3:1ffIn the original Hebrew, the first four chapters in Lamentations are acrostic poems. Each verse in each chapter begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 3 has 66 verses rather than 22 because it is a triple acrostic: The first three verses begin with the equivalent of A, the next three with 8, and $0 on. This was a typical form of Hebrew poetry. Other examples of acrostics are Psalms 37, 119, and 145, and Proverbs 31:10-31.
Life Application Study BibleLamentationsChapter 3
Lamentations 3
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1299, 1300, 1301, 1302
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
3Lamentations 3
1that come from the rod of the LORD’s anger.
2He has led me into darkness,shutting out all light.
3He has turned his hand against meagain and again, all day long.
4He has made my skin and flesh grow old.He has broken my bones.
5He has besieged and surrounded mewith anguish and distress.
6He has buried me in a dark place,like those long dead.
7He has walled me in, and I cannot escape.He has bound me in heavy chains.
8And though I cry and shout,he has shut out my prayers.
9He has blocked my way with a high stone wall;he has made my road crooked.
10He has hidden like a bear or a lion,waiting to attack me.
11He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces,leaving me helpless and devastated.
12He has drawn his bowand made me the target for his arrows.
13He shot his arrowsdeep into my heart.
14My own people laugh at me.All day long they sing their mocking songs.
5 He has filled me with bitternessand given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.
16He has made me chew on gravel.He has rolled me in the dust.
17Peace has been stripped away,and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18I cry out, “My splendor is gone!Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!”
19The thought of my suffering and homelessnessis bitter beyond words.*
20I will never forget this awful time,as I grieve over my loss.
21Yet I still dare to hopewhen I remember this:
22The faithful love of the LORD never ends!*His mercies never cease.
23Great is his faithfulness;his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance;therefore, I will hope in him!”
25The LORD is good to those who depend on him,to those who search for him.
26So it is good to wait quietlyfor salvation from the Lor.
27And it is good for people to submit at an early ageto the yoke of his discipline:
28Let them sit alone in silencebeneath the LORD’s demands.
29Let them lie face down in the dust,for there may be hope at last.
30Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike themand accept the insults of their enemies.
31For no one is abandonedby the LORD forever.
32Though he brings grief, he also shows compassionbecause of the greatness of his unfailing love.
33For he does not enjoy hurting peopleor causing them sorrow.
34Tf people crush underfootall the prisoners of the land,
35 if they deprive others of their rightsin defiance of the Most High,36 if they twist justice in the courts—doesn’t the LORD see all these things?
37Who can command things to happenwithout the LORD’s permission?
38Does not the Most Highsend both calamity and good?
39Then why should we, mere humans, complainwhen we are punished for our sins?
40Instead, let us test and examine our ways.Let us turn back to the LORD.
41Let us lift our hearts and handsto God in heaven and say,
42“We have sinned and rebelled,and you have not forgiven us.
43“You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down,and slaughtered us without mercy.
44You have hidden yourself in a cloudso our prayers cannot reach you.
45You have discarded us as refuse and garbageamong the nations.
46“All our enemieshave spoken out against us.
47We are filled with fear,for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”
48Tears stream from my eyesbecause of the destruction of my people!
49My tears flow endlessly;they will not stop50 until the LORD looks downfrom heaven and sees.
51My heart is breakingover the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.
52My enemies, whom I have never harmed,hunted me down like a bird.
53They threw me into a pitand dropped stones on me.
54The water rose over my head,and I cried out, “This is the end!”
55But I called on your name, LORD,from deep within the pit.
56You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!Hear my cry for help!”
57Yes, you came when I called;you told me, “Do not fear.”
58LORD, you are my lawyer! Plead my case!For you have redeemed my life.
59You have seen the wrong they have done to me, LORD.Be my judge, and prove me right.
60You have seen the vengeful plotsmy enemies have laid against me.
61LORD, you have heard the vile names they call me. You know all about the plans they have made. 62My enemies whisper and mutter as they plot against me all day long. 63Look at them! Whether they sit or stand, I am the object of their mocking songs.
64Pay them back, LORD,for all the evil they have done.
65Give them hard and stubborn hearts,and then let your curse fall on them!
66Chase them down in your anger,destroying them beneath the LORD’s heavens.
Textual footnotes
- 3:19 Or is wormwood and gail.
- 3:22 As in Syriac version; Hebrew reads of the Lonp keeps us from destruction.
Life Application Notes 5 notes
3:21-23Jeremiah saw one ray of hope in all the sin and sorrow surrounding him: “The faithful jove of the LORD never ends.... Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” God willingly responds with help when we ask. Perhaps there is some sin in your life that you thought God wouid not forgive. God’s steadfast love and mercy are greater than any sin, and he promises forgiveness.
3:23Jeremiah knew from personal experience about God's faithfulness. God had promised that punishment would follow disobedience, and it did. But God also had promised future restoration and blessing, and Jeremiah knew that God would keep that promise also. Trusting in God's faithfulness day by day makes us confident in his great promises for the future.
3:27-33To submit “to the yoke of his discipline” means to willingly come under God's discipline and learn what he wants to teach. This involves several important factors: (1) silent reflection on what God wants, (2) repentant humility, (3) self-control in the face of adversity, and (4) confident patience, depending on the divine Teacher to bring about loving lessons in our life. God has several long-term and short-term lessons for you right now. Are you doing your homework?
3:30This call to “turn the other cheek” reminds us that sometimes God calls us to suffer criticism and abuse for his purposes. Jesus taught his followers to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39), and he exemplified this at the highest level just before his crucifixion (Matthew 27:27-31; Luke 22:64; John 18:22; 19:3). This, however, should never be used to justify anyone’s continued suffering of spousal or any other kind of abuse. their enemies harvest and eat the food in the fields. The siege was a test of wills to see which army could outlast the other. Jerusalem was under siege for two years. Life became so harsh that people even ate their own children, and dead bodies were left to rot in the streets. All hope was gone.
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 1301
LL LLL LL — ——————K—_rv—“— 3:39-42 Parents discipline children to produce right behavior. 3:52-57 At one point in his ministry, Jeremiah was thrown into God disciplined Judah to produce right living and genuine an empty cistern, and he was left to die in the mire at the bottom worship. We must not complain about corrective or instructive (Jeremiah 38:6-13). But God rescued him. Jeremiah used this discipline in our lives but learn from it, trusting God and being experience as a picture of the nation sinking into sin. If they willing to change. We must allow God’s correction to bring about —_turned to God, he would rescue them. the kind of behavior in our life that pleases him.
Study feature · page 1302
4:1tf This chapter contrasts the situation before the siege of Jerusalem with the situation after the siege. The sights and sounds of prosperity were gone because of the people’s sin. This chapter warns us not to assume that when life is going well, it will always stay that way. We must be careful not to glory in our prosperity or we will fall into spiritual poverty. 4:1-10 When a city was under siege, the city wall—built for protection—sealed the people inside. They could not get out to the fields to get food and water because the enemy was camped around the city. As food in the city ran out, the people watched