Moff LAM Chapter 3

3 

I am the man who has suffered

under the rod of his anger;

2 

I am the man he has been leading

on a dark, unlighted road;

3 

he has baffled me over and again,

all the day long;

4 

he has worn away my skin and flesh,

and broken my bones;

5 

he has piled troubles up against me,

right round my head;

6 

he has made me dwell in the dark,

like men long dead;

7 

he has walled me round, till I cannot go out,

he has loaded me with chains;

8 

and when I fain would cry for help,

he stops my prayer;

9 

he blocks my way with boulders,

till my course is twisted;

10 

he lurks for me like a bear,

like a lion in ambush;

11 

he has chased me, mangled me

and left me all forlorn;

12 

he has bent his bow and made me

a target for his arrows;

13 

he has driven his shafts home,

right into me;

14 

I am the butt of all nations,

the burden of their satire all day long.

15 

He has filled me up with bitter herbs,

and sated me with wormwood;

16 

he has broken my teeth with gravel,

and covered me with ashes.

17 

He has bereft me of all bliss,

I forget what it is to prosper;

18 

I said, “My strength is gone,

and my hope in the Eternal!”

19 

The thought of my stress and scattering

is bitterness, bitter to me;

20 

my soul is always thinking of it,

and is crushed within me.

21 

But I will call to mind,

to give me hope,

22 

that the Eternal’s love is lasting,

and will never fail.

23 

“Fresh every morning is thy kindness,

great is thy faithfulness!”

24 

The Eternal is my allotted share, I say;

therefore I will hope in him.

25 

The Eternal is good to those who wait for him,

to a soul that seeks him.

26 

It is good to wait in silence

for the help of the Eternal;

27 

it is good to bear without a word

the rebuke of the Eternal;

28 

let a man sit alone in silence,

since it is the Eternal’s hand;

29 

let him lay his lips to the dust--

there may be hope for him;

30 

let him offer his cheek to the striker,

and suffer all man’s taunts.

31 

For the Lord will not always discard life;

32 

he wounds, but he has pity,

so rich is his love;

33 

he is loth to pain or grieve

the sons of men.

34 

When a whole people is taken prisoner

and downtrodden,

35 

when a man is deprived of his rights,

under the eyes of the Most High,

36 

when a man does not get justice--

does the Lord not see it?

37 

Who can carry out his will,

unless it is the Lord’s order?

38 

Are not weal and woe alike

decreed by the Most High?

39 

Then why should mortal men complain,

when they are punished for their sins?

40 

Let us scan and search our lives,

let us return to the Eternal,

41 

lifting our hearts up with our hands

to God in heaven;

42 

“The sin is ours, we have rebelled,

and thou--thou hast not pardoned;

43 

thou hast veiled thy face in anger,

pursuing us without pity;

44 

thou hast covered thyself with a cloud

no prayer can pierce;

45 

thou hast made us mere scum and refuse

in the world;

46 

our foes, they are all yelling against us;

47 

dismay and destruction befall us,

ravage and ruin.”

48 

Tears are flooding from my eyes

for the ruin of my people;

51 

my eyes are sore with sorrow

for all the woes of my city;

49 

my eyes stream without ceasing,

without rest,

50 

till the Eternal will look down

from heaven above.

52 

They have chased me like a bird,

with no reason for their hate;

53 

they dropped me to die in a dungeon,

flinging stones at me;

54 

waters flowed over my head,

“I am lost,” I said.

55 

From the depth of the dungeon I called,

O Eternal, to thee; 56 thou didst hear me crying,

“Give ear to my plea”;

57 

thou camest at my call,

bidding me, “Fear not.”

58 

O Lord, thou didst take my part

and save my life.

59 

And now thou seest my wrongs;

oh vindicate me!

60 

Thou hast seen all the revenge

they plotted against me,

61 

hast heard all the insults

they plotted against me,

62 

the talk of the men who attack me,

their muttering all day long.

63 

Look at them, sitting or rising--

I am the burden of their satire!

64 

Thou wilt requite them, O Eternal,

for what they have done;

65 

thou wilt blind their vision--

thy curse be upon them!--

66 

thou wilt chase them angrily,

and crush them out of life.