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3:1  I am the man who has been suffering because of the power of God’s anger.
3:2  He has led me and brought me into darkness and not into light.
3:3  For sure He has turned His hand against me again and again all day long.
3:4  He has made my flesh and my skin waste away. He has broken my bones.
3:5  He has shut me in with trouble and suffering.
3:6  He has made me live in dark places, like those who have been dead a long time.
3:7  He has put a wall around me so that I cannot go out. He has put heavy chains on me.
3:8  Even when I cry and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
3:9  He has stopped me with blocks of stone. He has made my paths no longer straight.
3:10  He is like a bear lying in wait, like a lion hiding in secret places.
3:11  He has turned me from the path and torn me to pieces. He has destroyed me.
3:12  He used His bow, and set me as a mark for His arrow.
3:13  He has taken out His arrows and sent them into my heart.
3:14  All my people laugh at me. They sing songs that make fun of me all day long.
3:15  He has filled me with bitter feelings. He has made me drunk with wormwood.
3:16  He has broken my teeth with rocks, and has covered me with dust.
3:17  Peace has left my soul. I have forgotten what it is like to be happy.
3:18  So I say, “My strength is gone, and so has my hope from the Lord.”
3:19  Remember my trouble and my traveling from place to place, the wormwood and bitter feelings.
3:20  I remember it always, and my soul bows down within me.
3:21  But this I remember, and so I have hope.
3:22  It is because of the Lord’s loving-kindness that we are not destroyed for His loving-pity never ends.
3:23  It is new every morning. He is so very faithful.
3:24  “The Lord is my share.” says my soul, “so I have hope in Him.”
3:25  The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the one who looks for Him.
3:26  It is good that one should be quiet and wait for the saving power of the Lord.
3:27  It is good for a man to carry the load while he is young.
3:28  Let him sit alone and be quiet when God has laid the load on him.
3:29  Let him put his mouth in the dust. There may be hope yet.
3:30  Let him give his face to the one who hits him, and be filled with shame.
3:31  For the Lord will not turn away from a man forever.
3:32  For if He causes sorrow, He will have loving-pity because of His great loving-kindness.
3:33  He does not want to cause trouble or sorrow for the children of men.
3:34  He is not pleased when all those on earth who are in prison are crushed under foot.
3:35  The Most High is not pleased when the rights are kept away from a man who is before Him,
3:36  and when wrong is done to him in his cause. The Lord is not pleased with these things.
3:37  Who has said that something would happen and then it did happen, unless the Lord has said that it should be?
3:38  Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and bad come?
3:39  Why should any living man complain about the punishment of his sins?
3:40  Let us test and look over our ways, and return to the Lord.
3:41  Let us lift up our heart and hands to God in heaven, saying,
3:42  “We have sinned and would not obey You, and You have not forgiven us.
3:43  You have covered Yourself with anger and have followed us, killing without pity.
3:44  You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.
3:45  You have made us a waste and something that is not wanted among the nations.
3:46  All those who hate us have spoken against us.
3:47  Fear and a trap have come upon us. We are laid waste and destroyed.
3:48  My eyes flow with rivers of tears because my people are destroyed.
3:49  Tears flow from my eyes all the time without stopping,
3:50  until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees.
3:51  My eyes bring me suffering because of what is happening to all the women of my city.
3:52  I have been hunted like a bird by those who hate me for no reason.
3:53  They threw me alive into the deep hole and have put a stone on me.
3:54  Water flowed over my head, and I said, “I am cut off!”
3:55  I called on Your name, O Lord, out of the deep hole.
3:56  You have heard my voice. Do not close Your ears to my cry for help.
3:57  You came near when I called You, and You said, “Do not be afraid!”
3:58  You have helped me in my cause, O Lord. You have saved my life.
3:59  O Lord, You have seen the wrong done to me. Judge in my favor.
3:60  You have seen how much they hate me and plan against me.
3:61  O Lord, You have heard how they put me to shame and how they work against me.
3:62  The lips and thoughts of those who hurt me are against me all day long.
3:63  Watch their sitting down and standing up. I am their song as they make fun of me.
3:64  O Lord, You will punish them for what they have done.
3:65  You will give them hard hearts, and curse them.
3:66  Go after them in anger and destroy them from under Your heavens, O Lord.