Bible in Basic English
In a man's crushing under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
In his turning away the right of a man before the face of the Most High.
In his doing wrong to a man in his cause, the Lord has no pleasure.
Who is able to say a thing, and give effect to it, if it has not been ordered by the Lord?
Do not evil and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
What protest may a living man make, even a man about the punishment of his sin?
Let us make search and put our ways to the test, turning again to the Lord;
Lifting up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens.
We have done wrong and gone against your law; we have not had your forgiveness.
Covering yourself with wrath you have gone after us, cutting us off without pity;
Covering yourself with a cloud, so that prayer may not get through.
You have made us like waste and that for which there is no use, among the peoples.
The mouths of all our haters are open wide against us.
Fear and deep waters have come on us, wasting and destruction.
Rivers of water are running down from my eyes, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
My eyes are streaming without stopping, they have no rest,
Till the Lord's eye is turned on me, till he sees my trouble from heaven.
The Lord is unkind to my soul, more than all the daughters of my town.
They who are against me without cause have gone hard after me as if I was a bird;
They have put an end to my life in the prison, stoning me with stones.
Waters were flowing over my head; I said, I am cut off.
I was making prayer to your name, O Lord, out of the lowest prison.
My voice came to you; let not your ear be shut to my breathing, to my cry.
You came near in the day when I made my prayer to you: you said, Have no fear.
O Lord, you have taken up the cause of my soul, you have made my life safe.
O Lord, you have seen my wrong; be judge in my cause.
You have seen all the evil rewards they have sent on me, and all their designs against me.
Their bitter words have come to your ears, O Lord, and all their designs against me;
The lips of those who came up against me, and their thoughts against me all the day.
Take note of them when they are seated, and when they get up; I am their song.
You will give them their reward, O Lord, answering to the work of their hands.
You will let their hearts be covered over with your curse on them.
You will go after them in wrath, and put an end to them from under the heavens of the Lord.
— Lamentations 3:34-1964, Bible in Basic English
“ל(Lamed) To crush underfoot all the earth’s prisoners, to deprive a person of his rights in the presence of the Most High, to defraud a person in a lawsuit– the Lord does not approve of such things! מ(Mem) Whose command was ever fulfilled unless the Lord decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes– both calamity and blessing? Why should any living person complain when punished for his sins? נ(Nun) Let us carefully examine our ways, and let us return to the LORD. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven: “We have blatantly rebelled; you have not forgiven.” ס(Samek) You shrouded yourself with anger and then pursued us; you killed without mercy. You shrouded yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through. You make us like filthy scum in the estimation of the nations. פ(Pe) All our enemies have gloated over us; Panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction. Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed. ע(Ayin) Tears flow from my eyes and will not stop; there will be no break until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees what has happened. What my eyes see grieves me– all the suffering of the daughters in my city. צ(Tsade) For no good reason my enemies hunted me down like a bird. They shut me up in a pit and threw stones at me. The waters closed over my head; I thought I was about to die. ק(Qof) I have called on your name, O LORD, from the deepest pit. You heard my plea:“Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!” You came near on the day I called to you; you said,“Do not fear!” ר(Resh) O Lord, you championed my cause, you redeemed my life. You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; pronounce judgment on my behalf! You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me. ש(Sin/Shin) You have heard their taunts, O LORD, all their plots against me. My assailants revile and conspire against me all day long. Watch them from morning to evening; I am the object of their mocking songs. ת(Tav) Pay them back what they deserve, O LORD, according to what they have done. Give them a distraught heart; may your curse be on them! Pursue them in anger and eradicate them from under the LORD’s heaven.”
For the Lord does not give a man up for ever.
For though he sends grief, still he will have pity in the full measure of his love.
For he has no pleasure in troubling and causing grief to the children of men.
In a man's crushing under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
In his turning away the right of a man before the face of the Most High.
In his doing wrong to a man in his cause, the Lord has no pleasure.
Who is able to say a thing, and give effect to it, if it has not been ordered by the Lord?
Do not evil and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
What protest may a living man make, even a man about the punishment of his sin?
Let us make search and put our ways to the test, turning again to the Lord;
Lifting up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens.
We have done wrong and gone against your law; we have not had your forgiveness.
Covering yourself with wrath you have gone after us, cutting us off without pity;
Covering yourself with a cloud, so that prayer may not get through.
You have made us like waste and that for which there is no use, among the peoples.
The mouths of all our haters are open wide against us.
Fear and deep waters have come on us, wasting and destruction.
Rivers of water are running down from my eyes, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
My eyes are streaming without stopping, they have no rest,
Till the Lord's eye is turned on me, till he sees my trouble from heaven.
The Lord is unkind to my soul, more than all the daughters of my town.
They who are against me without cause have gone hard after me as if I was a bird;
They have put an end to my life in the prison, stoning me with stones.
Waters were flowing over my head; I said, I am cut off.
I was making prayer to your name, O Lord, out of the lowest prison.
My voice came to you; let not your ear be shut to my breathing, to my cry.
You came near in the day when I made my prayer to you: you said, Have no fear.
O Lord, you have taken up the cause of my soul, you have made my life safe.
O Lord, you have seen my wrong; be judge in my cause.
You have seen all the evil rewards they have sent on me, and all their designs against me.
Their bitter words have come to your ears, O Lord, and all their designs against me;
The lips of those who came up against me, and their thoughts against me all the day.
Take note of them when they are seated, and when they get up; I am their song.
You will give them their reward, O Lord, answering to the work of their hands.
You will let their hearts be covered over with your curse on them.
You will go after them in wrath, and put an end to them from under the heavens of the Lord.