א (Alef)
3:1 I am the man who has experienced affliction
from the rod of his wrath.
3:2 He drove me into captivity and made me walk
in darkness and not light.
3:3 He repeatedly attacks me,
he turns his hand against me all day long.
ב (Bet)
3:4 He has made my mortal skin waste away;
he has broken my bones.
3:5 He has besieged and surrounded me
with bitter hardship.
3:6 He has made me reside in deepest darkness
like those who died long ago.
ג (Gimel)
3:7 He has walled me in so that I cannot get out;
he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains.
3:8 Also, when I cry out desperately for help,
he has shut out my prayer.
3:9 He has blocked every road I take with a wall of hewn stones;
he has made every path impassable.
ד (Dalet)
3:10 To me he is like a bear lying in ambush,
like a hidden lion stalking its prey.
3:11 He has obstructed my paths and torn me to pieces;
he has made me desolate.
3:12 He drew his bow and made me
the target for his arrow.
ה (He)
3:13 He shot his arrows
into my heart.
3:14 I have become the laughingstock of all people,
their mocking song all day long.
3:15 He has given me my fill of bitter herbs
and made me drunk with bitterness.
ו (Vav)
3:16 He ground my teeth in gravel;
he trampled me in the dust.
3:17 I am deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is.
3:18 So I said, “My endurance has expired;
I have lost all hope of deliverance from the Lord.”
ז (Zayin)
3:19 Remember my impoverished and homeless condition,
which is a bitter poison.
3:32 Though he causes us grief, he then has compassion on us
according to the abundance of his loyal kindness.