Lamentations Chapter 3 (NIV)
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I am the man who has seen afflictionby the rod of his wrath.
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He has driven me away and made me walkin darkness rather than light;
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indeed, he has turned his hand against meagain and again, all day long.
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He has made my skin and my flesh grow oldand has broken my bones.
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He has besieged me and surrounded mewith bitterness and hardship.
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He has made me dwell in darknesslike those long dead.
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He has walled me in so I cannot escape;he has weighed me down with chains.
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Even when I call out or cry for help,he shuts out my prayer.
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He has barred my way with blocks of stone;he has made my paths crooked.
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Like a bear lying in wait,like a lion in hiding,
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he dragged me from the path and mangled meand left me without help.
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He drew his bowand made me the target for his arrows.
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He pierced my heartwith arrows from his quiver.
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I became the laughingstock of all my people;they mock me in song all day long.
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He has filled me with bitter herbsand sated me with gall.
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He has broken my teeth with gravel;he has trampled me in the dust.
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I have been deprived of peace;I have forgotten what prosperity is.
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So I say, “My splendor is goneand all that I had hoped from the Lord.”
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I remember my affliction and my wandering,the bitterness and the gall.
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I well remember them,and my soul is downcast within me.
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Yet this I call to mindand therefore I have hope:
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Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail.
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They are new every morning;great is your faithfulness.
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I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;therefore I will wait for him.”
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The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,to the one who seeks him;
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it is good to wait quietlyfor the salvation of the Lord.
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It is good for a man to bear the yokewhile he is young.
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Let him sit alone in silence,for the Lord has laid it on him.
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Let him bury his face in the dust—there may yet be hope.
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Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,and let him be filled with disgrace.
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For men are not cast offby the Lord forever.
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Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,so great is his unfailing love.
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For he does not willingly bring afflictionor grief to the children of men.
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To crush underfootall prisoners in the land,
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to deny a man his rightsbefore the Most High,
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to deprive a man of justice—would not the Lord see such things?
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Who can speak and have it happenif the Lord has not decreed it?
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Is it not from the mouth of the Most Highthat both calamities and good things come?
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Why should any living man complainwhen punished for his sins?
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Let us examine our ways and test them,and let us return to the Lord.
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Let us lift up our hearts and our handsto God in heaven, and say:
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“We have sinned and rebelledand you have not forgiven.
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“You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;you have slain without pity.
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You have covered yourself with a cloudso that no prayer can get through.
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You have made us scum and refuseamong the nations.
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“All our enemies have opened their mouthswide against us.
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We have suffered terror and pitfalls,ruin and destruction.”
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Streams of tears flow from my eyesbecause my people are destroyed.
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My eyes will flow unceasingly,without relief,
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until the Lord looks downfrom heaven and sees.
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What I see brings grief to my soulbecause of all the women of my city.
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Those who were my enemies without causehunted me like a bird.
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They tried to end my life in a pitand threw stones at me;
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the waters closed over my head,and I thought I was about to be cut off.
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I called on your name, O Lord,from the depths of the pit.
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You heard my plea: “Do not close your earsto my cry for relief.”
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You came near when I called you,and you said, “Do not fear.”
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O Lord, you took up my case;you redeemed my life.
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You have seen, O Lord, the wrong done to me.Uphold my cause!
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You have seen the depth of their vengeance,all their plots against me.
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O Lord, you have heard their insults,all their plots against me—
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what my enemies whisper and mutteragainst me all day long.
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Look at them! Sitting or standing,they mock me in their songs.
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Pay them back what they deserve, O Lord,for what their hands have done.
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Put a veil over their hearts,and may your curse be on them!
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Pursue them in anger and destroy themfrom under the heavens of the Lord.
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