A Reading from the Book of Lamentations

My life is deprived of peace,

     I have forgotten what happiness is;

     my enduring hope, I said,

     has perished before the LORD.

The thought of my wretched homelessness

     is wormwood and poison;

     remembering it over and over,

     my soul is downcast.

But this I will call to mind;

     therefore I will hope:

     the LORD’s acts of mercy are not exhausted,

     his compassion is not spent;

     they are renewed each morning—

     great is your faithfulness!

The LORD is my portion, I tell myself,

     therefore I will hope in him.

The LORD is good to those who trust in him,

     to the one that seeks him;

     it is good to hope in silence

     for the LORD’s deliverance.

The Word of the Lord