1I am the man who has experienced suffering from God's furious punishment.
2He has led me and made me walk in darkness, not in light.
3Indeed, he constantly turns his hand against me all day long.
4He has made my skin and flesh old; he has broken my bones.
5He has built barriers around me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6He has made me live in dark places, like those who have been dead for a long time.
7He has walled me in so I can’t get out; he has made my chains heavy.
8Yes, even when I cry out and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
9He has blocked my paths with cut stones; he has made my roads crooked.
10He is like a bear waiting to ambush me, like a lion hidden in secret places.
11He has forced me off my path and torn me to pieces; he has left me desolate.
12He has bent his bow and made me the target for his arrow.
13He has made the arrows from his quiver pierce my insides.
14All my people make fun of me; I am their song all day long.
15He has filled me with bitterness. He has made me sick with poison.
16He has also broken my teeth with gravel; he has covered me with ashes.
17You have taken away my peace; I have forgotten what prosperity feels like.
18I said, "My strength is gone, along with all my hope from Yahweh."
19Remember my suffering and misery, the bitter pain and sorrow.
20My soul still remembers them and is deeply sad within me.
21This is what I think about, and it gives me hope.
22It is because of Yahweh's faithful love that we are not completely destroyed, because his compassion never fails.
23His mercies are new every morning; your faithfulness is great.
24My soul says, "Yahweh is all I have, so I will put my hope in him."
25Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to those who seek him.
26It is good for a person to hope and quietly wait for Yahweh to rescue them.
27It is good for a person to carry hardship in their youth.
28Let that person sit alone and remain silent, because God has placed this burden on them.
29They should humbly accept their situation, because there might still be hope.
30They should offer their cheek to whoever hits them and endure all the insults.
31Because the Lord will not reject us forever.
32Even if he brings grief, he will still show compassion because of his great love.
33He does not enjoy making people suffer or causing them grief.
34He does not approve when people trample all the prisoners of the earth underfoot,
35Or deny someone their rights in the presence of the Most High,
36Or prevent someone from getting justice in their own case.
37Who can say something and make it happen unless the Lord has commanded it?
38Doesn't both bad and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
39Why should any living person complain, especially a person being punished for their sins?
40Let’s examine our lives and test our ways, then turn back to Yahweh.
41Let’s lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
42"We have done wrong and rebelled. You have not forgiven us."
43"You surrounded us with your anger and chased us. You killed us. You showed no pity."
44You hid yourself behind a cloud, so no prayer could get through.
45You made us like trash and garbage among the nations.
46"All our enemies have spoken against us."
47Terror, a trap, ruins, and destruction have come upon us.”
48My eyes are overflowing with tears because my people are destroyed.
49My eyes pour out tears without stopping, without any break,
50until Yahweh looks down and sees from heaven.
51What I see causes me great sadness because of all the women in my city.
52My enemies, for no reason, have chased me like a bird, relentlessly.
53They ended my life in the dungeon and threw a stone on me.
54Water flowed over my head; I thought, “I am finished.”
55I called on your name, Yahweh, from the lowest dungeon.
56You heard my voice: “Do not ignore my sighing and my cry.”
57You came near the day I called on you; you said, “Don’t be afraid.”
58Lord, you have stood up for me; you have saved my life.
59Yahweh, you have seen the wrong done to me. Please judge my case.
60You have seen all their revenge and all their plans against me.
61You have heard their insults, Yahweh, and all their schemes against me,
62the words of those who rose up against me, and their plots against me all day long.
63You see them when they sit down and when they get up; I am the subject of their songs.
64You will pay them back, Yahweh, for what they have done.
65You will make them stubborn, and you will curse them.
66You will chase them in anger and destroy them from under Yahweh's heavens.