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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23 They are new
a every morning;
Great
is Your faithfulness.
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24 “The
Lord is my
a portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I
b hope in Him!”
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25 The
Lord is good to those who
a wait for Him,
To the soul
who seeks Him.
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26 It is good that
one should
a hope
b and wait quietly
For the salvation of the
Lord .
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27 a It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
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28 a Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because
God has laid
it on him;
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29 a Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
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30 a Let him give
his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.
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31 a For the Lord will not cast off forever.
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32 Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
33 For
a He does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
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34 To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the justice
due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
