Lamentations 3:34-66

To crush under His feet All the prisoners of the land, To deprive a man of justice In the presence of the Most High, To defraud a man in his lawsuit— Of these things the Lord does not approve. Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth? Why should any living mortal, or any man, Offer complaint in view of his sins? Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the LORD. We lift up our heart and hands Toward God in heaven; We have transgressed and rebelled, You have not pardoned. You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and have not spared. You have covered Yourself with a cloud So that no prayer can pass through. You have made us mere offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Panic and pitfall have befallen us, Devastation and destruction; My eyes run down with streams of water Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. My eyes pour down unceasingly, Without stopping, Until the LORD looks down And sees from heaven. My eyes bring pain to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city. My enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird; They have silenced me in the pit And have placed a stone on me. Waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!” I called on Your name, O LORD, Out of the lowest pit. You have heard my voice, “Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help.” You drew near when I called on You; You said, “Do not fear!” O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause; You have redeemed my life. O LORD, You have seen my oppression; Judge my case. You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me. You have heard their reproach, O LORD, All their schemes against me. The lips of my assailants and their whispering Are against me all day long. Look on their sitting and their rising; I am their mocking song. You will recompense them, O LORD, According to the work of their hands. You will give them hardness of heart, Your curse will be on them. You will pursue them in anger and destroy them From under the heavens of the LORD!