Verse 1 ALEPH I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. Verse 2 He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light. Verse 3 Surely against me he turns his hand again and again all the day. Verse 4 My flesh and my skin he has made old; he has broken my bones. Verse 5 He has built against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. Verse 6 He has made me to dwell in dark places, like those that have been long dead. Verse 7 He has walled me in, so I can't escape; he has made my chains heavy. Verse 8 Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer. Verse 9 He has walled up my ways with cut stone; he has made my paths crooked. Verse 10 He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in hiding. Verse 11 He has obstructed my path, and torn me in pieces; he has made me desolate. Verse 12 He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. Verse 13 He has caused the arrows of his quiver to pierce my inward parts. Verse 14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people, and their song all the day. Verse 15 He has filled me with bitterness, he has given me in full measure wormwood. Verse 16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel; he has pressed me down in the dust. Verse 17 You have removed my soul far away from peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. Verse 18 And I said, "My strength and my hope has perished from the Lord." Verse 19 Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. Verse 20 My soul considers them, and is depressed. Verse 21 But this I call to my mind; therefore I have hope: Verse 22 The Lord's faithful love does not cease; his compassion does not fail. Verse 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Verse 24 "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore will I hope in him." Verse 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. Verse 26 It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Verse 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke while he is young. Verse 28 Let him sit alone and keep silence when he is disciplining him. Verse 29 Let him put his mouth to the dust, there may yet be hope. Verse 30 Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him; let him be filled with insults. Verse 31 For the Lord will not reject forever. Verse 32 For though he may cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the abundance of his loving kindness. Verse 33 For he is not predisposed to bring affliction or suffering to the children of men. Verse 34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth; Verse 35 to deprive a man of justice before the face of the Most High, Verse 36 to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord does not approve. Verse 37 Who can speak a thing and have it come to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Verse 38 Doesn't both calamity and good come out of the mouth of the Most High? Verse 39 Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Verse 40 Let us examine and search our ways, and return to the Lord. Verse 41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens. Verse 42 We have transgressed and have rebelled, and you have not forgiven. Verse 43 You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you killed without sparing. Verse 44 You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through. Verse 45 You have made us rubbish and refuse in the midst of the peoples. Verse 46 All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us. Verse 47 Fear and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction. Verse 48 Streams of tears run down from my eyes because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. Verse 49 My tears flow and do not cease, without respite, Verse 50 until the Lord looks down and sees from heaven. Verse 51 My eyes bring my soul grief, because of all the daughters of my city. Verse 52 They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause. Verse 53 They have cut off my life in a pit, and have cast a stone on me. Verse 54 Waters flowed over my head; I said, 'I am finished.' Verse 55 I called on your name, Lord, out of the depths of the pit. Verse 56 You heard my voice; do not hide your ear at my sighs, to my cry. Verse 57 You drew near in the day that I called on you; you said, "Do not be afraid." Verse 58 Lord, you have taken up the case for my soul; you have redeemed my life. Verse 59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me; judge my case. Verse 60 You have seen all their vengeance and all their plots against me. Verse 61 You have heard their insults, Lord, and all their plots against me. Verse 62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their plots against me all day long. Verse 63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their mocking song. Verse 64 You will render to them what they deserve, Lord, according to the work of their hands. Verse 65 You will give them hardness of heart as your curse to them. Verse 66 You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.