1 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of His wrath.

I am the man who has been suffering because of the power of God’s anger.

2 H e has led me and brought me into darkness and not light.

He has led me and brought me into darkness and not into light.

3 S urely He has turned away from me; His hand is against me all the day.

For sure He has turned His hand against me again and again all day long.

4 M y flesh and my skin has He worn out and made old; He has shattered my bones.

He has made my flesh and my skin waste away. He has broken my bones.

5 H e has built up against me and surrounded me with bitterness, tribulation, and anguish.

He has shut me in with trouble and suffering.

6 H e has caused me to dwell in dark places like those long dead.

He has made me live in dark places, like those who have been dead a long time.

7 H e walled me in so that I cannot get out; He has weighted down my chain.

He has put a wall around me so that I cannot go out. He has put heavy chains on me.

8 E ven when I cry and shout for help, He shuts out my prayer.

Even when I cry and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.

9 H e has enclosed my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.

He has stopped me with blocks of stone. He has made my paths no longer straight.

10 H e is to me like a bear lying in wait, and like a lion in secret places.

He is like a bear lying in wait, like a lion hiding in secret places.

11 H e has turned me off my ways and pulled me in pieces; He has made me desolate.

He has turned me from the path and torn me to pieces. He has destroyed me.

12 H e has bent His bow and set me as a mark for the arrow.

He used His bow, and set me as a mark for His arrow.

13 H e has caused the arrows of His quiver to enter into my heart.

He has taken out His arrows and sent them into my heart.

14 I have become a derision to all my people, and their singsong all the day.

All my people laugh at me. They sing songs that make fun of me all day long.

15 H e has filled me with bitterness; He has made me drink to excess and until drunken with wormwood.

He has filled me with bitter feelings. He has made me drunk with wormwood.

16 H e has also broken my teeth with gravel (stones); He has covered me with ashes.

He has broken my teeth with rocks, and has covered me with dust.

17 A nd You have bereaved my soul and cast it off far from peace; I have forgotten what good and happiness are.

Peace has left my soul. I have forgotten what it is like to be happy.

18 A nd I say, Perished is my strength and my expectation from the Lord.

So I say, “My strength is gone, and so has my hope from the Lord.”

19 r emember my affliction and my misery, my wandering and my outcast state, the wormwood and the gall.

Remember my trouble and my traveling from place to place, the wormwood and bitter feelings.

20 M y soul has them continually in remembrance and is bowed down within me.

I remember it always, and my soul bows down within me.

21 B ut this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation:

But this I remember, and so I have hope.

22 I t is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.

It is because of the Lord’s loving-kindness that we are not destroyed for His loving-pity never ends.

23 T hey are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.

It is new every morning. He is so very faithful.

24 T he Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.

“The Lord is my share.” says my soul, “so I have hope in Him.”

25 T he Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him.

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the one who looks for Him.

26 I t is good that one should hope in and wait quietly for the salvation (the safety and ease) of the Lord.

It is good that one should be quiet and wait for the saving power of the Lord.

27 I t is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth.

It is good for a man to carry the load while he is young.

28 L et him sit alone uncomplaining and keeping silent, because has laid upon him.

Let him sit alone and be quiet when God has laid the load on him.

29 L et him put his mouth in the dust —there may yet be hope.

Let him put his mouth in the dust. There may be hope yet.

30 L et him give his cheek to the One Who smites him; let him be filled with reproach.

Let him give his face to the one who hits him, and be filled with shame.

31 F or the Lord will not cast off forever!

For the Lord will not turn away from a man forever.

32 B ut though He causes grief, yet will He be moved to compassion according to the multitude of His loving-kindness and tender mercy.

For if He causes sorrow, He will have loving-pity because of His great loving-kindness.

33 F or He does not willingly and from His heart afflict or grieve the children of men.

He does not want to cause trouble or sorrow for the children of men.

34 T o trample and crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,

He is not pleased when all those on earth who are in prison are crushed under foot.

35 T o turn aside and deprive a man of his rights before the face of the Most High or a superior,

The Most High is not pleased when the rights are kept away from a man who is before Him,

36 T o subvert a man in his cause— the Lord does not approve.

and when wrong is done to him in his cause. The Lord is not pleased with these things.

37 W ho is he who speaks and it comes to pass, if the Lord has not authorized and commanded it?

Who has said that something would happen and then it did happen, unless the Lord has said that it should be?

38 I s it not out of the mouth of the Most High that evil and good both proceed ?

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and bad come?

39 W hy does a living man sigh ? a man complain for the punishment of his sins?

Why should any living man complain about the punishment of his sins?

40 L et us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord!

Let us test and look over our ways, and return to the Lord.

41 L et us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven:

Let us lift up our heart and hands to God in heaven, saying,

42 W e have transgressed and rebelled and You have not pardoned.

“We have sinned and would not obey You, and You have not forgiven us.

43 Y ou have covered Yourself with wrath and pursued and afflicted us; You have slain without pity.

You have covered Yourself with anger and have followed us, killing without pity.

44 Y ou have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.

You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.

45 Y ou have made us offscouring and refuse among the nations.

You have made us a waste and something that is not wanted among the nations.

46 A ll our enemies have gaped at us and railed against us.

All those who hate us have spoken against us.

47 F ear and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction.

Fear and a trap have come upon us. We are laid waste and destroyed.

48 M y eyes overflow with streams of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

My eyes flow with rivers of tears because my people are destroyed.

49 M y eyes overflow continually and will not cease

Tears flow from my eyes all the time without stopping,

50 U ntil the Lord looks down and sees from heaven.

until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees.

51 M y eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the maidens of my city.

My eyes bring me suffering because of what is happening to all the women of my city.

52 I have been hunted down like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause.

I have been hunted like a bird by those who hate me for no reason.

53 T hey destroyed my life in the dungeon (pit) and cast a stone above me.

They threw me alive into the deep hole and have put a stone on me.

54 T he waters ran down on my head; I said, I am gone.

Water flowed over my head, and I said, “I am cut off!”

55 I called upon Your name, O Lord, out of the depths of the dungeon.

I called on Your name, O Lord, out of the deep hole.

56 Y ou heard my voice: hide not Your ear at my prayer for relief.

You have heard my voice. Do not close Your ears to my cry for help.

57 Y ou drew near on the day I called to You; You said, Fear not.

You came near when I called You, and You said, “Do not be afraid!”

58 O Lord, You have pleaded the causes of my soul; You have rescued and redeemed my life!

You have helped me in my cause, O Lord. You have saved my life.

59 O Lord, You have seen my wrong; judge and maintain my cause.

O Lord, You have seen the wrong done to me. Judge in my favor.

60 Y ou have seen all their vengeance, all their devices against me.

You have seen how much they hate me and plan against me.

61 Y ou have heard their reproach and revilings, O Lord, and all their devices against me—

O Lord, You have heard how they put me to shame and how they work against me.

62 T he lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all day long.

The lips and thoughts of those who hurt me are against me all day long.

63 L ook at their sitting down and their rising up; I am their singsong.

Watch their sitting down and standing up. I am their song as they make fun of me.

64 R ender to them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.

O Lord, You will punish them for what they have done.

65 Y ou will give them hardness and blindness of heart; Your curse will be upon them.

You will give them hard hearts, and curse them.

66 Y ou will pursue and afflict them in anger and destroy them from under Your heavens, O Lord.

Go after them in anger and destroy them from under Your heavens, O Lord.