw)‘I am lost.'

^55 (bx)"I called on your name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
^56 (by)you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!'
^57 (bz)You came near when I called on you;
    you said, ^(ca)‘Do not fear!'

⁵⁸ "You have ^(cb)taken up my cause, ^(cc)O Lord;
    you have ^(cd)redeemed my life.
⁵⁹ You have seen the wrong done to me, ^(ce)O Lord;
    judge my cause.
⁶⁰ You have seen all their vengeance,
    all ^(cf)their plots against me.

^61 (cg)"You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
    all ^(ch)their plots against me.
⁶² The lips and thoughts ^(ci)of my assailants
    are against me all the day long.
^63 (cj)Behold their sitting and their rising;
    ^(ck)I am the object of their taunts.

^64 (cl)"You will repay them,^[c] O Lord,
    ^(cm)according to the work of their hands.
⁶⁵ You will give them^[d] dullness of heart;
    your curse will be^[e] on them.
⁶⁶ You will pursue them^[f] in anger and ^(cn)destroy them
    from under ^(co)your heavens, O Lord."^[g]