י (Yod)
3:28 Let a person 1 sit alone in silence,
when the Lord 2 is disciplining him. 3
3:29 Let him bury his face in the dust; 4
perhaps there is hope.
3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; 5
let him have his fill of insults.
כ (Kaf)
3:31 For the Lord 6 will not
reject us forever. 7
3:32 Though he causes us 8 grief, he then has compassion on us 9
according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. 10
3:33 For he is not predisposed to afflict 11
or to grieve people. 12
ל (Lamed)
3:34 To crush underfoot
all the earth’s prisoners, 13
3:35 to deprive a person 14 of his rights 15
in the presence of the Most High,
3:36 to defraud a person in a lawsuit –
the Lord 16 does not approve 17 of such things!
מ (Mem)
3:37 Whose command was ever fulfilled 18
unless the Lord 19 decreed it?
3:38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes –
both calamity and blessing? 20
3:39 Why should any living person 21 complain
when punished for his sins? 22
נ (Nun)
3:40 Let us carefully examine our ways, 23
and let us return to the Lord.
3:41 Let us lift up our hearts 24 and our hands
to God in heaven:
3:42 “We 25 have blatantly rebelled; 26
you 27 have not forgiven.”
ס (Samek)
3:43 You shrouded yourself 28 with anger and then pursued us;
you killed without mercy.
3:44 You shrouded yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
3:45 You make us like filthy scum 29
in the estimation 30 of the nations.
פ (Pe)
3:46 All our enemies have gloated over us; 31
3:47 Panic and pitfall 32 have come upon us,
devastation and destruction. 33
3:48 Streams 34 of tears flow from my eyes 35
because my people 36 are destroyed. 37
ע (Ayin)
3:49 Tears flow from my eyes 38 and will not stop;
there will be no break 39
3:50 until the Lord looks down from heaven
and sees what has happened. 40
3:51 What my eyes see 41 grieves me 42 –
all the suffering of the daughters in my city. 43
צ (Tsade)
3:52 For no good reason 44 my enemies
hunted me down 45 like a bird.
3:53 They shut me 46 up in a pit
and threw stones at me.
3:54 The waters closed over my head;
I thought 47 I was about to die. 48
ק (Qof)
3:55 I have called on your name, O Lord,
from the deepest pit. 49
3:56 You heard 50 my plea: 51
“Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!” 52
3:57 You came near 53 on the day I called to you;
you said, 54 “Do not fear!”
ר (Resh)
3:58 O Lord, 55 you championed 56 my cause, 57
you redeemed my life.
3:59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
pronounce judgment on my behalf! 58
3:60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all their plots against me. 59
ש (Sin/Shin)
3:61 You have heard 60 their taunts, O Lord,
all their plots against me.
3:62 My assailants revile and conspire 61
against me all day long.
3:63 Watch them from morning to evening; 62
I am the object of their mocking songs.
ת (Tav)
3:64 Pay them back 63 what they deserve, 64 O Lord,
according to what they 65 have done. 66
3:65 Give them a distraught heart; 67
may your curse be on them!
3:66 Pursue them 68 in anger and eradicate them
from under the Lord’s heaven.