King James Version KJV
New Revised Standard NRS
1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
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I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God's wrath;
2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
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he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;
3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.
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against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long.
4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.
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He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones;
5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
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he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;
6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
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he has made me sit in darkness like the dead of long ago.
7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.
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He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me;
8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.
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though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;
9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.
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he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked.
10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
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He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding;
11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.
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he led me off my way and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate;
12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
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he bent his bow and set me as a mark for his arrow.
13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.
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He shot into my vitals the arrows of his quiver;
14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.
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I have become the laughingstock of all my people, the object of their taunt-songs all day long.
15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
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He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
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He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;
17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.
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my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
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so I say, "Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord."
19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
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The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall!
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
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My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.
21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
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But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
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they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
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"The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."
25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
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The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
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It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
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It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth,
28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
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to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it,
29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
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to put one's mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope),
30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.
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to give one's cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:
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For the Lord will not reject forever.
32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
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Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
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for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.
34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
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When all the prisoners of the land are crushed under foot,
35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,
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when human rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High,
36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.
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when one's case is subverted —does the Lord not see it?
37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
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Who can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it?
38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?
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Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?
39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
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Why should any who draw breath complain about the punishment of their sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
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Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
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Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
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We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
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You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity;
44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.
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you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.
45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.
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You have made us filth and rubbish among the peoples.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
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All our enemies have opened their mouths against us;
47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.
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panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction.
48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
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My eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of my people.
49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
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My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite,
50 Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.
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until the Lord from heaven looks down and sees.
51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.
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My eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the young women in my city.
52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
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Those who were my enemies without cause have hunted me like a bird;
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
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they flung me alive into a pit and hurled stones on me;
54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
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water closed over my head; I said, "I am lost."
55 I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.
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I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit;
56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
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you heard my plea, "Do not close your ear to my cry for help, but give me relief!"
57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.
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You came near when I called on you; you said, "Do not fear!"
58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
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You have taken up my cause, O Lord, you have redeemed my life.
59 O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.
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You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; judge my cause.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.
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You have seen all their malice, all their plots against me.
61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations against me;
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You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their plots against me.
62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.
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The whispers and murmurs of my assailants are against me all day long.
63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.
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Whether they sit or rise—see, I am the object of their taunt-songs.
64 Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.
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Pay them back for their deeds, O Lord, according to the work of their hands!
65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.
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Give them anguish of heart; your curse be on them!
66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD.
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Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the Lord's heavens.
The King James Version is in the public domain.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.