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Lamentations 1-5
American Standard Version
Lamentations 1-5
American Standard Version
1 How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!
She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces is become tributary!
2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her:
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies.
3 Judah is gone into [a]captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude;
She dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest:
All her persecutors overtook her within the straits.
4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the [b]solemn assembly;
All her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh:
Her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.
5 Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies prosper;
For Jehovah hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions:
Her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary.
6 And from the daughter of Zion all her [c]majesty is departed:
Her princes are become like harts that find no pasture,
And they are gone without strength before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembereth in the days of her affliction and of her [d]miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old:
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and none did help her,
The adversaries saw her, they did mock at her [e]desolations.
8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she [f]is become as an unclean thing;
All that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness:
Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
9 Her filthiness was in her skirts; she remembered not her latter end;
Therefore is she come down wonderfully; she hath no comforter:
Behold, O Jehovah, my affliction; for the enemy hath magnified himself.
10 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things:
For she hath seen that the nations are entered into her sanctuary,
Concerning whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thine assembly.
11 All her people sigh, they seek bread;
They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul:
See, O Jehovah, and behold; for I am become abject.
12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?
Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is brought upon me,
[g]Wherewith Jehovah hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
13 From on high hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them;
He hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back:
He hath made me desolate and faint all the day.
14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand;
They are knit together, they are come up upon my neck; he hath made my strength to [h]fail:
The Lord hath delivered me into their hands, [i]against whom I am not able to stand.
15 The Lord hath set at nought all my mighty men in the midst of me;
He hath called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men:
The Lord hath trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water;
Because the comforter that should refresh my soul is far from me:
My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.
17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands; there is none to comfort her;
Jehovah hath commanded concerning Jacob, that they that are round about him should be his adversaries:
Jerusalem is among them as an unclean thing.
18 Jehovah is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment:
Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and behold my sorrow:
My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
19 I called for my lovers, but they deceived me:
My priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city,
While they sought them food to refresh their souls.
20 Behold, O Jehovah; for I am in distress; my heart is troubled;
My heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled:
Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
21 They have heard that I sigh; there is none to comfort me;
All mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it:
Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast proclaimed, and they shall be like unto me.
22 Let all their wickedness come before thee;
And do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions:
For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
2 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger!
He hath cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel,
And hath not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied:
He hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
He hath brought them down to the ground; he hath profaned the kingdom and the princes thereof.
3 He hath cut off in fierce anger [j]all the horn of Israel;
He hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy:
And he hath burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.
4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy, he hath stood with his right hand as an adversary,
And hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye:
[k]In the tent of the daughter of Zion he hath poured out his wrath like fire.
5 The Lord is become as an enemy, he hath swallowed up Israel;
He hath swallowed up all her palaces, he hath destroyed his strongholds;
And he hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
6 And he hath violently taken away his [l]tabernacle, as if it were of a garden; he hath destroyed his place of assembly:
Jehovah hath caused [m]solemn assembly and sabbath to be forgotten in Zion,
And hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary;
He hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces:
They have made a noise in the house of Jehovah, as in the day of a solemn assembly.
8 Jehovah hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion;
He hath stretched out the line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from [n]destroying;
And he hath made the rampart and wall to lament; they languish together.
9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars:
Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not;
Yea, her prophets find no vision from Jehovah.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, they keep silence;
They have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth:
The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my heart is troubled;
My liver is poured upon the earth, because of the [o]destruction of the daughter of my people,
Because the young children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers, Where is grain and wine?
When they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city,
When their soul is poured out into their mothers’ bosom.
13 What shall I [p]testify unto thee? what shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion?
For thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?
14 Thy prophets have seen for thee false and foolish visions;
And they have not uncovered thine iniquity, to bring back thy captivity,
But have seen for thee false [q]oracles and [r]causes of banishment.
15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee;
They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying,
Is this the city that men called The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth wide against thee;
They hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, We have swallowed her up;
Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.
17 Jehovah hath done that which he purposed; he hath [s]fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old;
He hath thrown down, and hath not pitied:
And he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee; he hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries.
18 Their heart cried unto the Lord:
O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night;
Give thyself no respite; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
19 Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches;
Pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord:
Lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.
20 See, O Jehovah, and behold to whom thou hast done thus!
Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands?
Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword:
Thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast slaughtered, and not pitied.
22 Thou hast called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side;
And there was none that escaped or remained in the day of Jehovah’s anger:
Those that I have dandled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
3 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
2 He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, [t]and not in light.
3 Surely against me he turneth his hand again and again all the day.
4 My flesh and my skin hath he [u]made old; he hath broken my bones.
5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
6 He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
7 He hath walled me about, that I cannot go forth; he hath made my chain heavy.
8 Yea, when I cry, and call for help, he shutteth out my prayer.
9 He hath walled up my ways with hewn stone; he hath made my paths crooked.
10 He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He hath caused the [v]shafts of his quiver to enter into my reins.
14 I am become a derision to all my people, and their song all the day.
15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath sated me with wormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones; he hath covered me with ashes.
17 And thou hast [w]removed my soul far off from peace; I forgat prosperity.
18 And I said, My strength is perished, and mine expectation from Jehovah.
19 Remember mine affliction and my [x]misery, the wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is bowed down within me.
21 This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope.
22 It is of Jehovah’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
24 Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 Jehovah is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Jehovah.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 [y]Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he hath laid it upon him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
30 Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him; let him be filled full with reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
32 For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
33 For he doth not afflict [z]willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord [aa]approveth not.
37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
38 Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not evil and good?
39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, [ab]a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah.
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled; thou hast not pardoned.
43 Thou hast [ac]covered with anger and pursued us; thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.
45 Thou hast made us an offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
47 Fear and the pit are come upon us, [ad]devastation and destruction.
48 Mine eye runneth down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 Mine eye poureth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
50 Till Jehovah look down, and behold from heaven.
51 Mine eye affecteth my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.
52 They have chased me sore like a bird, they that are mine enemies without cause.
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone upon me.
54 Waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off.
55 I called upon thy name, O Jehovah, out of the lowest dungeon.
56 Thou heardest my voice; hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee; thou saidst, Fear not.
58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
59 O Jehovah, thou hast seen my wrong; judge thou my cause.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me.
61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Jehovah, and all their devices against me,
62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.
63 Behold thou their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their song.
64 Thou wilt render unto them a recompense, O Jehovah, according to the work of their hands.
65 Thou wilt give them [ae]hardness of heart, thy curse unto them.
66 Thou wilt pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Jehovah.
4 How is the gold become dim! how is the most pure gold changed!
The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion, [af]comparable to fine gold,
How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
3 Even the jackals draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones:
The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst:
The young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets:
They that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
6 For [ag]the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than [ah]the sin of Sodom,
That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands [ai]were laid upon her.
7 Her [aj]nobles were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in body than [ak]rubies, their polishing was as of sapphire.
8 Their visage is [al]blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets:
Their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
9 They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger;
For these [am]pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children;
They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 Jehovah hath accomplished his wrath, he hath poured out his fierce anger;
And he hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured the foundations thereof.
12 The kings of the earth believed not, neither all the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.
13 It is because of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests,
That have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.
14 They wander as blind men in the streets, they are polluted with blood,
So that men cannot touch their garments.
15 Depart ye, they cried unto them, Unclean! depart, depart, touch not!
[an]When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, They shall no more sojourn here.
16 The [ao]anger of Jehovah hath scattered them; he will no more regard them:
They respected not the persons of the priests, they favored not the elders.
17 Our eyes do yet fail in looking for our vain help:
In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
18 They hunt our steps, so that we cannot go in our streets:
Our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens:
They chased us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits;
Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz:
The cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
22 [ap]The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity:
He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will uncover thy sins.
5 Remember, O Jehovah, what is come upon us:
Behold, and see our reproach.
2 Our inheritance is turned unto strangers,
Our houses unto aliens.
3 We are orphans and fatherless;
Our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunken our water for money;
Our wood [aq]is sold unto us.
5 Our pursuers are upon our necks:
We are weary, and have no rest.
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians,
And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are not;
And we have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants rule over us:
There is none to deliver us out of their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
Because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin is [ar]black like an oven,
Because of the burning heat of famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hanged up by their hand:
The faces of elders were not honored.
13 The young men bare the mill;
And the children stumbled under the wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate,
The young men from their music.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased;
Our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The crown is fallen from our head:
Woe unto us! for we have sinned.
