The Prophet’s Afflictions 1Ia am the man who has seen affliction 2He has driven me away and made me walk 3Indeed, He keeps turning His hand 4He has worn away my flesh and skin; 5He has besieged me and surrounded me 6He has made me dwell in darkness 7He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains. 8Even when I cry out and plead for help, 9He has barred my ways with cut stones; 10He is a bear lying in wait, 11He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces; 12He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow. 13He pierced my kidneys 14I am a laughingstock to all my people; they mock me in song all day long. 15He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood. 16He has ground my teeth with gravel 17My soul has been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. 18So I say, “My strength has perished, along with my hope from the LORD.” The Prophet’s Hope 19Remember my affliction and wandering, 20Surely my soul remembers 21Yet I call this to mind, 22Because of the loving devotionb of the LORD we are not consumed, 23They are new every morning; 24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” 25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, 26It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. 27It is good for a man to bear the yoke 28Let him sit alone in silence, 29Let him bury his face in the dust— 30Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach. 31For the Lord will not 32Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion. 33For He does not willingly afflict 34To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land, 35to deny a man justice 36to subvert a man in his lawsuit— of these the Lord does not approve. God’s Justice 37Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it? 38Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High? 39Why should any mortal man complain, 40Let us examine and test our ways, 41Let us lift up our hearts and hands 42“We have sinned and rebelled; 43You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us; 44You have covered Yourself with a cloud that no prayer can pass through. 45You have made us scum and refuse 46All our enemies 47Panic and pitfall have come upon us— 48Streams of tears flow from my eyes over the destruction of the daughter of my people. 49My eyes overflow unceasingly, 50until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees. 51My eyes bring grief to my soul because of all the daughters of my city. 52Without cause my enemies 53They dropped me alive into a pit 54The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die. 55I called on Your name, O LORD, 56You heard my plea: “Do not ignore my cry for relief.” 57You drew near when I called on You; 58You defend my cause, O Lord; 59You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me; 60You have seen all their malice, 61O LORD, You have heard their insults, 62the slander and murmuring of my assailants 63When they sit and when they rise, 64You will pay them back what they deserve, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. 65Put a veil of anguish over their hearts; may Your curse be upon them! 66You will pursue them in anger and exterminate them from under Your heavens, O LORD. Footnotes: 1 a This chapter is an acrostic poem, each 3–verse stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. 22 b Forms of the Hebrew chesed are translated here and in most cases throughout the Scriptures as loving devotion ; the range of meaning includes love , goodness , kindness , faithfulness , and mercy , as well as loyalty to a covenant . The Berean Bible (www.Berean.Bible) Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2020 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Free downloads and licensing available. See also the Berean Literal Bible and Berean Interlinear Bible. OpenBible.com |