1
k I am the man who has seen affliction
under the l rod of his wrath;
2
he has driven and brought me
m into darkness without any light;
3
surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4
He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
n he has broken my bones;
5
o he has besieged and enveloped me
with p bitterness and tribulation;
6
q he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7
r He has walled me about so that s I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8
though t I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9
r he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10
u He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
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v he turned aside my steps and u tore me to pieces;
w he has made me desolate;
12
x he bent his bow y and set me
as a target for his arrow.
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He drove into my kidneys
z the arrows of his quiver;
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a I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
b the object of their taunts all day long.
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c He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with d wormwood.
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e He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and f made me cower in ashes;
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my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness 1 is;
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g so I say, "My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord."
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h Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
d the wormwood and i the gall!
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My soul continually remembers it
j and is bowed down within me.
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But this I call to mind,
and k therefore I have hope:
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l The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; 2
l his mercies never come to an end;
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they are new m every morning;
n great is your faithfulness.
24
o "The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
k "therefore I will hope in him."
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The Lord is good to those who p wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
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q It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27
r It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke s in his youth.
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Let him t sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
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u let him put his mouth in the dust -
there may yet be hope;
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v let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
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w For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
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but, though he x cause grief, y he will have compassion
z according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
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a for he does not willingly afflict
or b grieve the children of men.
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To crush underfoot
all c the prisoners of the earth,
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d to deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
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to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
d the Lord does not approve.
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e Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
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f Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
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g Why should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
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Let us test and examine our ways,
h and return to the Lord!
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i Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
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j "We have transgressed and k rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
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"You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
l killing without pity;
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m you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
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n You have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.
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o "All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
47
p panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and q destruction;
48
r my eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49
r "My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
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s until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees;
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my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
52
t "I have been hunted u like a bird
by those who were my enemies v without cause;
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w they flung me alive into the pit
x and cast stones on me;
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y water closed over my head;
I said, z 'I am lost.'
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a "I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
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b you heard my plea, 'Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!'
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c You came near when I called on you;
you said, d 'Do not fear!'
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"You have e taken up my cause, f O Lord;
you have e redeemed my life.
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You have seen the wrong done to me, g O Lord;
judge my cause.
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You have seen all their vengeance,
all h their plots against me.
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i "You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all h their plots against me.
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The lips and thoughts j of my assailants
are against me all the day long.
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k Behold their sitting and their rising;
l I am the object of their taunts.
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m "You will repay them, 3 O Lord,
n according to the work of their hands.
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You will give them 4 dullness of heart;
your curse will be 5 on them.
66
You will pursue them 6 in anger and o destroy them
from under p your heavens, O Lord." 7