17 For this our heart is faint;
For these things our eyes are dim;
18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate:
The [as]foxes walk upon it.
19 Thou, O Jehovah, [at]abidest for ever;
Thy throne is from generation to generation.
20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever,
And forsake us so long time?
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned;
Renew our days as of old.
22 [au]But thou hast utterly rejected us;
Thou art very wroth against us.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:3 Or, exile
- Lamentations 1:4 Or, appointed feast
- Lamentations 1:6 Or, beauty
- Lamentations 1:7 Or, wanderings
- Lamentations 1:7 Hebrew ceasings.
- Lamentations 1:8 Or, is removed
- Lamentations 1:12 Or, Whom Jehovah hath afflicted
- Lamentations 1:14 Hebrew stumble.
- Lamentations 1:14 Or, from whom I am not able to rise up
- Lamentations 2:3 Or, every horn
- Lamentations 2:4 Or, On
- Lamentations 2:6 Or, booth. Or, hedge
- Lamentations 2:6 Or, appointed feast
- Lamentations 2:8 Hebrew swallowing up.
- Lamentations 2:11 Or, breach
- Lamentations 2:13 Or, take to witness for thee
- Lamentations 2:14 Hebrew burdens.
- Lamentations 2:14 Or, things to draw thee aside
- Lamentations 2:17 Or, finished
- Lamentations 3:2 Or, without light
- Lamentations 3:4 Or, worn out
- Lamentations 3:13 Hebrew sons.
- Lamentations 3:17 Or, cast off
- Lamentations 3:19 Or, wandering. Or, outcast state
- Lamentations 3:28 Or, He sitteth etc. (so through verses 28–30)
- Lamentations 3:33 Hebrew from his heart.
- Lamentations 3:36 Hebrew seeth not.
- Lamentations 3:39 Or, a man that is in his sins
- Lamentations 3:43 Or, covered thyself
- Lamentations 3:47 Or, tumult
- Lamentations 3:65 Or, blindness. Hebrew covering.
- Lamentations 4:2 Hebrew that may be weighed against.
- Lamentations 4:6 Or, the punishment of the iniquity
- Lamentations 4:6 Or, the punishment of the sin
- Lamentations 4:6 Or, fell. See 2 Sam. 3:29.
- Lamentations 4:7 Or, Nazirites
- Lamentations 4:7 Or, corals
- Lamentations 4:8 Hebrew darker than blackness.
- Lamentations 4:9 Hebrew flow away.
- Lamentations 4:15 Or, Yea
- Lamentations 4:16 Hebrew face.
- Lamentations 4:22 Or, Thine iniquity hath an end
- Lamentations 5:4 Hebrew cometh for price.
- Lamentations 5:10 Or, hot
- Lamentations 5:18 Or, jackals
- Lamentations 5:19 Or, sittest as King
- Lamentations 5:22 Or, Unless thou . . . and art etc.
Lamentations 1-5
New International Version
Lamentations 1-5
New International Version
1 [a]How deserted(A) lies the city,
once so full of people!(B)
How like a widow(C) is she,
who once was great(D) among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
has now become a slave.(E)
2 Bitterly she weeps(F) at night,
tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers(G)
there is no one to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed(H) her;
they have become her enemies.(I)
3 After affliction and harsh labor,
Judah has gone into exile.(J)
She dwells among the nations;
she finds no resting place.(K)
All who pursue her have overtaken her(L)
in the midst of her distress.
4 The roads to Zion mourn,(M)
for no one comes to her appointed festivals.
All her gateways are desolate,(N)
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she is in bitter anguish.(O)
5 Her foes have become her masters;
her enemies are at ease.
The Lord has brought her grief(P)
because of her many sins.(Q)
Her children have gone into exile,(R)
captive before the foe.(S)
6 All the splendor has departed
from Daughter Zion.(T)
Her princes are like deer
that find no pasture;
in weakness they have fled(U)
before the pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and wandering
Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands,
there was no one to help her.(V)
Her enemies looked at her
and laughed(W) at her destruction.
8 Jerusalem has sinned(X) greatly
and so has become unclean.(Y)
All who honored her despise her,
for they have all seen her naked;(Z)
she herself groans(AA)
and turns away.
