1 Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Affliction I am [Jeremiah] the man who has seen afflictionBecause of the rod of His wrath.2 He has led me and made me walkIn darkness and not in light.3 Surely He has turned His hand against meRepeatedly all the day.4 He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away;He has shattered my bones.5 He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.6 He has made me live in dark placesLike those who have long been dead.7 He walled me in so that I cannot get out;He has weighted down my chain.8 Even when I cry out and shout for help,He shuts out my prayer.9 He has blocked my ways with cut stone;He has made my paths crooked.10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,And like a lion [hiding] in secret places.11 He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;He has made me desolate.12 He has bent His bowAnd set me as a target for the arrow.13 He has caused the arrows of His quiverTo enter my inner parts.14 I have become the [object of] ridicule to all my people,And [the subject of] theirmockingsong all the day.15 He has filled me with bitterness;He has made me drunk with wormwood (bitterness).16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;He has [covered me with ashes and] made me cower in the dust.17 My soul has been cast far away from peace;I have forgotten happiness.18 So I say, “My strength has perishedAnd so has my hopeandexpectation from the L.”19 Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy Remember [O L] my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall (bitterness).20 My soulcontinuallyremembers themAnd is bowed down within me.21 But this I call to mind,Therefore I have hope.22 It is because of the L’lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed,Because His [tender] compassions never fail.23 They are new every morning;Greatandbeyond measure is Your faithfulness.24 “The Lis my portionandmy inheritance,” says my soul;“Therefore I have hope in Himandwait expectantly for Him.”25 The Lis good to those who wait [confidently] for Him,To those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].26 It is good that one waits quietlyFor the salvation of the L.27 It is good for a man that he should bearThe yoke [of godly discipline] in his youth.28 Let him sit alone [in hope] and keep quiet,Because God has laid it on him [for his benefit].29 Let him put his mouth in the dust [in recognition of his unworthiness];There may yet be hope.30 Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him;Let him be filled with reproach.31 For the Lord will not reject forever,32 For if He causes grief,Then He will have compassionAccording to His abundant lovingkindnessandtender mercy.33 For He does not afflict willinglyandfrom His heartOr grieve the children of men.34 To trampleandcrush under His feetAll the prisoners of the land,35 To deprive a man of justiceIn the presence of the Most High,36 To defraud a man in his lawsuit—The Lord does not approve of these things.37 Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,Unless the Lord has authorizedandcommanded it?38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most HighThat both adversity (misfortune) and good (prosperity, happiness) proceed?39 Why should any living mortal, or any man,Complain [of punishment] in view of his sins?40 Let us test and examine our ways,And let us return to the L.41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands [in prayer]Toward God in heaven;42 We have transgressed and rebelled,You have not pardoned.43 You have coveredYourselfwith angerAnd pursued us;You have slain [without pity] and have not spared.44 You have covered Yourself with a cloudSo that no prayer can pass through.45 You have made us scum and refuseAmong the peoples (Gentile nations).46 All our enemies have gaped at us.47 Panic and pitfall (traps, danger) have come on us,Devastation and destruction.48 My eyes overflow with streams of tearsBecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people (Jerusalem).49 My eyes overflow unceasingly,Without stopping,50 Until the Llooks downAnd sees from heaven.51 My eyes [see things that] bring pain to my soulBecause of all the daughters of my city.52 Without cause my enemiesHunted me down like a bird;53 They silenced me in the pitAnd placed a stone over me.54 The waters ran down on my head;I said, “I am cut off (destroyed)!”55 I called on Your name, O L,Out of the lowest pit.56 You have heard my voice,“Do not hide Your ear from myprayerfor relief,From my cry for help.”57 You drew near on the day I called to You;You said, “Do not fear.”58 O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause [You have guided my way and protected me];You have rescuedandredeemed my life.59 O L, You have seen the wrong [done to me];Judge my case.60 You have seen all their vengeance,All their schemes against me.61 You have heard their reproach, O L,And all their schemes against me.62 The lips and whispering of my assailantsAre against me all day long.63 Look at their sitting and their rising [their actions and secret counsels];I am their mocking song [the subject of their ridicule].64 You will repay them, O L,According to the work of their hands.65 You will harden their hearts;Your curse will be upon them.66 You will pursue them in anger and destroy themFrom under the heavens of the L.