Aleph. I AM the man that see my poverty by the rod of his indignation.

Ah, what straits have I not known, under the avenging rod!

Aleph Ego vir videns paupertatem meam in virga indignationis ejus.

Aleph. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, and not into light.

Asked I for light, into deeper shadow the Lord’s guidance led me;

Aleph Me minavit, et adduxit in tenebras, et non in lucem.

Aleph. Only against me he hath turned, and turned again his hand all the day.

Always upon me, none other, falls endlessly the blow.

Aleph Tantum in me vertit et convertit manum suam tota die.

Beth. My skin and my flesh he hath made old, he hath broken my bones.

Broken this frame, under the wrinkled skin, the sunk flesh.

Beth Vetustam fecit pellem meam et carnem meam; contrivit ossa mea.

Beth. He hath built round about me, and he hath compassed me with gall and labour.

Bitterness of despair fills my prospect, walled in on every side;

Beth Ædificavit in gyro meo, et circumdedit me felle et labore.

Beth. He hath set me in dark places as those that are dead for ever.

Buried in darkness, and, like the dead, interminably.

Beth In tenebrosis collocavit me, quasi mortuos sempiternos.

Ghimel. He hath built against me round about, that I may not get out: he hath made my fetters heavy.

Closely he fences me in, beyond hope of rescue; loads me with fetters.

Ghimel Circumædificavit adversum me, ut non egrediar; aggravavit compedem meum.

Ghimel. Yea, and when I cry, and entreat, he hath shut out my prayer.

Cry out for mercy as I will, prayer of mine wins no audience;

Ghimel Sed et cum clamavero, et rogavero, exclusit orationem meam.

Ghimel. He hath shut up my ways with square stones, he hath turned my paths upside down.

Climb these smooth walls I may not; every way of escape he has undone.

Ghimel Conclusit vias meas lapidibus quadris; semitas meas subvertit.

Daleth. He is become to me as a bear lying in wait: as a lion in secret places.

Deep ambushed he lies, as lurking bear or lion from the covert;

Daleth Ursus insidians factus est mihi, leo in absconditis.

Daleth. He hath turned aside my paths, and hath broken me in pieces, he hath made me desolate.

Drawn aside from my path, I fall a lonely prey to his ravening.

Daleth Semitas meas subvertit, et confregit me; posuit me desolatam.

Daleth. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.

Dread archer, of me he makes a target for all his arrows;

Daleth Tetendit arcum suum, et posuit me quasi signum ad sagittam.

He. He hath shot into my reins the daughters of his quiver.

Each shaft of his quiver at my vitals taught to strike home!

He Misit in renibus meis filias pharetræ suæ.

He. I am made a derision to all my people, their song all the day long.

Evermore for me the taunts of my neighbours, their songs of derision.

He Factus sum in derisum omni populo meo, canticum eorum tota die.

He. He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood.

Entertainment of bitter herbs he gives me, and of wormwood my fill,

He Replevit me amaritudinibus; inebriavit me absinthio.

Vau. And he hath broken my teeth one by one, he hath fed me with ashes.

Files all my teeth with hard gravel-stones, bids me feed on ashes.

Vau Et fregit ad numerum dentes meos; cibavit me cinere.

Vau. And my soul is removed far off from peace, I have forgotten good things.

Far away is my old contentment, happier days forgotten;

Vau Et repulsa est a pace anima mea; oblitus sum bonorum.

Vau. And I said: My end and my hope is perished from the Lord.

Farewell, my hopes of long continuance, my patient trust in the Lord!

Vau Et dixi: Periit finis meus, et spes mea a Domino.

Zain. Remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood, and the gall.

Guilt and suffering, gall and wormwood, keep all this well in memory.

Zain Recordare paupertatis, et transgressionis meæ, absinthii et fellis.

Zain. I will be mindful and remember, and my soul shall languish within me.

God knows it shall be remembered, and with sinking of the heart;

Zain Memoria memor ero, et tabescet in me anima mea.

Zain. These things I shall think over in my heart, therefore will I hope.

Gage there can be none other of remaining confidence.

Zain Hæc recolens in corde meo, ideo sperabo.

Heth. The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because his commiserations have not failed.

His be the thanks if we are not extinguished; his mercies never weary;

Heth Misericordiæ Domini, quia non sumus consumpti; quia non defecerunt miserationes ejus.

