| Chapter 3 |
1 | I am the man who has seen trouble by the rod of his wrath.
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2 | By him I have been made to go in the dark where there is no light.
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3 | Truly against me his hand has been turned again and again all the day.
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4 | My flesh and my skin have been used up by him and my bones broken.
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5 | He has put up a wall against me, shutting me in with bitter sorrow.
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6 | He has kept me in dark places, like those who have been long dead.
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7 | He has put a wall round me, so that I am not able to go out; he has made great the weight of my chain.
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8 | Even when I send up a cry for help, he keeps my prayer shut out.
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9 | He has put up a wall of cut stones about my ways, he has made my roads twisted.
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10 | He is like a bear waiting for me, like a lion in secret places.
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11 | By him my ways have been turned on one side and I have been pulled in bits; he has made me waste.
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12 | With his bow bent, he has made me the mark for his arrows.
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13 | He has let loose his arrows into the inmost parts of my body.
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14 | I have become the sport of all the peoples; I am their song all the day.
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15 | He has made my life nothing but pain, he has given me the bitter root in full measure.
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16 | By him my teeth have been broken with crushed stones, and I am bent low in the dust.
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17 | My soul is sent far away from peace, I have no more memory of good.
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18 | And I said, My strength is cut off, and my hope from the Lord.
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19 | Keep in mind my trouble and my wandering, the bitter root and the poison.
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20 | My soul still keeps the memory of them; and is bent down in me.
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21 | This I keep in mind, and because of this I have hope.
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22 | It is through the Lord's love that we have not come to destruction, because his mercies have no limit.
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23 | They are new every morning; great is your good faith.
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24 | I said to myself, The Lord is my heritage; and because of this I will have hope in him.
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25 | The Lord is good to those who are waiting for him, to the soul which is looking for him.
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26 | It is good to go on hoping and quietly waiting for the salvation of the Lord.
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27 | It is good for a man to undergo the yoke when he is young.
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28 | Let him be seated by himself, saying nothing, because he has put it on him.
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29 | Let him put his mouth in the dust, if by chance there may be hope.
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30 | Let his face be turned to him who gives him blows; let him be full of shame.
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31 | For the Lord does not give a man up for ever.
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32 | For though he sends grief, still he will have pity in the full measure of his love.
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33 | For he has no pleasure in troubling and causing grief to the children of men.
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34 | In a man's crushing under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
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35 | In his turning away the right of a man before the face of the Most High.
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36 | In his doing wrong to a man in his cause, the Lord has no pleasure.
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37 | Who is able to say a thing, and give effect to it, if it has not been ordered by the Lord?
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38 | Do not evil and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
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39 | What protest may a living man make, even a man about the punishment of his sin?
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40 | Let us make search and put our ways to the test, turning again to the Lord;
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41 | Lifting up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens.
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42 | We have done wrong and gone against your law; we have not had your forgiveness.
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43 | Covering yourself with wrath you have gone after us, cutting us off without pity;
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44 | Covering yourself with a cloud, so that prayer may not get through.
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45 | You have made us like waste and that for which there is no use, among the peoples.
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46 | The mouths of all our haters are open wide against us.
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47 | Fear and deep waters have come on us, wasting and destruction.
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48 | Rivers of water are running down from my eyes, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
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49 | My eyes are streaming without stopping, they have no rest,
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50 | Till the Lord's eye is turned on me, till he sees my trouble from heaven.
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51 | The Lord is unkind to my soul, more than all the daughters of my town.
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52 | They who are against me without cause have gone hard after me as if I was a bird;
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53 | They have put an end to my life in the prison, stoning me with stones.
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54 | Waters were flowing over my head; I said, I am cut off.
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55 | I was making prayer to your name, O Lord, out of the lowest prison.
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56 | My voice came to you; let not your ear be shut to my breathing, to my cry.
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57 | You came near in the day when I made my prayer to you: you said, Have no fear.
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58 | O Lord, you have taken up the cause of my soul, you have made my life safe.
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59 | O Lord, you have seen my wrong; be judge in my cause.
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60 | You have seen all the evil rewards they have sent on me, and all their designs against me.
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61 | Their bitter words have come to your ears, O Lord, and all their designs against me;
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62 | The lips of those who came up against me, and their thoughts against me all the day.
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63 | Take note of them when they are seated, and when they get up; I am their song.
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64 | You will give them their reward, O Lord, answering to the work of their hands.
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65 | You will let their hearts be covered over with your curse on them.
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66 | You will go after them in wrath, and put an end to them from under the heavens of the Lord.
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