3:1 א (Alef) ¹ 

I am the man ²  who has experienced ³  affliction

from the rod ⁴  of his wrath.

3:2 He drove me into captivity ⁵  and made me walk ⁶ 

in darkness and not light.

3:3 He repeatedly ⁷  attacks me,

he turns his hand ⁸  against me all day long. ⁹ 

3:4 ב (Bet)

He has made my mortal skin ¹⁰  waste away;

he has broken my bones.

3:5 He has besieged ¹¹  and surrounded ¹²  me

with bitter hardship. ¹³ 

3:6 He has made me reside in deepest darkness ¹⁴ 

like those who died long ago.

3:7 ג (Gimel)

He has walled me in ¹⁵  so that I cannot get out;

he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains. ¹⁶ 

3:8 Also, when I cry out desperately ¹⁷  for help, ¹⁸ 

he has shut out my prayer. ¹⁹ 

3:9 He has blocked ²⁰  every road I take ²¹  with a wall of hewn stones;

he has made every path impassable. ²² 

3:10 ד (Dalet)

To me he is like a bear lying in ambush, ²³ 

like a hidden lion ²⁴  stalking its prey. ²⁵ 

3:11 He has obstructed my paths ²⁶  and torn me to pieces; ²⁷ 

he has made me desolate.

3:12 He drew ²⁸  his bow and made me ²⁹ 

the target for his arrow.

3:13 ה (He)

He shot ³⁰  his arrows ³¹ 

into my heart. ³² 

3:14 I have become the laughingstock of all people, ³³ 

their mocking song ³⁴  all day long. ³⁵ 

3:15 He has given me my fill of bitter herbs

and made me drunk with bitterness. ³⁶ 

3:16 ו (Vav)

He ground ³⁷  my teeth in gravel;

he trampled ³⁸  me in the dust.

3:17 I ³⁹  am deprived ⁴⁰  of peace; ⁴¹ 

I have forgotten what happiness ⁴²  is.

3:18 So I said, “My endurance has expired;

I have lost all hope of deliverance ⁴³  from the Lord.”

3:19 ז (Zayin)

Remember ⁴⁴  my impoverished and homeless condition, ⁴⁵ 

which is a bitter poison. ⁴⁶ 

3:20 I ⁴⁷  continually think about ⁴⁸  this,

and I ⁴⁹  am depressed. ⁵⁰ 

3:21 But this I call ⁵¹  to mind; ⁵² 

therefore I have hope:

3:22 ח (Khet)

The Lord’s loyal kindness ⁵³  never ceases; ⁵⁴ 

his compassions ⁵⁵  never end.

3:23 They are fresh ⁵⁶  every morning;

your faithfulness is abundant! ⁵⁷ 

3:24 “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, ⁵⁸ 

so I will put my hope in him.

3:25 ט (Tet)

The Lord is good to those who trust ⁵⁹  in him,

to the one ⁶⁰  who seeks him.

3:26 It is good to wait patiently ⁶¹ 

for deliverance from the Lord. ⁶² 

3:27 It is good for a man ⁶³ 

to bear ⁶⁴  the yoke ⁶⁵  while he is young. ⁶⁶ 

3:28 י (Yod)

Let a person ⁶⁷  sit alone in silence,

when the Lord ⁶⁸  is disciplining him. ⁶⁹ 

3:29 Let him bury his face in the dust; ⁷⁰ 

perhaps there is hope.

3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; ⁷¹ 

let him have his fill of insults.

3:31 כ (Kaf)

For the Lord ⁷²  will not

reject us forever. ⁷³ 

3:32 Though he causes us ⁷⁴  grief, he then has compassion on us ⁷⁵ 

according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. ⁷⁶ 

3:33 For he is not predisposed to afflict ⁷⁷ 

or to grieve people. ⁷⁸ 

3:34 ל (Lamed)

To crush underfoot

all the earth’s prisoners, ⁷⁹ 

3:35 to deprive a person ⁸⁰  of his rights ⁸¹ 

in the presence of the Most High,

3:36 to defraud a person in a lawsuit –

the Lord ⁸²  does not approve ⁸³  of such things!

3:37 מ (Mem)

Whose command was ever fulfilled ⁸⁴ 

unless the Lord ⁸⁵  decreed it?

3:38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes –

both calamity and blessing? ⁸⁶ 

3:39 Why should any living person ⁸⁷  complain

when punished for his sins? ⁸⁸ 

3:40 נ (Nun)

Let us carefully examine our ways, ⁸⁹ 

and let us return to the Lord.

3:41 Let us lift up our hearts ⁹⁰  and our hands

to God in heaven:

3:42 “We ⁹¹  have blatantly rebelled; ⁹² 

you ⁹³  have not forgiven.”

3:43 ס (Samek)

You shrouded yourself ⁹⁴  with anger and then pursued us;

you killed without mercy.

3:44 You shrouded yourself with a cloud

so that no prayer can get through.

3:45 You make us like filthy scum ⁹⁵ 

in the estimation ⁹⁶  of the nations.

3:46 פ (Pe)

All our enemies have gloated over us; ⁹⁷ 

3:47 Panic and pitfall ⁹⁸  have come upon us,

devastation and destruction. ⁹⁹ 

3:48 Streams ¹⁰⁰  of tears flow from my eyes ¹⁰¹ 

because my people ¹⁰²  are destroyed. ¹⁰³ 

3:49 ע (Ayin)

Tears flow from my eyes ¹⁰⁴  and will not stop;

there will be no break ¹⁰⁵ 

3:50 until the Lord looks down from heaven

and sees what has happened. ¹⁰⁶ 

3:51 What my eyes see ¹⁰⁷  grieves me ¹⁰⁸  –

all the suffering of the daughters in my city. ¹⁰⁹ 

3:52 צ (Tsade)

For no good reason ¹¹⁰  my enemies

hunted me down ¹¹¹  like a bird.

3:53 They shut me ¹¹²  up in a pit

and threw stones at me.

3:54 The waters closed over my head;

I thought ¹¹³  I was about to die. ¹¹⁴ 

3:55 ק (Qof)

I have called on your name, O Lord,

from the deepest pit. ¹¹⁵ 

3:56 You heard ¹¹⁶  my plea: ¹¹⁷ 

“Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!” ¹¹⁸ 

3:57 You came near ¹¹⁹  on the day I called to you;

you said, ¹²⁰  “Do not fear!”

3:58 ר (Resh)

O Lord, ¹²¹  you championed ¹²²  my cause, ¹²³ 

you redeemed my life.

3:59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;

pronounce judgment on my behalf! ¹²⁴ 

3:60 You have seen all their vengeance,

all their plots against me. ¹²⁵ 

3:61 ש (Sin/Shin)

You have heard ¹²⁶  their taunts, O Lord,

all their plots against me.

3:62 My assailants revile and conspire ¹²⁷ 

against me all day long.

3:63 Watch them from morning to evening; ¹²⁸ 

I am the object of their mocking songs.

3:64 ת (Tav)

Pay them back ¹²⁹  what they deserve, ¹³⁰  O Lord,

according to what they ¹³¹  have done. ¹³² 

3:65 Give them a distraught heart; ¹³³ 

may your curse be on them!

3:66 Pursue them ¹³⁴  in anger and eradicate them

from under the Lord’s heaven.