9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts;
she did not consider her future.(AB)
Her fall(AC) was astounding;
there was none to comfort(AD) her.
“Look, Lord, on my affliction,(AE)
for the enemy has triumphed.”
10 The enemy laid hands
on all her treasures;(AF)
she saw pagan nations
enter her sanctuary(AG)—
those you had forbidden(AH)
to enter your assembly.
11 All her people groan(AI)
as they search for bread;(AJ)
they barter their treasures for food
to keep themselves alive.
“Look, Lord, and consider,
for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?(AK)
Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering(AL)
that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me
in the day of his fierce anger?(AM)
13 “From on high he sent fire,
sent it down into my bones.(AN)
He spread a net(AO) for my feet
and turned me back.
He made me desolate,(AP)
faint(AQ) all the day long.
14 “My sins have been bound into a yoke[b];(AR)
by his hands they were woven together.
They have been hung on my neck,
and the Lord has sapped my strength.
He has given me into the hands(AS)
of those I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord has rejected
all the warriors in my midst;(AT)
he has summoned an army(AU) against me
to[c] crush my young men.(AV)
In his winepress(AW) the Lord has trampled(AX)
Virgin Daughter(AY) Judah.
16 “This is why I weep
and my eyes overflow with tears.(AZ)
No one is near to comfort(BA) me,
no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
because the enemy has prevailed.”(BB)
17 Zion stretches out her hands,(BC)
but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has decreed for Jacob
that his neighbors become his foes;(BD)
Jerusalem has become
an unclean(BE) thing(BF) among them.
18 “The Lord is righteous,(BG)
yet I rebelled(BH) against his command.
Listen, all you peoples;
look on my suffering.(BI)
My young men and young women
have gone into exile.(BJ)
19 “I called to my allies(BK)
but they betrayed me.
My priests and my elders
perished(BL) in the city
while they searched for food
to keep themselves alive.
20 “See, Lord, how distressed(BM) I am!
I am in torment(BN) within,
and in my heart I am disturbed,(BO)
for I have been most rebellious.(BP)
Outside, the sword bereaves;
inside, there is only death.(BQ)
21 “People have heard my groaning,(BR)
but there is no one to comfort me.(BS)
All my enemies have heard of my distress;
they rejoice(BT) at what you have done.
May you bring the day(BU) you have announced
so they may become like me.
22 “Let all their wickedness come before you;
deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my sins.(BV)
My groans(BW) are many
and my heart is faint.”
2 [d]How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion
with the cloud of his anger[e]!(BX)
He has hurled down the splendor of Israel
from heaven to earth;
he has not remembered his footstool(BY)
in the day of his anger.(BZ)
2 Without pity(CA) the Lord has swallowed(CB) up
all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has torn down
the strongholds(CC) of Daughter Judah.
He has brought her kingdom and its princes
down to the ground(CD) in dishonor.
3 In fierce anger he has cut off
every horn[f][g](CE) of Israel.
He has withdrawn his right hand(CF)
at the approach of the enemy.
He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything around it.(CG)
4 Like an enemy he has strung his bow;(CH)
his right hand is ready.
Like a foe he has slain
all who were pleasing to the eye;(CI)
he has poured out his wrath(CJ) like fire(CK)
on the tent(CL) of Daughter Zion.
5 The Lord is like an enemy;(CM)
he has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
and destroyed her strongholds.(CN)
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation(CO)
for Daughter Judah.(CP)
6 He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden;
he has destroyed(CQ) his place of meeting.(CR)
The Lord has made Zion forget
her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths;(CS)
in his fierce anger he has spurned
both king and priest.(CT)
7 The Lord has rejected his altar
and abandoned his sanctuary.(CU)
He has given the walls of her palaces(CV)
into the hands of the enemy;
they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.(CW)
8 The Lord determined to tear down
the wall around Daughter Zion.(CX)
He stretched out a measuring line(CY)
and did not withhold his hand from destroying.
He made ramparts(CZ) and walls lament;
together they wasted away.(DA)
9 Her gates(DB) have sunk into the ground;
their bars(DC) he has broken and destroyed.
Her king and her princes are exiled(DD) among the nations,
the law(DE) is no more,
and her prophets(DF) no longer find
visions(DG) from the Lord.
