Bible Reading Plan – Day 216

₁I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God.

₂He drove me deeper and deeper into darkness

₃And beat me again and again with merciless blows.

₄He has left my flesh open and raw, and has broken my bones.

₅He has shut me in a prison of misery and anguish.

₆He has forced me to live in the stagnant darkness of death.

₇He has bound me in chains; I am a prisoner with no hope of escape.

₈I cry aloud for help, but God refuses to listen;

₉I stagger as I walk; stone walls block me wherever I turn.

₁₀He waited for me like a bear; he pounced on me like a lion.

₁₁He chased me off the road, tore me to pieces, and left me.

₁₂He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.

₁₃He shot his arrows deep into my body.

₁₄People laugh at me all day long; I am a joke to them all.

₁₅Bitter suffering is all he has given me for food and drink.

₁₆He rubbed my face in the ground and broke my teeth on the gravel.

₁₇I have forgotten what health and peace and happiness are.

₁₈I have not much longer to live; my hope in the LORD is gone.

₁₉The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison;

₂₀I think of it constantly and my spirit is depressed.

₂₁Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing:

₂₂The LORD's unfailing love and mercy still continue,

₂₃Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

₂₄The LORD is all I have, and so I put my hope in him.

₂₅The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him,

₂₆So it is best for us to wait in patience — to wait for him to save us —

₂₇And it is best to learn this patience in our youth.

₂₈When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience;

₂₉We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope.

₃₀Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all.

₃₁The Lord is merciful and will not reject us for ever.

₃₂He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.

₃₃He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.

₃₄The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison;

₃₅He knows when we are denied the rights he gave us;

₃₆When justice is perverted in court, he knows.

₃₇The will of the Lord alone is always carried out.

₃₈Good and evil alike take place at his command.

₃₉Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?

₄₀Let us examine our ways and turn back to the LORD.

₄₁Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray,

₄₂“We have sinned and rebelled, and you, O LORD, have not forgiven us.

₄₃“You pursued us and killed us; your mercy was hidden by your anger,

₄₄By a cloud of fury too thick for our prayers to get through.

₄₅You have made us the refuse heap of the world.

₄₆“We are insulted and mocked by all our enemies.

₄₇We have been through disaster and ruin; we live in danger and fear.

₄₈My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people.

₄₉“My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream

₅₀Until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees us.

₅₁My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women of the city.

₅₂“I was trapped like a bird by enemies who had no cause to hate me.

₅₃They threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone.

₅₄Water began to close over me, and I thought death was near.

₅₅“From the bottom of the pit, O LORD, I cried out to you,

₅₆And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard.

₅₇You answered me and told me not to be afraid.

₅₈“You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life.

₅₉Judge in my favour; you know the wrongs done against me.

₆₀You know how my enemies hate me and how they plot against me.

₆₁“You have heard them insult me, O LORD; you know all their plots.

₆₂All day long they talk about me and make their plans.

₆₃From morning till night they jeer at me.

₆₄“Punish them for what they have done, O LORD;

₆₅Curse them and fill them with despair!

₆₆Hunt them down and wipe them off the earth!”

₁Our glittering gold has grown dull;

the stones of the Temple lie scattered in the streets.

₂Zion's young men were as precious to us as gold,

but now they are treated like common clay pots.

₃Even a mother wolf will nurse her cubs,

but my people are like ostriches, cruel to their young.

₄They let their babies die of hunger and thirst;

children are begging for food that no one will give them.

₅People who once ate the finest foods die starving in the streets;

those raised in luxury are pawing through refuse for food.

₆My people have been punished even more than the inhabitants of Sodom,

which met with a sudden downfall at the hands of God.

₇Our princes were undefiled and pure as snow,

vigorous and strong, glowing with health.

₈Now they lie unknown in the streets, their faces blackened in death;

their skin, dry as wood, has shrivelled on their bones.

₉Those who died in the war were better off than those who died later,

who starved slowly to death, with no food to keep them alive.

₁₀The disaster that came to my people brought horror;

loving mothers boiled their own children for food.

₁₁The LORD turned loose the full force of his fury;

he lit a fire in Zion that burnt it to the ground.

₁₂No one anywhere, not even rulers of foreign nations,

believed that any invader could enter Jerusalem's gates.

₁₃But it happened because her prophets sinned and her priests were guilty

of causing the death of innocent people.

₁₄Her leaders wandered through the streets like the blind,

so stained with blood that no one would touch them.

₁₅“Go away!” people shouted. “You're defiled! Don't touch me!”

So they wandered from nation to nation, welcomed by no one.

₁₆The LORD had no more concern for them; he scattered them himself.

He showed no regard for our priests and leaders.

₁₇For help that never came, we looked until we could look no longer.

We kept waiting for help from a nation that had none to give.

₁₈The enemy was watching for us; we could not even walk in the streets.

Our days were over; the end had come.

₁₉Swifter than eagles swooping from the sky, they chased us down.

They tracked us down in the hills; they took us by surprise in the desert.

₂₀They captured the source of our life, the king the LORD had chosen,

the one we had trusted to protect us from every invader.

₂₁Laugh on, people of Edom and Uz; be glad while you can.

Your disaster is coming too; you too will stagger naked in shame.

₂₂Zion has paid for her sin; the LORD will not keep us in exile any longer.

But Edom, the LORD will punish you; he will expose your guilty deeds.

₁Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us.

Look at us, and see our disgrace.

₂Our property is in the hands of strangers;

foreigners are living in our homes.

₃Our fathers have been killed by the enemy,

and now our mothers are widows.

₄We must pay for the water we drink;

we must buy the wood we need for fuel.

₅Driven hard like donkeys or camels,

we are tired, but are allowed no rest.

₆To get food enough to stay alive,

we went begging to Egypt and Assyria.

₇Our ancestors sinned, but now they are gone,

and we are suffering for their sins.

₈We are ruled by those who are no better than slaves,

and no one can save us from their power.

₉Murderers roam through the countryside;

we risk our lives when we look for food.

₁₀Hunger has made us burn with fever,

until our skin is as hot as an oven.

₁₁Our wives have been raped on Mount Zion itself;

in every Judean village our daughters have been forced to submit.

₁₂Our leaders have been taken and hanged;

our elders are shown no respect.

₁₃Our young men are forced to grind corn like slaves;

boys go staggering under heavy loads of wood.

₁₄The old people no longer sit at the city gate,

and the young people no longer make music.

₁₅Happiness has gone out of our lives;

grief has taken the place of our dances.

₁₆Nothing is left of all we were proud of.

We sinned, and now we are doomed.

₁₇We are sick at our very hearts

and can hardly see through our tears,

₁₈because Mount Zion lies lonely and deserted,

and wild jackals prowl through its ruins.

₁₉But you, O LORD, are king for ever,

and will rule to the end of time.

₂₀Why have you abandoned us so long?

Will you ever remember us again?

₂₁Bring us back to you, LORD! Bring us back!

Restore our ancient glory.

₂₂Or have you rejected us for ever?

Is there no limit to your anger?