Book - Lamentations - Chapter = 3 --> NLT
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I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the LORD's anger.
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He has brought me into deep darkness, shutting out all light.
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He has turned against me. Day and night his hand is heavy upon me.
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He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones.
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He has attacked me and surrounded me with anguish and distress.
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He has buried me in a dark place, like a person long dead.
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He has walled me in, and I cannot escape. He has bound me in heavy chains.
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And though I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayers.
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He has blocked my path with a high stone wall. He has twisted the road before me with many detours.
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He hid like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me.
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He dragged me off the path and tore me with his claws, leaving me helpless and desolate.
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He bent his bow and aimed it squarely at me.
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He shot his arrows deep into my heart.
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My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs.
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He has filled me with bitterness. He has given me a cup of deep sorrow to drink.
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He has made me grind my teeth on gravel. He has rolled me in the dust.
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Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
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I cry out, "My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!"
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The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.
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I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.
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Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
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The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.
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Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.
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I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!"
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The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him.
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So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.
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And it is good for the young to submit to the yoke of his discipline.
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Let them sit alone in silence beneath the LORD's demands.
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Let them lie face down in the dust; then at last there is hope for them.
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Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them. Let them accept the insults of their enemies.
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For the Lord does not abandon anyone forever.
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Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion according to the greatness of his unfailing love.
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For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.
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But the leaders of his people trampled prisoners underfoot.
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They deprived people of their God-given rights in defiance of the Most High.
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They perverted justice in the courts. Do they think the Lord didn't see it?
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Can anything happen without the Lord's permission?
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Is it not the Most High who helps one and harms another?
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Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?
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Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn again in repentance to the LORD.
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Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say,
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"We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us.
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"You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down, and slaughtered us without mercy.
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You have hidden yourself in a cloud so our prayers cannot reach you.
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You have discarded us as refuse and garbage among the nations.
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"All our enemies have spoken out against us.
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We are filled with fear, for we are trapped, desolate, and ruined."
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Streams of tears flow from my eyes because of the destruction of my people!
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My tears flow down endlessly. They will not stop
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until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.
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My heart is breaking over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.
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My enemies, whom I have never harmed, chased me like a bird.
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They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me.
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The water flowed above my head, and I cried out, "This is the end!"
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But I called on your name, LORD, from deep within the well,
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and you heard me! You listened to my pleading; you heard my weeping!
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Yes, you came at my despairing cry and told me, "Do not fear."
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Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case! For you have redeemed my life.
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You have seen the wrong they have done to me, LORD. Be my judge, and prove me right.
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You have seen the plots my enemies have laid against me.
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LORD, you have heard the vile names they call me. You know all about the plans they have made--
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the plots my enemies whisper and mutter against me all day long.
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Look at them! In all their activities, they constantly mock me with their songs.
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Pay them back, LORD, for all the evil they have done.
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Give them hard and stubborn hearts, and then let your curse fall upon them!
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Chase them down in your anger, destroying them from beneath the LORD's heavens.