The Prophet’s Anguish and Hope
1 Iamthe manwhohas seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
2 He has led me and mademewalk
Indarkness and notinlight.
3 Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.
4 He has agedmy flesh and my skin,
# Andbroken my bones.
5 He has besieged me
And surroundedmewith bitterness and woe.
6 He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.
7 He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8 Evenwhen I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10 Hehasbeento me a bear lying in wait,
Likea lion in ambush.
11 He has turned aside my ways andtorn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He has bent His bow
# Andset me up as a target for the arrow.
13 He has causedthe arrows of His quiver
To pierce my loins.
14 I have become theridicule of all my people—
# Their taunting song all the day.
15 He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink wormwood.
16 He has also broken my teethwith gravel,
And covered me with ashes.
17 You have moved my soul far from peace;
I have forgotten prosperity.
18 And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from theLord.”
19 Remember my affliction and roaming,
# The wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul still remembers
And sinks within me.
21 This I recall to my mind,
# Therefore I havehope.
22 ThroughtheLord’s mercies we are not consumed,
# Because His compassionsfail not.
23 Theyarenewevery morning;
GreatisYour faithfulness.
24 “TheLordismyportion,” says my soul,
# “Therefore Ihope in Him!”
25 TheLordisgood to those whowait for Him,
To the soulwhoseeks Him.
26 Itisgood thatoneshouldhopeand wait quietly
For the salvation of theLord.
27 Itisgood for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone and keep silent,
BecauseGodhas laiditon him;
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
30 Let him givehischeek to the one who strikes him,
Andbe full of reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
33 ForHe does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the justiceduea man
Before the face of the Most High,
36 Or subvert a man in his cause—
# The Lord does not approve.
37 Whoishewhospeaks and it comes to pass,
Whenthe Lord has not commandedit?
38 Isitnot from the mouth of the Most High
# Thatwoe and well-being proceed?
39 Why should a living man complain,
# A man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to theLord;
41 Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.
42 We have transgressed and rebelled;
You have not pardoned.
43 You have coveredYourselfwith anger
And pursued us;
You have slainandnot pitied.
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
That prayer should not pass through.
45 You have made us anoffscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies
Have opened their mouths against us.
47 Fear and a snare have come upon us,
# Desolation and destruction.
48 My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,
50 Till theLordfrom heaven
# Looks down and sees.
51 My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemieswithout cause
Hunted me down like a bird.
53 They silenced my lifein the pit
# Andthrew stones at me.
54 The waters flowed over my head;
# I said, “I am cut off!”
55 I called on Your name, OLord,
# From the lowestpit.
56 You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
57 Youdrew near on the day I called on You,
# And said,“Do not fear!”
58 O Lord, You havepleaded the case for my soul;
# You have redeemed my life.
59 OLord, You have seenhowI am wronged;
# Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
# All theirschemes against me.
61 You have heard their reproach, OLord,
All their schemes against me,
62 The lips of my enemies
And their whispering against me all the day.
63 Look at theirsitting down and their rising up;
Iamtheir taunting song.
64 Repay them, OLord,
According to the work of their hands.
65 Give them a veiled heart;
Your cursebeupon them!
66 In Your anger,
Pursue and destroy them
# From under the heavens of theLord.