Megillot II. Class 3. Lamentations 3. Everyman

(1) I am the man who has known affliction
Under the rod of His wrath; (2) Me He drove on and on
In unrelieved darkness; (3) On none but me He brings down His hand
Again and again, without cease. (4) He has worn away my flesh and skin;
He has shattered my bones. (5) All around me He has built
Misery and hardship; (6) He has made me dwell in darkness,
Like those long dead. (7) He has walled me in and I cannot break out;
He has weighed me down with chains. (8) And when I cry and plead,
He shuts out my prayer; (9) He has walled in my ways with hewn blocks,
He has made my paths a maze.
(10) He is a lurking bear to me,
A lion in hiding; (11) He has forced me off my way and mangled me,
He has left me numb. (12) He has bent His bow and made me
The target of His arrows: (13) He has shot into my vitals
The shafts of His quiver. (14) I have become a laughingstock to all people,
The butt of their gibes all day long. (15) He has filled me with bitterness,
Sated me with wormwood.
(16) He has broken my teeth on gravel,
Has ground me into the dust. (17) My life was bereft of peace,
I forgot what happiness was. (18) I thought my strength and hope
Had perished before the LORD. (19) To recall my distress and my misery
Was wormwood and poison; (20) Whenever I thought of them,
I was bowed low.

(21) But this do I call to mind,
Therefore I have hope: (22) The kindness of the LORD has not ended,
His mercies are not spent. (23) They are renewed every morning—
Ample is Your grace! (24) “The LORD is my portion,” I say with full heart;
Therefore will I hope in Him. (25) The LORD is good to those who trust in Him,
To the one who seeks Him; (26) It is good to wait patiently
Till rescue comes from the LORD. (27) It is good for a man, when young,
To bear a yoke; (28) Let him sit alone and be patient,
When He has laid it upon him. (29) Let him put his mouth to the dust—
There may yet be hope. (30) Let him offer his cheek to the smiter;
Let him be surfeited with mockery. (31) For the Lord does not
Reject forever, (32) But first afflicts, then pardons
In His abundant kindness. (33) For He does not willfully bring grief
Or affliction to man, (34) Crushing under His feet
All the prisoners of the earth. (35) To deny a man his rights
In the presence of the Most High, (36) To wrong a man in his cause—
This the Lord does not choose. (37) Whose decree was ever fulfilled,
Unless the Lord willed it? (38) Is it not at the word of the Most High,
That weal and woe befall? (39) Of what shall a living man complain?
Each one of his own sins!

(40) Let us search and examine our ways,
And turn back to the LORD; (41) Let us lift up our hearts with our hands
To God in heaven: (42) We have transgressed and rebelled,
And You have not forgiven. (43) You have clothed Yourself in anger and pursued us,
You have slain without pity. (44) You have screened Yourself off with a cloud,
That no prayer may pass through. (45) You have made us filth and refuse
In the midst of the peoples. (46) All our enemies loudly
Rail against us. (47) Panic and pitfall are our lot,
Death and destruction. (48) My eyes shed streams of water
Over the ruin of my poor people.
(49) My eyes shall flow without cease,
Without respite, (50) Until the LORD looks down
And beholds from heaven. (51) My eyes have brought me grief
Over all the maidens of my city. (52) My foes have snared me like a bird,
Without any cause. (53) They have ended my life in a pit
And cast stones at me. (54) Waters flowed over my head;
I said: I am lost!

(55) I have called on Your name, O LORD,
From the depths of the Pit. (56) Hear my plea;
Do not shut Your ear
To my groan, to my cry! (57) You have ever drawn nigh when I called You;
You have said, “Do not fear!” (58) You championed my cause, O Lord,
You have redeemed my life. (59) You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done me;
Oh, vindicate my right! (60) You have seen all their malice,
All their designs against me; (61) You have heard, O LORD, their taunts,
All their designs against me, (62) The mouthings and pratings of my adversaries
Against me all day long. (63) See how, at their ease or at work,
I am the butt of their gibes. (64) Give them, O LORD, their deserts
According to their deeds. (65) Give them anguish of heart;
Your curse be upon them! (66) Oh, pursue them in wrath and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD!

(7) Now He has truly worn me out;
You have destroyed my whole community. (8) You have shriveled me;
My gauntness serves as a witness,
And testifies against me. (9) In His anger He tears and persecutes me;
He gnashes His teeth at me;
My foe stabs me with his eyes. (10) They open wide their mouths at me;
Reviling me, they strike my cheeks;
They inflame themselves against me. (11) God hands me over to an evil man,
Thrusts me into the clutches of the wicked. (12) I had been untroubled, and He broke me in pieces;
He took me by the scruff and shattered me;
He set me up as His target; (13) His bowmen surrounded me;
He pierced my kidneys; He showed no mercy;
He spilled my bile onto the ground. (14) He breached me, breach after breach;
He rushed at me like a warrior. (15) I sewed sackcloth over my skin;
I buried my glory in the dust.

(1) A psalm of David.
The LORD is my shepherd;
I lack nothing. (2) He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me to water in places of repose;- (3) He renews my life;
He guides me in right paths
as befits His name. (4) Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness,
I fear no harm, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.
(5) You spread a table for me in full view of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
my drink is abundant. (6) Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for many long years.

(10) Some lived in deepest darkness,
bound in cruel irons, (11) because they defied the word of God,
spurned the counsel of the Most High. (12) He humbled their hearts through suffering;
they stumbled with no one to help. (13) In their adversity they cried to the LORD,
and He rescued them from their troubles. (14) He brought them out of deepest darkness,
broke their bonds asunder. (15) Let them praise the LORD for His steadfast love,
His wondrous deeds for mankind; (16) for He shattered gates of bronze,
He broke their iron bars.

The Talmud's description of the travails of captivity.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: Concerning this matter that the Sages stated, that redeeming captives is a great mitzva, from where is it derived?

Rabba bar Mari said to him: As it is written: “And it shall come to pass, when they say to you: To where shall we depart? Then you shall tell them: So says the Lord: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for famine, to famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity” (Jeremiah 15:2).

And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Whichever punishment is written later in this verse is more severe than the one before it. Rabbi Yoḥanan explains: The sword is worse than death. If you wish, say that this is learned from a verse; if you wish, say instead that it is derived by way of logical reasoning. If you wish, say that this is derived by way of logical reasoning: This punishment, i.e., death by sword, mutilates the body, but that punishment, i.e., natural death, does not mutilate it. And if you wish, say that the fact that the sword is worse than death is learned from a verse: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His pious ones” (Psalms 116:15). Famine is worse than the sword. If you wish, say that this is derived by way of logical reasoning: This one, who dies of famine, suffers greatly before departing from this world, but that one, who dies by the sword, does not suffer. If you wish, say instead that the fact that famine is worse than the sword is learned from a verse: “More fortunate were the victims of the sword than the victims of famine” (Lamentations 4:9). And captivity is worse than all of them, as it includes all of them, i.e., famine, the sword, and death....

(64) Give them, O LORD, their deserts
According to their deeds. (65) Give them anguish of heart;
Your curse be upon them! (66) Oh, pursue them in wrath and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD!

(22) The kindness of the LORD has not ended,
His mercies are not spent. (23) They are renewed every morning—
Ample is Your grace!

(1) I give thanks to You living and everlasting King for You have restored my soul with mercy. Great is Your faithfulness.