Heth. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.

Hope comes with each dawn; art thou not faithful, Lord, to thy promise?

Heth Novi diluculo, multa est fides tua.

Heth. The Lord is my portion, said my soul: therefore will I wait for him.

Heart whispers, The Lord is my portion; I will trust him yet.

Heth Pars mea Dominus, dixit anima mea; propterea exspectabo eum.

Teth. The Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.

In him be thy trust, for him thy heart’s longing, gracious thou shalt find him;

Teth Bonus est Dominus sperantibus in eum, animæ quærenti illum.

Teth. It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God.

If deliverance thou wouldst have from the Lord, in silence await it.

Teth Bonum est præstolari cum silentio salutare Dei.

Teth. It is good for a man, when he hath borne the yoke from his youth.

It is well thou shouldst learn to bear the yoke, now in thy youth,

Teth Bonum est viro cum portaverit jugum ab adolescentia sua.

Jod. He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it up upon himself.

Just burden, in solitude and silence justly borne.

Jod Sedebit solitarius, et tacebit, quia levavit super se.

Jod. He shall put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.

Joy may yet be thine, for mouth that kisses the dust,

Jod Ponet in pulvere os suum, si forte sit spes.

Jod. He shall give his cheek to him that striketh him, he shall be filled with reproaches.

Jeering of the multitude, and cheek buffeted in scorn, bravely endured.

Jod Dabit percutienti se maxillam: saturabitur opprobriis.

Caph. For the Lord will not cast off for ever.

Know for certain, the Lord has not finally abandoned thee;

Caph Quia non repellet in sempiternum Dominus.

Caph. For if he hath cast off, he will also have mercy, according to the multitude of his mercies.

Kind welcome the outcast shall have, from one so rich in kindness.

Caph Quia si abjecit, et miserebitur, secundum multitudinem misericordiarum suarum.

Caph. For he hath not willingly afflicted, nor cast off the children of men.

Kin of Adam he will not crush or cast away wantonly;

Caph Non enim humiliavit ex corde suo et abjecit filios hominum.

Lamed. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,

Let there be oppression of the poor under duress,

Lamed Ut conteret sub pedibus suis omnes vinctos terræ.

Lamed. To turn aside the judgment of a man before the face of the most High,

Law’s right denied, such as the most High grants to all men,

Lamed Ut declinaret judicium viri in conspectu vultus Altissimi.

Lamed. To destroy a man wrongfully in his judgment, the Lord hath not approved.

Lying perversion of justice, then he cannot overlook it.

Lamed Ut perverteret hominem in judicio suo; Dominus ignoravit.

Mem. Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not?

Man may foretell; only the Lord brings his word to pass;

Mem Quis est iste qui dixit ut fieret, Domino non jubente?

Mem. Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Highest?

Mingled good and evil proceed both from the will of the most High;

Mem Ex ore Altissimi non egredientur nec mala nec bona?

Mem. Why hath a living man murmured, man suffering for his sins?

Mortal is none may repine; let each his own sins remember.

Mem Quid murmuravit homo vivens, vir pro peccatis suis?

Nun. Let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord.

Narrowly our path scan we, and to the Lord return;

Nun Scrutemur vias nostras, et quæramus, et revertamur ad Dominum.

Nun. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens.

Never hand or heart but must point heavenward this day!

Nun Levemus corda nostra cum manibus ad Dominum in cælos.

Nun. We have done wickedly, and provoked thee to wrath: therefore thou art inexorable.

Nothing but defiant transgression on our part; and shouldst thou relent?

Nun Nos inique egimus, et ad iracundiam provocavimus; idcirco tu inexorabilis es.

Samech. Thou hast covered in thy wrath, and hast struck us: thou hast killed and hast not spared.

Over our heads thy angry vengeance lowered; smiting, thou wouldst not spare.

Samech Operuisti in furore, et percussisti nos; occidisti, nec pepercisti.

Samech. Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that our prayer may not pass through.

Oh, barrier of cloud, our prayers had no strength to pierce!

Samech Opposuisti nubem tibi, ne transeat oratio.

Samech. Thou hast made me as an outcast, and refuse in the midst of the people.

Offscouring and refuse of mankind thou hast made us,

Samech Eradicationem et abjectionem posuisti me in medio populorum.

