Lamentations 3:1-8

1This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter. I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD ’s wrath.

2He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light;

3indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.

4He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones.

5He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

6He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.

7He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains.

8Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.