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Jeremiah Shares Israel's Misery

¹ I am the man who has ^(C1)seen misery
Because of the rod of His wrath.

² He has driven me and made me walk
In ^(C1)darkness and not in light.

³ Indeed, He has ^(C1)turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.

⁴ He has consumed my ^(C1)flesh and my skin,
He has ^(C2)broken my bones.

⁵ He has ^(F1)(C1)besieged and surrounded me with ^(F2)(C2)bitterness and hardship.

⁶ He has made me live in ^(C1)dark places,
Like those who have long been dead.

⁷ He has ^(C1)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my ^(F1)(C2)chain heavy.

⁸ Even when I cry out and call for help,
He ^(C1)shuts out my prayer.

⁹ He has ^(C1)blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has twisted my paths.

¹⁰ He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.

¹¹ He has made my ways deviate, and ^(C1)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.

¹² He ^(C1)bent His bow
And ^(C2)took aim at me as a target for the arrow.

¹³ He made the ^(F1)arrows of His ^(C1)quiver
Enter my ^(F2)inward parts.

¹⁴ I have become a ^(C1)laughingstock to all my people,
Their ^(C2)song of ridicule all the day.

¹⁵ He has ^(C1)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink plenty of wormwood.

¹⁶ He has also ^(C1)made my teeth grind with ^(C2)gravel;
He has made me cower in the ^(C3)dust.

¹⁷ My soul has been excluded ^(C1)from peace;
I have forgotten ^(F1)happiness.

¹⁸ So I say, "My ^(F1)strength has failed,
And so has my ^(C1)hope from the LORD."

Hope of Relief in God's Mercy

¹⁹ Remember my misery and my homelessness, the ^(C1)wormwood and ^(F1)bitterness.

^20 (C1)My soul certainly remembers,
And ^(F1)is ^(C2)bent over within me.

²¹ I recall this to my mind,
Therefore I ^(F1)(C1)wait.

^22 (F1)The LORD'S ^(C1)acts of mercy indeed do not end,
^(C2)For His compassions do not fail.

²³ They are new ^(C1)every morning;
Great is ^(C2)Your faithfulness.

²⁴ "The LORD is my ^(C1)portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I ^(F1)(C2)wait for Him."

²⁵ The LORD is good to those who ^(F1)(C1)await Him,
To the ^(F2)person who ^(C2)seeks Him.

²⁶ It is good that he ^(C1)waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.

²⁷ It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.

²⁸ Let him ^(C1)sit alone and keep quiet,
Since He has laid it on him.

²⁹ Let him ^(F1)put his mouth in the ^(C1)dust;
Perhaps there is ^(C2)hope.

³⁰ Let him give his ^(C1)cheek to the one who is going to strike him;
Let him be filled with shame.

³¹ For the Lord will ^(C1)not reject forever,

³² For if He causes grief,
Then He will have ^(C1)compassion
In proportion to His abundant mercy.

³³ For He ^(C1)does not ^(F1)afflict ^(F2)willingly
Or ^(F3)grieve the sons of mankind.

³⁴ To crush under ^(F1)one's feet
All the prisoners of the ^(F2)land,

³⁵ To ^(F1)deprive a man of ^(C1)justice
In the presence of the Most High,

³⁶ To ^(F1)(C1)defraud someone in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does not ^(F2)approve.

³⁷ Who is ^(F1)there who speaks and it ^(C1)comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?

³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That ^(F1)(C1)both adversity and good proceed?

³⁹ Of what can any living ^(F1)mortal, or any man,
^(C1)Complain ^(F2)in view of his sins?

⁴⁰ Let's ^(C1)examine and search out our ways,
And let's return to the LORD.

⁴¹ We ^(C1)raise our heart ^(F1)and hands
Toward God in heaven;

⁴² We have ^(C1)done wrong and rebelled;
You have ^(C2)not pardoned.

⁴³ You have covered Yourself with ^(C1)anger
And ^(C2)pursued us;
You have slain and ^(C3)have not spared.

⁴⁴ You have ^(C1)veiled Yourself with a cloud
So that ^(C2)no prayer can pass through.

⁴⁵ You have made us mere ^(C1)refuse and rubbish
In the midst of the peoples.

⁴⁶ All our enemies have ^(C1)opened their mouths against us.

^47 (C1)Panic and pitfall have come upon us,
Devastation and destruction;

⁴⁸ My ^(F1)(C1)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹ My eyes flow ^(C1)unceasingly,
Without stopping,

⁵⁰ Until the LORD ^(C1)looks down
And sees from heaven.

⁵¹ My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.

⁵² My enemies ^(C1)without reason
Hunted me down ^(C2)like a bird;

⁵³ They have silenced ^(F1)me ^(C1)in the pit
And have ^(F2)(C2)thrown stones on me.

⁵⁴ Waters flowed ^(C1)over my head;
I said, "I am ^(F1)cut off!"

⁵⁵ I ^(C1)called on Your name, LORD,
Out of the lowest pit.

⁵⁶ You have ^(C1)heard my voice,
"^(C2)Do not cover Your ear from my plea for relief,
From my cry for help."

⁵⁷ You ^(C1)came near on the day I called to You;
You said, "^(C2)Do not fear!"

⁵⁸ Lord, You ^(C1)have pleaded my soul's cause;
You have ^(C2)redeemed my life.

⁵⁹ LORD, You have ^(C1)seen my oppression;
^(C2)Judge my case.

⁶⁰ You have seen all their vengeance,
All their ^(C1)schemes against me.

⁶¹ You have heard their ^(C1)reproach, LORD,
All their schemes against me.

⁶² The ^(C1)lips of my assailants and their talk
Are against me all day long.

⁶³ Look at their ^(F1)(C1)sitting and their rising;
^(C2)I am their mocking song.

⁶⁴ You will ^(C1)repay them, LORD,
In accordance with the work of their hands.

⁶⁵ You will give them ^(F1)(C1)shamelessness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.

⁶⁶ You will ^(C1)pursue them in anger and eliminate them
From under the ^(C2)heavens of the LORD!