The Prophet’s Anguish and Hope
1 I
am the man
who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
2 He has led me and made
me walk
In darkness and not
in light.
3 Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.
4 He has aged
a my flesh and my skin,
And
b broken my bones.
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5 He has besieged me
And surrounded
me with bitterness and
1 woe.
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6 a He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.
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7 a He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.
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8 Even
a when I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.
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9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10 a He
has been to me a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in
1 ambush.
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11 He has turned aside my ways and
a torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
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12 He has bent His bow
And
a set me up as a target for the arrow.
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13 He has caused
a the arrows of His quiver
To pierce my
1 loins.
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14 I have become the
a ridicule of all my people—
b Their taunting song all the day.
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15 a He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink wormwood.
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16 He has also broken my teeth
a with gravel,
And
1 covered me with ashes.
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17 You have moved my soul far from peace;
I have forgotten
1 prosperity.
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18 a And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from the
Lord .”
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19 Remember my affliction and roaming,
a The wormwood and the
1 gall.
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20 My soul still remembers
And
1 sinks within me.
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21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have
a hope.
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22 a Through the
Lord ’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions
b fail not.
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New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
