3:1 I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God. |
3:2 He drove me deeper and deeper into darkness |
3:3 And beat me again and again with merciless blows. |
3:4 He has left my flesh open and raw, and has broken my bones. |
3:5 He has shut me in a prison of misery and anguish. |
3:6 He has forced me to live in the stagnant darkness of death. |
3:7 He has bound me in chains; I am a prisoner with no hope of escape. |
3:8 I cry aloud for help, but God refuses to listen; |
3:9 I stagger as I walk; stone walls block me wherever I turn. |
3:10 He waited for me like a bear; he pounced on me like a lion. |
3:11 He chased me off the road, tore me to pieces, and left me. |
3:12 He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. |
3:13 He shot his arrows deep into my body. |
3:14 People laugh at me all day long; I am a joke to them all. |
3:15 Bitter suffering is all he has given me for food and drink. |
3:16 He rubbed my face in the ground and broke my teeth on rocks. |
3:17 I have forgotten what health and peace and happiness are. |
3:18 I do not have much longer to live; my hope in the LORD is gone. |
3:19 The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison. |
3:20 I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed. |
3:21 Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: |
3:22 The LORD's unfailing love and mercy still continue, |
3:23 Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. |
3:24 The LORD is all I have, and so in him I put my hope. |
3:25 The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him, |
3:26 So it is best for us to wait in patience---to wait for him to save us--- |
3:27 And it is best to learn this patience in our youth. |
3:28 When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience; |
3:29 We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope. |
3:30 Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all. |
3:31 The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever. |
3:32 He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong. |
3:33 He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain. |
3:34 The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison; |
3:35 He knows when we are denied the rights he gave us; |
3:36 When justice is perverted in court, he knows. |
3:37 The will of the Lord alone is always carried out. |
3:38 Good and evil alike take place at his command. |
3:39 Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin? |
3:40 Let us examine our ways and turn back to the LORD. |
3:41 Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray, |
3:42 "We have sinned and rebelled, and you, O LORD, have not forgiven us. |
3:43 "You pursued us and killed us; your mercy was hidden by your anger, |
3:44 By a cloud of fury too thick for our prayers to get through. |
3:45 You have made us the garbage dump of the world. |
3:46 "We are insulted and mocked by all our enemies. |
3:47 We have been through disaster and ruin; we live in danger and fear. |
3:48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people. |
3:49 "My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream |
3:50 Until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees us. |
3:51 My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women of the city. |
3:52 "I was trapped like a bird by enemies who had no cause to hate me. |
3:53 They threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone. |
3:54 Water began to close over me, and I thought death was near. |
3:55 "From the bottom of the pit, O LORD, I cried out to you, |
3:56 And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard. |
3:57 You answered me and told me not to be afraid. |
3:58 "You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life. |
3:59 Judge in my favor; you know the wrongs done against me. |
3:60 You know how my enemies hate me and how they plot against me. |
3:61 "You have heard them insult me, O LORD; you know all their plots. |
3:62 All day long they talk about me and make their plans. |
3:63 From morning till night they make fun of me. |
3:64 "Punish them for what they have done, O LORD; |
3:65 Curse them and fill them with despair! |
3:66 Hunt them down and wipe them off the earth!" |