The Prophet’s Afflictions

3 I[fn] am the man who has seen affliction

under the rod of [God’s] wrath.

2 He has driven me away and made me walk

in darkness instead of light.

3 Indeed, He keeps turning His hand

against me all day long.

4 He has worn away my flesh and skin;

He has shattered my bones.

5 He has besieged me and surrounded me

with bitterness and hardship.

6 He has made me dwell in darkness

like those dead for ages.

7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;

He has weighed me down with chains.

8 Even when I cry out and plead for help,

He shuts out my prayer.

9 He has barred my ways with cut stones;

He has made my paths crooked.

10 He is a bear lying in wait,

a lion hiding in ambush.

11 He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces;

He left me without help.

12 He bent His bow

and set me as the target for His arrow.

13 He pierced my kidneys

with His arrows.

14 I am a laughingstock to all my people;

they mock me in song all day long.

15 He has filled me with bitterness;

He has intoxicated me with wormwood.

16 He has ground my teeth with gravel

and trampled me in the dust.

17 My soul has been deprived of peace;

I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18 So I say, “My strength has perished,

along with my hope from the LORD.”