But if they are bound in chains, ¹  and held captive by the cords of affliction,

My heart ¹  is in turmoil ²  unceasingly; ³  the days of my affliction confront me.

א (Alef) ¹  I am the man ²  who has experienced ³  affliction from the rod ⁴  of his wrath.

He delivers the afflicted by ¹  their ²  afflictions, he reveals himself to them ³  by their suffering.

See my pain and suffering! Forgive all my sins! ¹ 

ז (Zayin) Remember ¹  my impoverished and homeless condition, ²  which is a bitter poison. ³ 

Take heed, do not turn to evil, for because of this you have been tested ¹  by affliction.

Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you ¹  in the furnace of misery.

This ¹  is what comforts me in my trouble, for your promise revives me. ² 

“You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea. ¹ 

For evil does not come up from the dust, ¹  nor does trouble spring up from the ground,

“And now my soul pours itself out within me; ¹  days of suffering take hold of me.

Why do you look the other way, ¹  and ignore ²  the way we are oppressed and mistreated? ³ 

Yet he protected ¹  the needy from oppression, and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.

If I had not found encouragement in your law, ¹  I would have died in my sorrow. ² 

I see the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; ¹  the tent curtains of the land of Midian are shaking. ² 

They sat in utter darkness, ¹  bound in painful iron chains, ² 

ר (Resh) See my pain and rescue me! For I do not forget your law.

So ¹  in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters, ²  through your faith.

For it is right ¹  for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,