10 The elders of Daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence;(DH)
they have sprinkled dust(DI) on their heads(DJ)
and put on sackcloth.(DK)
The young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.(DL)
11 My eyes fail from weeping,(DM)
I am in torment within(DN);
my heart(DO) is poured out(DP) on the ground
because my people are destroyed,(DQ)
because children and infants faint(DR)
in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”(DS)
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away(DT)
in their mothers’ arms.(DU)
13 What can I say for you?(DV)
With what can I compare you,
Daughter(DW) Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
that I may comfort you,
Virgin Daughter Zion?(DX)
Your wound is as deep as the sea.(DY)
Who can heal you?
14 The visions of your prophets
were false(DZ) and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
to ward off your captivity.(EA)
The prophecies they gave you
were false and misleading.(EB)
15 All who pass your way
clap their hands at you;(EC)
they scoff(ED) and shake their heads(EE)
at Daughter Jerusalem:(EF)
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,(EG)
the joy of the whole earth?”(EH)
16 All your enemies open their mouths
wide against you;(EI)
they scoff and gnash their teeth(EJ)
and say, “We have swallowed her up.(EK)
This is the day we have waited for;
we have lived to see it.”(EL)
17 The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled(EM) his word,
which he decreed long ago.(EN)
He has overthrown you without pity,(EO)
he has let the enemy gloat over you,(EP)
he has exalted the horn[h] of your foes.(EQ)
18 The hearts of the people
cry out to the Lord.(ER)
You walls of Daughter Zion,(ES)
let your tears(ET) flow like a river
day and night;(EU)
give yourself no relief,
your eyes no rest.(EV)
19 Arise, cry out in the night,
as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart(EW) like water
in the presence of the Lord.(EX)
Lift up your hands(EY) to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint(EZ) from hunger
at every street corner.
20 “Look, Lord, and consider:
Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,(FA)
the children they have cared for?(FB)
Should priest and prophet be killed(FC)
in the sanctuary of the Lord?(FD)
21 “Young and old lie together
in the dust of the streets;
my young men and young women
have fallen by the sword.(FE)
You have slain them in the day of your anger;
you have slaughtered them without pity.(FF)
22 “As you summon to a feast day,
so you summoned against me terrors(FG) on every side.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped(FH) or survived;
those I cared for and reared(FI)
my enemy has destroyed.”
3 [i]I am the man who has seen affliction(FJ)
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.(FK)
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness(FL) rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me(FM)
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old(FN)
and has broken my bones.(FO)
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness(FP) and hardship.(FQ)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.(FR)
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;(FS)
he has weighed me down with chains.(FT)
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,(FU)
he shuts out my prayer.(FV)
9 He has barred(FW) my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.(FX)
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion(FY) in hiding,(FZ)
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled(GA) me
and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow(GB)
and made me the target(GC) for his arrows.(GD)
13 He pierced(GE) my heart
with arrows from his quiver.(GF)
14 I became the laughingstock(GG) of all my people;(GH)
they mock me in song(GI) all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.(GJ)
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;(GK)
he has trampled me in the dust.(GL)
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”(GM)
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness(GN) and the gall.(GO)
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast(GP) within me.(GQ)
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love(GR) we are not consumed,(GS)
for his compassions never fail.(GT)
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(GU)
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;(GV)
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;(GW)
26 it is good to wait quietly(GX)
for the salvation of the Lord.(GY)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,(GZ)
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust(HA)—
there may yet be hope.(HB)
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,(HC)
and let him be filled with disgrace.(HD)
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.(HE)
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.(HF)
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.(HG)
34 To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
35 to deny people their rights
before the Most High,(HH)
36 to deprive them of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?(HI)
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?(HJ)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?(HK)
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?(HL)
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,(HM)
and let us return to the Lord.(HN)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven,(HO) and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled(HP)
and you have not forgiven.(HQ)
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued(HR) us;
you have slain without pity.(HS)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud(HT)
so that no prayer(HU) can get through.(HV)
45 You have made us scum(HW) and refuse
among the nations.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide(HX) against us.(HY)
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,(HZ)
ruin and destruction.(IA)”
48 Streams of tears(IB) flow from my eyes(IC)
because my people are destroyed.(ID)
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,(IE)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.(IF)
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.(IG)
53 They tried to end my life in a pit(IH)
and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,(II)
and I thought I was about to perish.(IJ)
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths(IK) of the pit.(IL)
56 You heard my plea:(IM) “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near(IN) when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”(IO)
58 You, Lord, took up my case;(IP)
you redeemed my life.(IQ)
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.(IR)
Uphold my cause!(IS)
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.(IT)
61 Lord, you have heard their insults,(IU)
all their plots against me—
62 what my enemies whisper and mutter
against me all day long.(IV)
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
they mock me in their songs.(IW)
64 Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
for what their hands have done.(IX)
65 Put a veil over their hearts,(IY)
and may your curse be on them!
