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

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

3 S urely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day.

4 H e has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones.

5 H e has besieged me And surrounded me with bitterness and woe.

6 H e has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago.

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

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

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

10 H e has been to me a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in ambush.

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

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

13 H e has caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins.

14 I have become the ridicule of all my people— Their taunting song all the day.

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

16 H e has also broken my teeth with gravel, And covered me with ashes.

17 Y ou have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.

18 A nd I said, “My strength and my hope Have perished from the Lord.”

19 R emember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall.

20 M y soul still remembers And sinks within me.

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

22 T hrough the Lord ’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.

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

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

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

26 I t is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.

27 I t is good for a man to bear The yoke in his youth.

28 L et him sit alone and keep silent, Because God has laid it on him;

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

30 L et him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, And be full of reproach.

31 F or the Lord will not cast off forever.

32 T hough He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies.

33 F or He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men.

34 T o crush under one’s feet All the prisoners of the earth,

35 T o turn aside the justice due a man Before the face of the Most High,

36 O r subvert a man in his cause— The Lord does not approve.

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

38 I s it not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed?

39 W hy should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins?

40 L et us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the Lord;

41 L et us lift our hearts and hands To 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 not pitied.

44 Y ou have covered Yourself with a cloud, That prayer should not pass through.

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

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

47 F ear and a snare have come upon us, Desolation and destruction.

48 M y eyes overflow with rivers of water For the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49 M y eyes flow and do not cease, Without interruption,

50 T ill the Lord from heaven Looks down and sees.

51 M y eyes bring suffering 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 silenced my life in the pit And threw stones at me.

54 T he waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!”

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

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

57 Y ou drew near on the day I called on You, And said, “Do not fear!”

58 O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.

59 O Lord, You have seen how I am wronged; 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 enemies And their whispering against me all the day.

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

64 R epay them, O Lord, According to the work of their hands.

65 G ive them a veiled heart; Your curse be upon them!

66 I n Your anger, Pursue and destroy them From under the heavens of the Lord.