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.
3:20 I continually think about this,
and I am depressed.
3:21 But this I call to mind;
therefore I have hope:
ח (Khet)
3:22 The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases;
his compassions never end.
3:23 They are fresh every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!
3:24 “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself,
so I will put my hope in him.
ט (Tet)
3:25 The Lord is good to those who trust in him,
to the one who seeks him.
3:26 It is good to wait patiently
for deliverance from the Lord.
3:27 It is good for a man
to bear the yoke while he is young.
י (Yod)
3:28 Let a person sit alone in silence,
when the Lord is disciplining him.
3:29 Let him bury his face in the dust;
perhaps there is hope.
3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him;
let him have his fill of insults.
כ (Kaf)
3:31 For the Lord will not
reject us forever.
3:32 Though he causes us grief, he then has compassion on us
according to the abundance of his loyal kindness.
3:33 For he is not predisposed to afflict
or to grieve people.
ל (Lamed)
3:34 To crush underfoot
all the earth’s prisoners,
3:35 to deprive a person of his rights
in the presence of the Most High,
3:36 to defraud a person in a lawsuit –
the Lord does not approve of such things!