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There Is Still Hope
3
The Prophet Speaks:
1 I have suffered much
because God was angry.
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3
  Chapter recording
List of all recordings of KJV
1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
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2 He chased me into a dark place,
where no light could enter.
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2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
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3 I am the only one he punishes
over and over again,
without ever stopping.
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3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.
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4 God caused my skin and flesh
to waste away,
and he crushed my bones.
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4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.
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5 He attacked and surrounded me
with hardships and trouble;
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5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
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6 he forced me to sit in the dark
like someone long dead.
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6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
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7 God built a fence around me
that I cannot climb over,
and he chained me down.
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7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.
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8 Even when I shouted
and prayed for help,
he refused to listen.
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8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.
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9 God put big rocks in my way
and made me follow
a crooked path.
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9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.
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10 God was like a bear or a lion
waiting in ambush for me;
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10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
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11 he dragged me from the road,
then tore me to shreds.  m 3.11 shreds: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 11.
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11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.
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12 God took careful aim
and shot his arrows
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12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
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13 straight through my heart.
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13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. arrows: Heb. sons
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14 I am a joke to everyone—
no one ever stops
making fun of me.
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14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.
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15 God has turned my life sour.
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15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. bitterness: Heb. bitternesses
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16 He made me eat gravel
and rubbed me in the dirt.
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16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. covered...: or, rolled me in the ashes
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17 I cannot find peace
or remember happiness.
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17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. prosperity: Heb. good
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18 I tell myself, “I am finished!
I can't count on the Lord
to do anything for me.”
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18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
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19 Just thinking of my troubles
and my lonely wandering
makes me miserable.
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19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. Remembering: or, Remember
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20 That's all I ever think about,
and I am depressed. n 3.20 I am depressed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
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20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. humbled: Heb. bowed
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21 Then I remember something
that fills me with hope.
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21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. recall...: Heb. make to return to my heart
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22 The Lord's kindness never fails!
If he had not been merciful,
we would have been destroyed. o 3.22 destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 22.
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22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
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23 The Lord can always be trusted
to show mercy each morning.
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23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
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24 Deep in my heart I say,
“The Lord is all I need;
I can depend on him!”
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24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
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25 The Lord is kind to everyone
who trusts and obeys him.
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25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
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26 It is good to wait patiently
for the Lord to save us.
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26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
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27 When we are young,
it is good to struggle hard
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27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
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28 and to sit silently alone,
if this is what
the Lord intends.
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28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
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29 Being rubbed in the dirt
can teach us a lesson; p 3.29 lesson: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 29.
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29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
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30 we can also learn from insults
and hard knocks.
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30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.
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31 The Lord won't always reject us!
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31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:
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32 He causes a lot of suffering,
but he also has pity
because of his great love.
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32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
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33 The Lord doesn't enjoy
sending grief or pain.
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33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. willingly: Heb. from his heart
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34 Don't trample prisoners
under your feet
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34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
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35 or cheat anyone out of
what is rightfully theirs.
God Most High sees everything,
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35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, the most High: or, a superior
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36 and he knows
when you refuse
to give someone a fair trial.
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36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. approveth not: or, seeth not
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37 No one can do anything
without the Lord's approval.
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37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
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38 Good and bad each happen
at the command
of God Most High.
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38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?
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39 We're still alive!
We shouldn't complain
when we are being punished
for our sins.
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39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? complain: or, murmur
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40 Instead, we should think
about the way we are living,
and turn back to the Lord.
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40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
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41 When we lift our hands
in prayer to God in heaven,
we should offer him our hearts
and say,
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41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
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42 “We've sinned!
We've rebelled against you,
and you haven't forgiven us!
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42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
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43 Anger is written all over you,
as you pursue and slaughter us
without showing pity.
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43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
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44 You are behind a wall of clouds
that blocks out our prayers.
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44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.
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45 You allowed nations
to treat us like garbage;
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45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.
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46 our enemies curse us.
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46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
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47 We are terrified and trapped,
caught and crushed.”
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47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.
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48 My people are destroyed!
Tears flood my eyes,
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48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
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49 and they won't stop
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49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
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50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and helps.
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50 Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.
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51 I am horrified when I see
what enemies have done
to the young women of our city.
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51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city. mine heart: Heb. my soul because...: or, more than all
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52 No one had reason to hate me,
but I was hunted down
like a bird.
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52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
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53 Then they tried to kill me
by tossing me into a pit
and throwing stones at me.
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53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
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54 Water covered my head—
I thought I was gone.
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54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
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55 From the bottom of the pit,
I prayed to you, Lord.
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55 I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.
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56 I begged you to listen.
“Help!” I shouted. “Save me!”
You answered my prayer
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56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
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57 and came when I was in need.
You told me, “Don't worry!”
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57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.
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58 You rescued me
and saved my life.
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58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
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59 You saw them abuse me, Lord,
so make things right.
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59 O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.
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60 You know every plot
they have made against me.
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60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.
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61 Yes, you know their insults
and their evil plans.
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61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations against me;
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62 All day long they attack
with words and whispers.
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62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.
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63 No matter what they are doing,
they keep on mocking me.
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63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.
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64 Pay them back for everything
they have done, Lord!
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64 Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.
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65 Put your curse on them
and make them suffer. q 3.65 make them suffer: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
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65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. sorrow...: or, obstinacy of heart
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66 Get angry and go after them
until not a trace is left
under the heavens.
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66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD.
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© 1999 American Bible Society |
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