1
I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
2
He has led me and made me walk In darkness and not in light.
3
Surely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day.
4
He has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones.
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He has besieged me And surrounded me with bitterness and woe.
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He has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago.
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He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy.
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Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer.
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He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.
10
He has been to me a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in ambush.
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He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; He has made me desolate.
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He has bent His bow And set me up as a target for the arrow.
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He has caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins.
14
I have become the ridicule of all my people-- Their taunting song all the day.
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He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood.
16
He has also broken my teeth with gravel, And covered me with ashes.
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You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.
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And I said, "My strength and my hope Have perished from the Lord."
19
Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall.
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My soul still remembers And sinks within me.
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This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
22
Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
23
They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
24
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"
25
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.