| 1 I am a man who has known calamity from the rod of his wrath; | |
| 2 he has driven and brought me into darkness, not into the light. | |
| 3 He turns his hand against me alone, all the day long, again and again. | |
| 4 He has worn away my flesh and skin; he has broken all my bones. | |
| 5 He assails me and surrounds me with tribulation and bitterness. | |
| 6 He leaves me to dwell in darkness, like those who have long been dead. | |
| 7 He has walled me in without escape; he has weighed me down with chains. | |
| 8 I could not even cry for help, for he has stopped my prayer. | |
| 9 He bars my way with stones and left me helplessly alone. | |
| 10 Like a bear lying in ambush, like a lion waiting for its prey, | |
| 11 he lunged at me, tore me to pieces, and left me alone and helpless. | |
| 12 Then he drew his bow and aimed his arrow at me. | |
| 13 He pierced my sides with arrows from his quiver. | |
| 14 I have become a laughingstock, a topic of songs for all the peoples. | |
| 15 He has sated me with bitter food; he has made me drunk with wormwood. | |
| 16 He has broken my teeth with gravel and thrown me down in the ashes. | |
| 17 He has deprived my soul of peace, till I have forgotten happiness. | |
| 18 Now I say, “Gone are my hopes and all my confidence in the Lord.” | |
| 19 Recalling my affliction and homelessness is wormwood and gall. | |
| 20 Thinking it over and over makes my soul downcast. | |
| 21 But this, when I ponder, is what gives me hope: | |
| 22 Yahweh’s love abides unceasingly. His compassion is never consumed; | |
| 23 every morning it is renewed. And his love remains ever faithful. | |
| 24 “My portion is Yahweh,” says my soul. “On him shall I rely.” | |
| 25 Yahweh is good to those who hope in him, to souls who search for him. | |
| 26 It is rewarding to wait in silence for the Lord’s salvation. | |
| 27 It is good for man to bear the yoke from his youth. | |
| 28 Let him sit alone in silence when Yahweh fastens the yoke on him. | |
| 29 Let him put his lips to the dust there may still be hope. | |
| 30 Let him offer his cheek to be struck; let him be overwhelmed with insult. | |
| 31 For it is not forever that the Lord rejects man. | |
| 32 In the abundance of his love he punishes, but has compassion. | |
| 33 For he does not willingly abase or afflict the human race. | |
| 34 To trample underfoot the prisoners of the land, | |
| 35 to deny a man his rights in the presence of the Most High, | |
| 36 to deprive people of justice – the Lord does not approve of this. | |
| 37 Who can command and execute what the Lord has not willed? | |
| 38 From the mouth of the Most High come all things, good or bad. | |
| 39 Why should then mortals complain when punished for their sin? | |
| 40 Let us search and examine our ways and return to the Lord. | |
| 41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven, and say: | |
| 42 “We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us. | |
| 43 Clothed in anger you have pursued us without mercy. | |
| 44 You have wrapped yourself in clouds so that no prayer can reach you. | |
| 45 You have reduced us to dust and refuse among the nations. | |
| 46 Our foes have opened wide their mouths against us. | |
| 47 Terror is our lot: pitfall, ruin and desolation. | |
| 48 Great is my grief over the downfall of the daughter of my people. | |
| 49 No respite, no relief, as my tears flow ceaselessly, | |
| 50 till the Lord looks down from heaven and sees. | |
| 51 My soul will grieve in torment for the women of my city. | |
| 52 Like a bird I have been hunted by my foes without cause. | |
| 53 They flung me alive into a pit and cast stones at me. | |
| 54 As the waters closed over my head, I thought I would never again live. | |
| 55 Out of the depths I called on your name, O Yahweh. | |
| 56 You heard; you have not been deaf to my cry for relief. | |
| 57 When I called, you even came near and told me not to fear. | |
| 58 O Lord, you took up my case and redeemed my life. | |
| 59 You have seen the wrong they did me, uphold my cause! | |
| 60 You have seen how resentfully they plotted to destroy my life. | |
| 61 O Yahweh, you have heard the insults hurled at me, their insidious plots; | |
| 62 You have been aware of their thoughts, their muttering against me all day long. | |
| 63 Look at them – sitting or standing – mocking me in their song! | |
| 64 Repay them as they deserve, according to their deeds, O Yahweh. | |
| 65 Harden their hearts; hold them under your curse. | |
| 66 Pursue and destroy them in fury from under the heavens, O Yahweh. | |