Phe. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

Put to shame by the mocking grimaces of our enemies.

Phe Aperuerunt super nos os suum omnes inimici.

Phe. Prophecy is become to us a fear, and a snare, and destruction.

Prophets we had, but their word was peril and pitfall, and ruin at the last.

Phe Formido et laqueus facta est nobis vaticinatio, et contritio.

Phe. My eye hath run down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Poor Sion, for thy calamity these cheeks are furrowed with tears;

Phe Divisiones aquarum deduxit oculus meus, in contritione filiæ populi mei.

Ain. My eye is afflicted, and hath not been quiet, because there was no rest:

Quell if thou wouldst the restless fever of my weeping,

Ain Oculus meus afflictus est, nec tacuit, eo quod non esset requies.

Ain. Till the Lord regarded and looked down from the heavens.

Quickly, Lord, look down from heaven and pay heed to us,

Ain Donec respiceret et videret Dominus de cælis.

Ain. My eye hath wasted my soul because of all the daughters of my city.

Quite forspent, eye and soul, with grief Jerusalem’s daughters bear.

Ain Oculus meus deprædatus est animam meam in cunctis filiabus urbis meæ.

Sade. My enemies have chased me and caught me like a bird, without cause.

Relentless as hawk in air they pursued me, enemies unprovoked,

Sade Venatione ceperunt me quasi avem inimici mei gratis.

Sade. My life is fallen into the pit, and they have laid a stone over me.

Reft me of life itself, sealed with a stone my prison door.

Sade Lapsa est in lacum vita mea, et posuerunt lapidem super me.

Sade. Waters have flowed over my head: I said: I am cut off.

Round my head the waters closed, and I had given myself up for lost,

Sade Inundaverunt aquæ super caput meum; dixi: Perii.

Coph. I have called upon thy name, O Lord, from the lowest pit.

Save for one hope; to thee, Lord, I cried from the pit’s depth,

Coph Invocavi nomen tuum, Domine, de lacu novissimo.

Coph. Thou hast heard my voice: turn not away thy ear from my sighs, and cries.

Sure of thy audience; wouldst thou turn a deaf ear to sighs of complaint?

Coph Vocem meam audisti; ne avertas aurem tuam a singultu meo et clamoribus.

Coph. Thou drewest near in the day, when I called upon thee, thou saidst: Fear not.

Summoned, thou didst come to my side, whispering, Do not be afraid.

Coph Appropinquasti in die quando invocavi te; dixisti: Ne timeas.

Res. Thou hast judged, O Lord, the cause of my soul, thou the Redeemer of my life.

Thine, Lord, to take my part; thine to rescue me from death;

Res Judicasti, Domine, causam animæ meæ, redemptor vitæ meæ.

Res. Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge thou my judgment.

The malice of my enemies to discover, my wrongs to redress.

Res Vidisti, Domine, iniquitatem illorum adversum me: judica judicium meum.

Res. Thou hast seen all their fury, and all their thoughts against me.

Thrust away from thy sight, the grudge they bear me, the ill they purpose,

Res Vidisti omnem furorem, universas cogitationes eorum adversum me.

Sin. Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, all their imaginations against me.

Unheard by thee their taunts, their whispered plottings?

Sin Audisti opprobrium eorum, Domine, omnes cogitationes eorum adversum me.

Sin. The lips of them that rise up against me: and their devices against me all the day.

Uttered aloud or in secret, their malice assails me from morn till night;

Sin Labia insurgentium mihi, et meditationes eorum adversum me tota die.

Sin. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up, I am their song.

Up in arms, or met in secret conclave, ever against me they raise the battle-song.

Sin Sessionem eorum et resurrectionem eorum vide; ego sum psalmus eorum.

Thau. Thou shalt render them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.

Visit them with the punishment their ill deeds have earned;

Thau Redes eis vicem, Domine, juxta opera manuum suarum.

Thau. Thou shalt give them a buckler of heart, thy labour.

Veiled be those blind hearts with fresh blindness of thy own making;

Thau Dabis eis scutum cordis, laborem tuum.

Thau. Thou shalt persecute them in anger, and shalt destroy them from under the heavens, O Lord.

Vanish from the earth their whole brood, ere thy vengeance leaves off pursuing them!

Thau Persequeris in furore, et conteres eos sub cælis, Domine.