ח KhetBecause of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for His mercies never end.

ב BetHe has worn away my flesh and skin;
He has shattered my bones.

He has laid siege against me,
encircling me with bitterness and hardship.

He has made me dwell in darkness
like those who have been dead for ages.

ג GimelHe has walled me in so I cannot escape;
He has weighed me down with chains.

He has walled in my ways with cut stones;
He has made my paths crooked.

Even when I cry out and plead for help,
He rejects my prayer.

He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces;
He left me desolate.

ד DaletHe is a bear waiting in ambush,
a lion in hiding.

He strung His bow
and set me as the target for His arrow.

I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s wrath.

ז ZayinRemember my affliction and my homelessness,
the wormwood and the poison.

I am a laughingstock to all my people,
mocked by their songs all day long.

My soul has been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is.

ה HeHe pierced my kidneys
with His arrows.

ט TetThe Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the person who seeks Him.

They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness!

Then I thought: My future is lost,
as well as my hope from the Lord.

ו VavHe ground my teeth on gravel
and made me cower in the dust.

I continually remember them
and have become depressed.

He filled me with bitterness,
satiated me with wormwood.

It is good to wait quietly
for deliverance from the Lord.

כ KafFor the Lord
will not reject us forever.

I say: The Lord is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in Him.

He has driven me away and forced me to walk
in darkness instead of light.

Yes, He repeatedly turns His hand
against me all day long.

Let him offer his cheek
to the one who would strike him;
let him be filled with shame.

It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is still young.

י YodLet him sit alone and be silent,
for God has disciplined him.

Let him put his mouth in the dust—
perhaps there is still hope.

Yet I call this to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

מ MemWho is there who speaks and it happens,
unless the Lord has ordained it?

נ NunLet us search out and examine our ways,
and turn back to the Lord.

Do not both adversity and good
come from the mouth of the Most High?

Even if He causes suffering,
He will show compassion
according to His abundant, faithful love.

ל LamedCrushing all the prisoners of the land
beneath one’s feet,

For He does not enjoy bringing affliction
or suffering on mankind.

Why should any living person complain,
any man, because of the punishment for his sins?

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

denying justice to a man
in the presence of the Most High,

ק QofI called on Your name, Yahweh,
from the depths of the Pit.

You come near when I call on You;
You say: “Do not be afraid.”

or suppressing a person’s lawsuit—
the Lord does not approve of these things.

ס SamekYou have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us;
You have killed without compassion.

You have made us disgusting filth
among the peoples.

My eyes bring me grief
because of the fate of all the women in my city.

My eyes flow with streams of tears
because of the destruction of my dear people.

ר ReshYou defend my cause, Lord;
You redeem my life.

צ TsadeFor no apparent reason, my enemies
hunted me like a bird.

We have sinned and rebelled;
You have not forgiven.

ע AyinMy eyes overflow unceasingly,
without end,

You have covered Yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.

פ PeAll our enemies
open their mouths against us.

We have experienced panic and pitfall,
devastation and destruction.

They dropped me alive into a pit
and threw stones at me.

ת TavYou will pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
according to the work of their hands.

The slander and murmuring of my opponents
attack me all day long.

You hear my plea:
Do not ignore my cry for relief.

You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
under Your heavens.

Water flooded over my head,
and I thought: I’m going to die!

until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.

שׂ Sin/ שׁ ShinLord, You hear their insults,
all their plots against me.

When they sit and when they rise, look,
I am mocked by their songs.

You see all their malice,
all their plots against me.

You will give them a heart filled with anguish.
May Your curse be on them!

Lord, You see the wrong done to me;
judge my case.