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

2 H e has driven me and made me walk In darkness and not in light.

3 S urely against me He has turned His hand Repeatedly all the day.

4 H e has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away, He has broken my bones.

5 H e has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.

6 I n dark places He has made me dwell, Like those who have long been dead.

7 H e has walled me in so that I cannot go out; He has made my chain heavy.

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

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

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

11 H e has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces; He has made me desolate.

12 H e bent His bow And set me as a target for the arrow.

13 H e made the arrows of His quiver To enter into my inward parts.

14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people, Their mocking song all the day.

15 H e has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with wormwood.

16 H e has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust.

17 M y soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness.

18 S o I say, “My strength has perished, And so has my hope from the Lord.” Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy

19 R emember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.

20 S urely my soul remembers And is bowed down within me.

21 T his I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.

22 T he Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.

23 T hey are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

24 “ The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”

25 T he Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him.

26 I t is good that he waits silently For the salvation of the Lord.

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

28 L et him sit alone and be silent Since He has laid it on him.

29 L et him put his mouth in the dust, Perhaps there is hope.

30 L et him give his cheek to the smiter, Let him be filled with reproach.

31 F or the Lord will not reject forever,

32 F or if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion According to His abundant lovingkindness.

33 F or He does not afflict willingly Or grieve the sons of men.

34 T o crush under His feet All the prisoners of the land,

35 T o deprive a man of justice In the presence of the Most High,

36 T o defraud a man in his lawsuit— Of these things the Lord does not approve.

37 W ho is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it ?

38 I s it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth?

39 W hy should any living mortal, or any man, Offer complaint in view of his sins?

40 L et us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the Lord.

41 W e lift up our heart and hands Toward God in heaven;

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

43 Y ou have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and have not spared.

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

45 Y ou have made us mere offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples.

46 A ll our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

47 P anic and pitfall have befallen us, Devastation and destruction;

48 M y eyes run down with streams of water Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49 M y eyes pour down unceasingly, Without stopping,

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

51 M y eyes bring pain to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city.

52 M y enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird;

53 T hey have silenced me in the pit And have placed a stone on me.

54 W aters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!”

55 I called on Your name, O Lord, Out of the lowest pit.

56 Y ou have heard my voice, “ Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help.”

57 Y ou drew near when I called on You; You said, “ Do not fear!”

58 O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause; You have redeemed my life.

59 O Lord, You have seen my oppression; Judge my case.

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

61 Y ou have heard their reproach, O Lord, All their schemes against me.

62 T he lips of my assailants and their whispering Are against me all day long.

63 L ook on their sitting and their rising; I am their mocking song.

64 Y ou will recompense them, O Lord, According to the work of their hands.

65 Y ou will give them hardness of heart, Your curse will be on them.

66 Y ou will pursue them in anger and destroy them From under the heavens of the Lord!