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The Lamentations of Jeremiah

⭑ Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

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- Chapter 3 -

1
Aleph. I am the man that see my poverty by the rod of his indignation.
2
Aleph. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, and not into light.
3
Aleph. Only against me he hath turned, and turned again his hand all the day.
4
Beth. My skin and my flesh he hath made old, he hath broken my bones.
5
Beth. He hath built round about me, and he hath compassed me with gall and labour.
6
Beth. He hath set me in dark places as those that are dead for ever.
7
Ghimel. He hath built against me round about, that I may not get out: he hath made my fetters heavy.
8
Ghimel. Yea, and when I cry, and entreat, he hath shut out my prayer.
9
Ghimel. He hath shut up my ways with square stones, he hath turned my paths upside down.
10
Daleth. He is become to me as a bear lying in wait: as a lion in secret places.
11
Daleth. He hath turned aside my paths, and hath broken me in pieces, he hath made me desolate.
12
Daleth. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.
13
He. He hath shot into my reins the daughters of his quiver.
14
He. I am made a derision to all my people, their song all the day long.
15
He. He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood.
16
Vau. And he hath broken my teeth one by one, he hath fed me with ashes.
17
Vau. And my soul is removed far off from peace, I have forgotten good things.
18
Vau. And I said: My end and my hope is perished from the Lord.

The Prophet’s Hope

19
Zain. Remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood, and the gall.
20
Zain. I will be mindful and remember, and my soul shall languish within me.
21
Zain. These things I shall think over in my heart, therefore will I hope.
22
Heth. The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because his commiserations have not failed.
23
Heth. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.
24
Heth. The Lord is my portion, said my soul: therefore will I wait for him.
25
Teth. The Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26
Teth. It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God.
27
Teth. It is good for a man, when he hath borne the yoke from his youth.
28
Jod. He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it up upon himself.
29
Jod. He shall put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
30
Jod. He shall give his cheek to him that striketh him, he shall be filled with reproaches.
31
Caph. For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
32
Caph. For if he hath cast off, he will also have mercy, according to the multitude of his mercies.
33
Caph. For he hath not willingly afflicted, nor cast off the children of men.
34
Lamed. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,
35
Lamed. To turn aside the judgment of a man before the face of the most High,
36
Lamed. To destroy a man wrongfully in his judgment, the Lord hath not approved.

God’s Justice

37
Mem. Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not?
38
Mem. Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Highest?
39
Mem. Why hath a living man murmured, man suffering for his sins?
40
Nun. Let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord.
41
Nun. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens.
42
Nun. We have done wickedly, and provoked thee to wrath: therefore thou art inexorable.
43
Samech. Thou hast covered in thy wrath, and hast struck us: thou hast killed and hast not spared.
44
Samech. Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that our prayer may not pass through.
45
Samech. Thou hast made me as an outcast, and refuse in the midst of the people.
46
Phe. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47
Phe. Prophecy is become to us a fear, and a snare, and destruction.
48
Phe. My eye hath run down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49
Ain. My eye is afflicted, and hath not been quiet, because there was no rest:
50
Ain. Till the Lord regarded and looked down from the heavens.
51
Ain. My eye hath wasted my soul because of all the daughters of my city.
52
Sade. My enemies have chased me and caught me like a bird, without cause.
53
Sade. My life is fallen into the pit, and they have laid a stone over me.
54
Sade. Waters have flowed over my head: I said: I am cut off.
55
Coph. I have called upon thy name, O Lord, from the lowest pit.
56
Coph. Thou hast heard my voice: turn not away thy ear from my sighs, and cries.
57
Coph. Thou drewest near in the day, when I called upon thee, thou saidst: Fear not.
58
Res. Thou hast judged, O Lord, the cause of my soul, thou the Redeemer of my life.
59
Res. Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge thou my judgment.
60
Res. Thou hast seen all their fury, and all their thoughts against me.
61
Sin. Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, all their imaginations against me.
62
Sin. The lips of them that rise up against me: and their devices against me all the day.
63
Sin. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up, I am their song.
64
Thau. Thou shalt render them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.
65
Thau. Thou shalt give them a buckler of heart, thy labour.
66
Thau. Thou shalt persecute them in anger, and shalt destroy them from under the heavens, O Lord.
1
I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
2
He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.
3
Surely he turns his hand against me again and again all day long.
4
He has made my flesh and my skin old. He has broken my bones.
5
He has built against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6
He has made me dwell in dark places, as those who have been long dead.
7
He has walled me about, so that I can’t go out. He has made my chain heavy.
8
Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
9
He has walled up my ways with cut stone. He has made my paths crooked.
10
He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in hiding.
11
He has turned away my path, and pulled me in pieces. He has made me desolate.
12
He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13
He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys.
14
I have become a derision to all my people, and their song all day long.
15
He has filled me with bitterness. He has stuffed me with wormwood.
16
He has also broken my teeth with gravel. He has covered me with ashes.
17
You have removed my soul far away from peace. I forgot prosperity.
18
I said, “My strength has perished, along with my expectation from the LORD.”

The Prophet’s Hope

19
Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the bitterness.
20
My soul still remembers them, and is bowed down within me.
21
This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope.
22
It is because of The LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail.
23
They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
24
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”
25
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
26
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
27
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28
Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he has laid it on him.
29
Let him put his mouth in the dust, if it is so that there may be hope.
30
Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him. Let him be filled full of reproach.
31
For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32
For though he causes grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
33
For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
34
To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35
to turn away the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36
to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord doesn’t approve.

God’s Justice

37
Who is he who says, and it comes to pass, when the Lord doesn’t command it?
38
Doesn’t evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?
39
Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
40
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
41
Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God (a) in the heavens.
42
“We have transgressed and have rebelled. You have not pardoned.
43
“You have covered us with anger and pursued us. You have killed. You have not pitied.
44
You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.
45
You have made us an off-scouring and refuse in the middle of the peoples.
46
“All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
47
Terror and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction.”
48
My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49
My eye pours down and doesn’t cease, without any intermission,
50
until the LORD looks down, and sees from heaven.
51
My eye affects my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.
52
They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.
53
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone on me.
54
Waters flowed over my head. I said, “I am cut off.”
55
I called on your name, LORD, out of the lowest dungeon.
56
You heard my voice: “Don’t hide your ear from my sighing, and my cry.”
57
You came near in the day that I called on you. You said, “Don’t be afraid.”
58
Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul. You have redeemed my life.
59
LORD, you have seen my wrong. Judge my cause.
60
You have seen all their vengeance and all their plans against me.
61
You have heard their reproach, LORD, and all their plans against me,
62
the lips of those that rose up against me, and their plots against me all day long.
63
You see their sitting down and their rising up. I am their song.
64
You will pay them back, LORD, according to the work of their hands.
65
You will give them hardness of heart, your curse to them.
66
You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.

Footnotes

(a)3:41 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
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