Today's Date: Lam 3:37 Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it? Lam 3:38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth? Lam 3:39 Why should any living mortal, or any man, Offer complaint in view of his sins? Lam 3:40 Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the Lord. Lam 3:41 We lift up our heart and hands Toward God in heaven; Lam 3:42 We have transgressed and rebelled, You have not pardoned. Lam 3:43 You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and have not spared. Lam 3:44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud So that no prayer can pass through. Lam 3:45 You have made us mere offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples. Lam 3:46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Lam 3:47 Panic and pitfall have befallen us, Devastation and destruction; Lam 3:48 My eyes run down with streams of water Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. Lam 3:49 My eyes pour down unceasingly, Without stopping, Lam 3:50 Until the Lord looks down And sees from heaven. Lam 3:51 My eyes bring pain to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city. Lam 3:52 My enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird; Lam 3:53 They have silenced me in the pit And have placed a stone on me. Lam 3:54 Waters flowed over my head; I said, "I am cut off!" Lam 3:55 I called on Your name, O Lord, Out of the lowest pit. Lam 3:56 You have heard my voice, "Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help." Lam 3:57 You drew near when I called on You; You said, "Do not fear!" Lam 3:58 O Lord, You have pleaded my soul's cause; You have redeemed my life. Lam 3:59 O Lord, You have seen my oppression; Judge my case. Lam 3:60 You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me. Lam 3:61 You have heard their reproach, O Lord, All their schemes against me. Lam 3:62 The lips of my assailants and their whispering Are against me all day long. Lam 3:63 Look on their sitting and their rising; I am their mocking song. Lam 3:64 You will recompense them, O Lord, According to the work of their hands. Lam 3:65 You will give them hardness of heart, Your curse will be on them. Lam 3:66 You will pursue them in anger and destroy them From under the heavens of the Lord! -------- Lam 4:1 How dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out At the corner of every street. Lam 4:2 The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as earthen jars, The work of a potter's hands! Lam 4:3 Even jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become cruel Like ostriches in the wilderness. Lam 4:4 The tongue of the infant cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them. Lam 4:5 Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in purple Embrace ash pits. Lam 4:6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown as in a moment, And no hands were turned toward her. Lam 4:7 Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, They were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than corals, Their polishing was like lapis lazuli. Lam 4:8 Their appearance is blacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin is shriveled on their bones, It is withered, it has become like wood. Lam 4:9 Better are those slain with the sword Than those slain with hunger; For they pine away, being stricken For lack of the fruits of the field. Lam 4:10 The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. Lam 4:11 The Lord has accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations. Lam 4:12 The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem. Lam 4:13 Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous; Lam 4:14 They wandered, blind, in the streets; They were defiled with blood So that no one could touch their garments. Lam 4:15 "Depart! Unclean!" they cried of themselves. "Depart, depart, do not touch!" So they fled and wandered; Men among the nations said, "They shall not continue to dwell with us." Lam 4:16 The presence of the Lord has scattered them, He will not continue to regard them; They did not honor the priests, They did not favor the elders. Lam 4:17 Yet our eyes failed, Looking for help was useless; In our watching we have watched For a nation that could not save. Lam 4:18 They hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our streets; Our end drew near, Our days were finished For our end had come. Lam 4:19 Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness. Lam 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the Lord's anointed, Was captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, "Under his shadow We shall live among the nations." Lam 4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, Who dwells in the land of Uz; But the cup will come around to you as well, You will become drunk and make yourself naked. Lam 4:22 The punishment of your iniquity has been completed, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer. But He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins! -------- Lam 5:1 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; Look, and see our reproach! Lam 5:2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, Our houses to aliens. Lam 5:3 We have become orphans without a father, Our mothers are like widows. Lam 5:4 We have to pay for our drinking water, Our wood comes to us at a price. Lam 5:5 Our pursuers are at our necks; We are worn out, there is no rest for us. Lam 5:6 We have submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. Lam 5:7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more; It is we who have borne their iniquities. Lam 5:8 Slaves rule over us; There is no one to deliver us from their hand. Lam 5:9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives Because of the sword in the wilderness. Lam 5:10 Our skin has become as hot as an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine. Lam 5:11 They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah. Lam 5:12 Princes were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected. Lam 5:13 Young men worked at the grinding mill, And youths stumbled under loads of wood. Lam 5:14 Elders are gone from the gate, Young men from their music. Lam 5:15 The joy of our hearts has ceased; Our dancing has been turned into mourning. Lam 5:16 The crown has fallen from our head; Woe to us, for we have sinned! Lam 5:17 Because of this our heart is faint, Because of these things our eyes are dim; Lam 5:18 Because of Mount Zion which lies desolate, Foxes prowl in it. Lam 5:19 You, O Lord, rule forever; Your throne is from generation to generation. Lam 5:20 Why do You forget us forever? Why do You forsake us so long? Lam 5:21 Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored; Renew our days as of old, Lam 5:22 Unless You have utterly rejected us And are exceedingly angry with us.
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