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3:1  I am a man familiar with affliction— under the rod of God's anger.
3:2  He has led me—brought me into darkness, not into light.
3:3  He truly turned his hand against me, again and again, all day long.
3:4  He made my flesh and skin prematurely old; he broke my bones.
3:5  He laid siege against me, surrounding me with bitterness and suffering.
3:6  He has forced me to live in darkness, like those who are long dead.
3:7  He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he placed heavy chains on me.
3:8  Indeed, when I cry out, calling for help, he shuts out my prayer.
3:9  He impeded my way with blocks of stone, making my paths uneven.
3:10  He is like a bear that lies in wait for me, a lion in hiding.
3:11  He forced me off my path, tearing me to pieces and making me desolate.
3:12  He bent his bow, aiming at me with his arrow.
3:13  He caused his war arrows to pierce my vital organs.
3:14  I have become a laughingstock to all my people, the object of their taunts throughout the day.
3:15  He has filled me with bitterness, making me drink wormwood.
3:16  He broke my teeth on gravel, covering me with dust.
3:17  You have removed peace from my life; I have forgotten what prosperity is.
3:18  So I say, "My strength is gone as is my hope in the LORD."
3:19  Remember my affliction and homelessness— wormwood and gall!
3:20  My mind keeps reflecting on it, and I become depressed.
3:21  This is what comes to mind, and therefore I have hope:
3:22  Because of the LORD's gracious love we are not consumed, since his compassions never end.
3:23  They are new every morning— great is your faithfulness!
3:24  "The LORD is all I have," says my soul, "Therefore I will trust in him."
3:25  The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the person who searches for him.
3:26  It is good to hope and wait patiently for the LORD's salvation.
3:27  It is good when a young man carries the yoke of discipline in his youth.
3:28  He is to sit apart and remain silent, because the LORD has laid it upon him.
3:29  Let him fall face down in the dust, so there may yet be hope.
3:30  He will endure being slapped in the face, bringing him public disgrace.
3:31  Indeed, the Lord will not always reject us —
3:32  though he causes grief, his compassion abounds according to his gracious love.
3:33  For he does not deliberately hurt or grieve human beings.
3:34  When any of the prisoners of the earth are crushed underfoot,
3:35  when a person's rights are perverted in defiance of the Most High.
3:36  When a man is thwarted in his appeal, does the Lord condone it?
3:37  Who can command, and it happens, without the Lord having ordered it?
3:38  Do not both good and evil things proceed from the mouth of the Most High?
3:39  Why should anyone living complain, any mortal, about being punished for sin?
3:40  Let us examine our lifestyles, putting them to the test, and turn back to the LORD.
3:41  Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven.
3:42  As for us, we have sinned and rebelled; but you have not pardoned us.
3:43  Clothing yourself with anger, you pursued us. You killed without pity,
3:44  You covered yourself with a cloud that prayer cannot pierce.
3:45  You have reduced us to scum and garbage among the nations.
3:46  All our enemies jeer at us with gaping mouths.
3:47  Panic and pitfalls beset us, along with devastation and ruin.
3:48  My eyes run with rivers of tears over the destruction of my cherished people.
3:49  My tears pour down ceaselessly; I am far from relief
3:50  until the LORD bends down to see from heaven.
3:51  What I see grieves my soul because of all the young women of my city.
3:52  My enemies hunted me like a bird, viciously and without justification.
3:53  They dumped me alive into a pit, sealing me in with stone.
3:54  Water closed over my head, and I said, "I'm a dead man."
3:55  I called on your name, LORD, from the depths of the Pit,
3:56  You heard my voice— don't close your ear to my sighs and cries.
3:57  You drew near when I called out to you. You said, "Stop being afraid"
3:58  Lord, you have defended my cause; you have redeemed my life.
3:59  LORD, you observed how I have been wronged; now make your ruling in my case.
3:60  You examined their plans for vengeance, all of their plots against me.
3:61  LORD, you listened to their insults— all their plots against me,
3:62  the whisperings of my opponents, their scheming against me all day long.
3:63  Watch! Whether they sit down or stand up, they mock me with their songs.
3:64  Pay them back, LORD, according to their actions.
3:65  Give them an anguished heart; may your curse be upon them!
3:66  Pursue them in your anger and destroy them from under the LORD's heaven.