1 I am the man who has seen affliction {oni: crushing hardship} by the rod of His {YHWH, Disciplining Judge} wrath.
2 He {YHWH, Disciplining Sovereign} has driven me and made me walk in darkness {choshekh: absence of illumination} and not light.
3 Surely He {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} turns His hand {yādô: divine power} against me all day long.
4 He {YHWH, Divine Afflicter} has worn out my flesh and my skin; He has broken my bones {atzmotai: bodily frame}.
5 He built siegeworks {banah: constructed barricades} against me and surrounded me with bitterness {rosh: poisoned anguish} and hardship.
6 He has caused me to dwell in darkness {machashakim: deep shadow} like those long dead {mete: deceased ones}.
7 He has walled {gadar: complete enclosure} me in so that I cannot go out; He has made my bronze chain heavy {nechash'ti: bronze restraint}.
8 Also, even when I cry out and shout, He {YHWH, Silent Judge} shuts out my prayer {tefillah: petition to God}.
9 He has walled in my ways {derakhai: life course} with hewn stone; He has made my paths {netivotai: personal routes} crooked.
10 He {YHWH, Afflicting Judge} is to me like a bear {dov: Ursine Threat} lying in wait and like a lion in hidden places.
11 He {YHWH, Discipline Giver} turned aside my ways {derakhai: paths/journeys} and tore me to pieces; He set me desolate.
12 He bent his bow and set me as the target for the arrow. {bow {kashto: weapon for arrows}; arrow {chets: piercing projectile}}
13 He {YHWH, Divine Archer} brought into my kidneys the arrows of His quiver {ashpato: container for arrows}.
14 I became a mockery {sechok: object of scorn} to all my people, and their song {neginatam: taunting refrain} throughout the entire day.
15 He {YHWH, Punishing Judge} has filled me with bitterness {merorim: profound anguish} and has sated me with wormwood.
16 He {YHWH, Righteous Afflicter} has ground my teeth in gravel {chatzatz: abrasive fragments} and has caused me to cower in the ashes.
17 You {YHWH, Judge of Israel} have rejected my soul from peace; I have forgotten good {tovah: complete wellness}.
18 And I said, “My endurance {nitskhi: lasting strength} has perished and my hope from the LORD {YHWH, Source of Deliverance} has failed.”
19 Remember my affliction {onyi: oppressive distress} and my wandering {merudi: transient exile}, the wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul {nefesh: inner being} surely remembers, and sinks {tashuakh: sinks down} within me.
21 This I will bring back {ashiv: intentional recall} to my heart, therefore I will hope {okhil: confident anticipation}.
22 The kindnesses of the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Redeemer} are why we are not consumed, for His mercies {rachamav: deep compassion} do not come to an end.
23 They are fresh every morning; great is Your faithfulness {emunatekha: reliability, steadfastness}, O LORD {YHWH, Faithful Restorer}.
24 The LORD {YHWH, Inheritance-Giver} is my portion, says my soul {nefesh: inner self}; therefore I will hope in Him.
25 The LORD {YHWH, Gracious Giver} is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul {nefesh: living being} who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should wait {veyachil: steadfast hope} and be silent for the salvation of the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Deliverer}.
27 It is good for a man that he should bear a yoke {ol: symbol of discipline} in his youth {bineurav: time of early strength}.
28 Let him sit alone {badad: in solitude} and be silent, when it is laid {natal: placed as a burden} upon him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust {afar: symbolizing humility}—perhaps there is hope {tiqvah: expectation for restoration}.
30 Let him offer his cheek to his striker {makkehu: the one who strikes him}, let him be filled with reproach {kherpah: public disgrace}.
31 For the Lord {Adonai, Supreme Guardian} will not cast off forever {le'olam: enduring eternally}.
32 Although He {YHWH, Just Disciplinarian} causes grief, He will have compassion according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses {chesed: covenant loyalty}.
33 For He {YHWH, Compassionate Judge} does not afflict from His heart {milibbo: deepest intent} nor grieve the children of man.
34 To crush {ledakke: violent subjugation} under His feet all the prisoners of the earth {erets: inhabited land}.
35 To turn aside the judgment {mishpat: legal justice} of a man before the face of the Most High {Elyon, Supreme Judge}.
36 To pervert a person in his dispute {riva: judicial contest}, the Lord {Adonai, Righteous Overseer} has not approved.
37 Who is this who said {amar: declares with authority} and it came to pass when the Lord {Adonai, Supreme Ruler} had not commanded it?
38 From the mouth of the Most High {Elyon, Supreme Authority} do not both adversity and good {tov: divine favor} proceed?
39 Why would a living{chay: spared life} man complain{yitonen: voice protest}, a man, because of his sin, his sins?
40 Let us search out our ways {derekh: conduct} and examine them, and let us return to the LORD {YHWH, Merciful Restorer}.
41 Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God {El, Prayer Receiver} in the heavens {bashamayim: Celestial Realm}.
42 We have transgressed {pasha'nu: deliberate offense} and rebelled; You {YHWH, Holy Judge} have not forgiven.
43 You {YHWH, Wrathful Judge} have covered Yourself with anger {af: fierce wrath} and pursued us; You have killed and You have not pitied.
44 You {YHWH, Divine Concealer} have covered Yourself with a cloud {anan: obscuring veil} so that prayer cannot pass through.
45 You have made us offscouring {sekhi: filth scraped away} and refuse {umaos: rejected debris} among the nations.
46 All our enemies {oyveinu: hostile adversaries} have opened {patsu: to open wide in hostility} their mouths against us.
47 Dread {pachad: overwhelming terror} and pit {pachat: hidden snare} have come upon us; desolation and destruction.
48 Streams of water will flow down from my eye because of the destruction {shever: devastating ruin} of the daughter of my people {ammi: national community}.
49 My eye is poured out and does not cease {tidmeh: stop}, without intermissions {hafugot: pauses}.
50 Until the LORD {YHWH, Watchful Judge} looks down and sees from heaven {shamayim: celestial realm}.