International Standard Version

New Living Translation

1I am a man familiar with affliction— under the rod of God's anger.

1I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the LORD’s anger.

2He has led me—brought me into darkness, not into light.

2He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light.

3He truly turned his hand against me, again and again, all day long.

3He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.

4He made my flesh and skin prematurely old; he broke my bones.

4He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones.

5He laid siege against me, surrounding me with bitterness and suffering.

5He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress.

6He has forced me to live in darkness, like those who are long dead.

6He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead.

7He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he placed heavy chains on me.

7He has walled me in, and I cannot escape. He has bound me in heavy chains.

8Indeed, when I cry out, calling for help, he shuts out my prayer.

8And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers.

9He impeded my way with blocks of stone, making my paths uneven.

9He has blocked my way with a high stone wall; he has made my road crooked.

10He is like a bear that lies in wait for me, a lion in hiding.

10He has hidden like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me.

11He forced me off my path, tearing me to pieces and making me desolate.

11He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces, leaving me helpless and devastated.

12He bent his bow, aiming at me with his arrow.

12He has drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows.

13He caused his war arrows to pierce my vital organs.

13He shot his arrows deep into my heart.

14I have become a laughingstock to all my people, the object of their taunts throughout the day.

14My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs.

15He has filled me with bitterness, making me drink wormwood.

15He has filled me with bitterness and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.

16He broke my teeth on gravel, covering me with dust.

16He has made me chew on gravel. He has rolled me in the dust.

17You have removed peace from my life; I have forgotten what prosperity is.

17Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18So I say, "My strength is gone as is my hope in the LORD."

18I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!”

19Remember my affliction and homelessness— wormwood and gall!

19The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.

20My mind keeps reflecting on it, and I become depressed.

20I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

21This is what comes to mind, and therefore I have hope:

21Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:

22Because of the LORD's gracious love we are not consumed, since his compassions never end.

22The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease.

23They are new every morning— great is your faithfulness!

23Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

24"The LORD is all I have," says my soul, "Therefore I will trust in him."

24I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

25The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the person who searches for him.

25The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.

26It is good to hope and wait patiently for the LORD's salvation.

26So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.

27It is good when a young man carries the yoke of discipline in his youth.

27And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline:

28He is to sit apart and remain silent, because the LORD has laid it upon him.

28Let them sit alone in silence beneath the LORD’s demands.

29Let him fall face down in the dust, so there may yet be hope.

29Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last.

30He will endure being slapped in the face, bringing him public disgrace.

30Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies.

31Indeed, the Lord will not always reject us —

31For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever.

32though he causes grief, his compassion abounds according to his gracious love.

32Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.

33For he does not deliberately hurt or grieve human beings.

33For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.

34When any of the prisoners of the earth are crushed underfoot,

34If people crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,

35when a person's rights are perverted in defiance of the Most High.

35if they deprive others of their rights in defiance of the Most High,

36When a man is thwarted in his appeal, does the Lord condone it?

36if they twist justice in the courts— doesn’t the Lord see all these things?

37Who can command, and it happens, without the Lord having ordered it?

37Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission?

38Do not both good and evil things proceed from the mouth of the Most High?

38Does not the Most High send both calamity and good?

39Why should anyone living complain, any mortal, about being punished for sin?

39Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?

40Let us examine our lifestyles, putting them to the test, and turn back to the LORD.

40Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD.

41Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven.

41Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say,

42As for us, we have sinned and rebelled; but you have not pardoned us.

42“We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us.

43Clothing yourself with anger, you pursued us. You killed without pity,

43“You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down, and slaughtered us without mercy.

44You covered yourself with a cloud that prayer cannot pierce.

44You have hidden yourself in a cloud so our prayers cannot reach you.

45You have reduced us to scum and garbage among the nations.

45You have discarded us as refuse and garbage among the nations.

46All our enemies jeer at us with gaping mouths.

46“All our enemies have spoken out against us.

47Panic and pitfalls beset us, along with devastation and ruin.

47We are filled with fear, for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”

48My eyes run with rivers of tears over the destruction of my cherished people.

48Tears stream from my eyes because of the destruction of my people!

49My tears pour down ceaselessly; I am far from relief

49My tears flow endlessly; they will not stop

50until the LORD bends down to see from heaven.

50until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.

51What I see grieves my soul because of all the young women of my city.

51My heart is breaking over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.

52My enemies hunted me like a bird, viciously and without justification.

52My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird.

53They dumped me alive into a pit, sealing me in with stone.

53They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me.

54Water closed over my head, and I said, "I'm a dead man."

54The water rose over my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!”

55I called on your name, LORD, from the depths of the Pit,

55But I called on your name, LORD, from deep within the pit.

56You heard my voice— don't close your ear to my sighs and cries.

56You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!”

57You drew near when I called out to you. You said, "Stop being afraid"

57Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”

58Lord, you have defended my cause; you have redeemed my life.

58Lord, you have come to my defense; you have redeemed my life.

59LORD, you observed how I have been wronged; now make your ruling in my case.

59You have seen the wrong they have done to me, LORD. Be my judge, and prove me right.

60You examined their plans for vengeance, all of their plots against me.

60You have seen the vengeful plots my enemies have laid against me.

61LORD, you listened to their insults— all their plots against me,

61LORD, you have heard the vile names they call me. You know all about the plans they have made.

62the whisperings of my opponents, their scheming against me all day long.

62My enemies whisper and mutter as they plot against me all day long.

63Watch! Whether they sit down or stand up, they mock me with their songs.

63Look at them! Whether they sit or stand, I am the object of their mocking songs.

64Pay them back, LORD, according to their actions.

64Pay them back, LORD, for all the evil they have done.

65Give them an anguished heart; may your curse be upon them!

65Give them hard and stubborn hearts, and then let your curse fall on them!

66Pursue them in your anger and destroy them from under the LORD's heaven.

66Chase them down in your anger, destroying them beneath the LORD’s heavens.

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.