Qynah (Lamentations) — 3

Hope in YAHUAH’s Faithfulness

1 I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the anger of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH.

2 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has led me into darkness, shutting out all light.

3 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.

4 He has made my skin and flesh grow old. 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has broken my bones.

5 He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress.

6 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead.

7 He has walled me in, and I cannot escape. 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has bound me in heavy chains.

8 And though I cry and shout,  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has shut out my prayers.

9 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has blocked my way with a high stone wall; 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has made my road crooked.

10 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has hidden like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me.

11 He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces, leaving me helpless and devastated.

12 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows.

13 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH shot his arrows deep into my heart.

14 My own people laugh at me, All day long they sing their mocking songs.

15 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has filled me with bitterness and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.

16 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has made me chew on gravel, He has rolled me in the dust.

17 Shalum has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18 I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH is lost!”

19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.

20 I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

21 Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:

22 The faithful love of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH  never ends! The mercies of  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH never cease.

23 Great is His faithfulness; the mercies of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH begin afresh each morning.

24 I say to myself, “𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH!”

25 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH is good to those who depend on HIM, to those who search for HIM.

26 So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH.

27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of the discipline of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH:

28 Let them sit alone in silence beneath 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s demands.

29 Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last.

30 Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies.

31 For no one is abandoned by 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH forever.

32 Though 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH brings grief, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH also shows compassion, because of the greatness of His unfailing love.

33 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.

34 If people crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,

35 if they deprive others of their rights in defiance of the Most High,

36 if they twist justice in the courts, does 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH not see all these things?

37 Who can command things to happen    without 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s permission?

38 Does the Most High 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH not send both calamity and good?

39 Then why should we, mere men, complain when we are punished for our sins?

40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH.

41 Let us lift our hearts and hands to our 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH in Shamaym and say,

42 “We have sinned and rebelled, and You have not forgiven us.

43 “You have engulfed us with Your anger, chased us down, and slaughtered us without mercy.

44 You have hidden yourself in a cloud so our prayers cannot reach you.

45 You have discarded us as refuse and garbage among the nations.

46 All our enemies have spoken out against us.

47 We are filled with fear, for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”

48 Tears stream from my eyes because of the destruction of my people!

49 My tears flow endlessly; they will not stop

50 until 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH looks down from Shamaym and sees.

51 My heart is broken over the fate of all the women of Yahushalam.

52 My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird.

53 They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me.

54 The water rose over my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!”

55 But I called on your Name, O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, from deep within the pit.

56 You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!”

57 Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”

58 O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, you are my lawyer! Plead my case! For you have redeemed my life.

59 You have seen the wrong they have done to me, O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, Be my judge, and prove me right.

60 You have seen the vengeful plots my enemies have laid against me.

61 O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, you have heard the vile names they call me, You know all about the plans they have made.

62 My enemies whisper and mutter as they plot against me all day long.

63 Look at them! Whether they sit or stand, I am the object of their mocking songs.

64 Pay them back, O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, for all the evil they have done.

65 Give them hard and stubborn hearts, and then let your curse fall on them!

66 Chase them down in Your anger,    destroying them beneath Your Shamaym.