The prophet remembers that God is always faithful
1 I am the man who has suffered.
God punished me because he was angry.
2 He took me into very dark places.
I had to walk in the dark instead of in the light.
3:2In the Bible, when people do not know the truth about God, it is like they are living in a dark place. God gives light so that people know the truth.
3 He has continued to attack me many times.
All day, every day, he punishes me.
4 He has caused my body and skin to spoil.
He has broken my bones.
5 He has attacked me from every side,
so that I have pain and trouble.
6 He has made me live in a very dark place,
like people who died long ago.
7 He has put heavy chains on me like a prisoner.
I cannot escape from my troubles.
8 I call out loudly for God to help me,
but God does not listen to my prayer.
9 He has used big rocks to build a wall across every road where I go.
I cannot go anywhere.
10 God waits to attack me, like a bear.
He hides like a lion that wants to kill.
11 He has pulled me away from the road.
He has torn me in pieces.
He has left me without any help.
12 He is like a soldier who is ready to shoot his arrows.
I am the one that he wants to hit!
13 He has shot his arrows and he has hit me.
It hurts me deep inside.
14 All my people laugh at me.
All the time, they sing songs that insult me.
15 God has caused me to suffer very much,
as if I have drunk a bitter drink.
16 He has made me eat stones that break my teeth.
He has pushed me down into the dirt on the ground.
17 I have no peace in my mind.
I cannot remember the happy days that I had before.
18 I tell myself, ‘I have no strength to live any more.
I no longer hope that the Lord will help me.’
19 I think about my troubles, with no home to go to.
It is like a bitter poison that I have to drink.
20 I think about these things all the time,
and I feel very upset.
21 But now I remember what God is like,
so I still hope that he will help me.
3:21The prophet begins to have hope again when he thinks about God. The verses which follow describe what God is like.
22 The Lord's faithful love never comes to an end.
He never stops being kind to us.
23 Every day, we can trust him to be kind.
Yes God, you are always faithful!
24 I say to myself, ‘The Lord God is with me and that is enough.
I will trust him to help me.’
25 The Lord is kind to people who trust in him.
He helps those who turn to him.
26 It is good when people wait quietly
for the Lord to rescue them.
27 It is good if you learn to accept trouble
when you are still young.
28 When the Lord causes us to suffer,
we should sit alone quietly.
29 We should be humble as we suffer.
Then we may hope for God to help us.
30 If somebody hits us on one side of our face,
we should let them hit the other side too.
If people insult us, we should accept it.
31 The Lord God will not turn against his people for ever.
32 He may cause us to suffer for a time,
but then he will be kind to us,
because his faithful love is very great.
33 It does not please him to make people suffer.
He does not like to give them pain.
34 If anyone is cruel to all the prisoners in the land,
that is not good.
35 If anyone turns against the Most High God and cheats people,
that is not good.
36 If anyone tells lies in court,
that is not good.
The Lord God is not happy when he sees any of these bad things.
37 Nobody can command things to happen
unless the Lord God says it must happen.
38 The Most High God says what will happen,
both good things and bad things.
39 When God punishes us for our sins
we have no reason to complain.
40 Instead, we should think carefully about how we live.
We should turn back to the Lord again.
41 We should be honest with God in heaven,
lift up our hands and pray to him:
42 ‘We have completely turned against you.
You have not forgiven us.
43 You have chased after us with your great anger.
You have not felt sorry to kill us.
44 You have hidden yourself from us in a cloud.
So our prayers cannot reach you.
45 You have caused us to become like dirty rubbish.
So the people of other nations do not respect us.
46 All our enemies are happy
to see that we have trouble.
47 Terrible troubles have come to destroy us.
So we are very afraid.’
48 Tears pour from my eyes like a river,
because enemies have destroyed my people.
49 My tears will continue to pour out.
They will never stop,
50 until the Lord looks down from heaven.
He will see what is happening to us.
51 I see how much the young women of my city are suffering.
It makes me very upset.
52 My enemies had no reason to hate me,
but they caught me like people catch birds.
53 They threw me into a deep hole in the ground
and they threw stones at me to kill me.
54 The water in the hole rose up my head.
Then I thought, ‘I will soon die.’
55 From the bottom of the deep hole
I called your name, Lord.
56 I said, ‘Please listen to me as I call to you for help.’
You heard my prayer.
57 You came near to me when I prayed to you.
You said to me, ‘Do not be afraid.’
58 Lord God, you spoke on my behalf.
You rescued me from death.
59 You have seen how my enemies have been cruel to me.
Judge fairly and show that I am right!
60 You have seen that my enemies hate me
and they make plans to hurt me.
61 Lord, you have heard them when they insult me.
You know about their plans to hurt me.
62 My enemies say bad things about me.
They are always thinking about ways to attack me.
63 Watch them as they sing songs to insult me.
They sing them all the time.
64 Lord, punish them as they deserve
for all the bad things that they have done.
65 Cause them to be very upset.
Curse them so that they suffer!
66 Chase after them in your anger.
Cause them to disappear from the whole earth.
