ד (Dalet)
3:10 To me he is like a bear lying in ambush, 1
like a hidden lion 2 stalking its prey. 3
3:11 He has obstructed my paths 4 and torn me to pieces; 5
he has made me desolate.
3:12 He drew 6 his bow and made me 7
the target for his arrow.
ה (He)
3:13 He shot 8 his arrows 9
into my heart. 10
3:14 I have become the laughingstock of all people, 11
their mocking song 12 all day long. 13
3:15 He has given me my fill of bitter herbs
and made me drunk with bitterness. 14
ו (Vav)
3:16 He ground 15 my teeth in gravel;
he trampled 16 me in the dust.
3:17 I 17 am deprived 18 of peace; 19
I have forgotten what happiness 20 is.
3:18 So I said, “My endurance has expired;
I have lost all hope of deliverance 21 from the Lord.”
ז (Zayin)
3:19 Remember 22 my impoverished and homeless condition, 23
which is a bitter poison. 24
3:20 I 25 continually think about 26 this,
and I 27 am depressed. 28
3:21 But this I call 29 to mind; 30
therefore I have hope:
ח (Khet)
3:22 The Lord’s loyal kindness 31 never ceases; 32
his compassions 33 never end.
3:23 They are fresh 34 every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant! 35
3:24 “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, 36
so I will put my hope in him.
ט (Tet)
3:25 The Lord is good to those who trust 37 in him,
to the one 38 who seeks him.
3:26 It is good to wait patiently 39
for deliverance from the Lord. 40
3:27 It is good for a man 41
to bear 42 the yoke 43 while he is young. 44
י (Yod)
3:28 Let a person 45 sit alone in silence,
when the Lord 46 is disciplining him. 47
3:29 Let him bury his face in the dust; 48
perhaps there is hope.
3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; 49
let him have his fill of insults.
כ (Kaf)
3:31 For the Lord 50 will not
reject us forever. 51
3:32 Though he causes us 52 grief, he then has compassion on us 53
according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. 54
3:33 For he is not predisposed to afflict 55
or to grieve people. 56
ל (Lamed)
3:34 To crush underfoot
all the earth’s prisoners, 57
3:35 to deprive a person 58 of his rights 59
in the presence of the Most High,
3:36 to defraud a person in a lawsuit –
the Lord 60 does not approve 61 of such things!
מ (Mem)
3:37 Whose command was ever fulfilled 62
unless the Lord 63 decreed it?
3:38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes –
both calamity and blessing? 64
3:39 Why should any living person 65 complain
when punished for his sins? 66
נ (Nun)
3:40 Let us carefully examine our ways, 67
and let us return to the Lord.
3:41 Let us lift up our hearts 68 and our hands
to God in heaven:
3:42 “We 69 have blatantly rebelled; 70
you 71 have not forgiven.”
ס (Samek)
3:43 You shrouded yourself 72 with anger and then pursued us;
you killed without mercy.
3:44 You shrouded yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
3:45 You make us like filthy scum 73
in the estimation 74 of the nations.
פ (Pe)
3:46 All our enemies have gloated over us; 75
3:47 Panic and pitfall 76 have come upon us,
devastation and destruction. 77
3:48 Streams 78 of tears flow from my eyes 79
because my people 80 are destroyed. 81
ע (Ayin)
3:49 Tears flow from my eyes 82 and will not stop;
there will be no break 83
3:50 until the Lord looks down from heaven
and sees what has happened. 84
3:51 What my eyes see 85 grieves me 86 –
all the suffering of the daughters in my city. 87
צ (Tsade)
3:52 For no good reason 88 my enemies
hunted me down 89 like a bird.
3:53 They shut me 90 up in a pit
and threw stones at me.
3:54 The waters closed over my head;
I thought 91 I was about to die. 92
ק (Qof)
3:55 I have called on your name, O Lord,
from the deepest pit. 93
3:56 You heard 94 my plea: 95
“Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!” 96
3:57 You came near 97 on the day I called to you;
you said, 98 “Do not fear!”
ר (Resh)
3:58 O Lord, 99 you championed 100 my cause, 101
you redeemed my life.
3:59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
pronounce judgment on my behalf! 102
3:60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all their plots against me. 103
ש (Sin/Shin)
3:61 You have heard 104 their taunts, O Lord,
all their plots against me.
3:62 My assailants revile and conspire 105
against me all day long.
3:63 Watch them from morning to evening; 106
I am the object of their mocking songs.
ת (Tav)
3:64 Pay them back 107 what they deserve, 108 O Lord,
according to what they 109 have done. 110
3:65 Give them a distraught heart; 111
may your curse be on them!
3:66 Pursue them 112 in anger and eradicate them
from under the Lord’s heaven.