66 Pursue(IZ) them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the Lord.
4 [j]How the gold has lost its luster,
the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
at every street corner.(JA)
2 How the precious children of Zion,(JB)
once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
like ostriches in the desert.(JC)
4 Because of thirst(JD) the infant’s tongue
sticks to the roof of its mouth;(JE)
the children beg for bread,
but no one gives it to them.(JF)
5 Those who once ate delicacies
are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple(JG)
now lie on ash heaps.(JH)
6 The punishment of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,(JI)
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand turned to help her.
7 Their princes were brighter than snow
and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.
8 But now they are blacker(JJ) than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;(JK)
it has become as dry as a stick.
9 Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of famine;(JL)
racked with hunger, they waste away
for lack of food from the field.(JM)
10 With their own hands compassionate women
have cooked their own children,(JN)
who became their food
when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;(JO)
he has poured out(JP) his fierce anger.(JQ)
He kindled a fire(JR) in Zion
that consumed her foundations.(JS)
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the peoples of the world,
that enemies and foes could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.(JT)
13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,(JU)
who shed within her
the blood(JV) of the righteous.
14 Now they grope through the streets
as if they were blind.(JW)
They are so defiled with blood(JX)
that no one dares to touch their garments.
15 “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.
“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
When they flee and wander(JY) about,
people among the nations say,
“They can stay here no longer.”(JZ)
16 The Lord himself has scattered them;
he no longer watches over them.(KA)
The priests are shown no honor,
the elders(KB) no favor.(KC)
17 Moreover, our eyes failed,
looking in vain(KD) for help;(KE)
from our towers we watched
for a nation(KF) that could not save us.
18 People stalked us at every step,
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.(KG)
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles(KH) in the sky;
they chased us(KI) over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert.(KJ)
20 The Lord’s anointed,(KK) our very life breath,
was caught in their traps.(KL)
We thought that under his shadow(KM)
we would live among the nations.
21 Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
you who live in the land of Uz.(KN)
But to you also the cup(KO) will be passed;
you will be drunk and stripped naked.(KP)
22 Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion;(KQ)
he will not prolong your exile.
But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom,
and expose your wickedness.(KR)
5 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
look, and see our disgrace.(KS)
2 Our inheritance(KT) has been turned over to strangers,(KU)
our homes(KV) to foreigners.(KW)
3 We have become fatherless,
our mothers are widows.(KX)
4 We must buy the water we drink;(KY)
our wood can be had only at a price.(KZ)
5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;
we are weary(LA) and find no rest.(LB)
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria(LC)
to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors(LD) sinned and are no more,
and we bear their punishment.(LE)
8 Slaves(LF) rule over us,
and there is no one to free us from their hands.(LG)
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven,
feverish from hunger.(LH)
11 Women have been violated(LI) in Zion,
and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands;
elders(LJ) are shown no respect.(LK)
13 Young men toil at the millstones;
boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The elders are gone from the city gate;
the young men have stopped their music.(LL)
15 Joy is gone from our hearts;
our dancing has turned to mourning.(LM)
16 The crown(LN) has fallen from our head.(LO)
Woe to us, for we have sinned!(LP)
17 Because of this our hearts(LQ) are faint,(LR)
because of these things our eyes(LS) grow dim(LT)
18 for Mount Zion,(LU) which lies desolate,(LV)
with jackals prowling over it.
19 You, Lord, reign forever;(LW)
your throne endures(LX) from generation to generation.
20 Why do you always forget us?(LY)
Why do you forsake(LZ) us so long?
21 Restore(MA) us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
renew our days as of old
22 unless you have utterly rejected us(MB)
and are angry with us beyond measure.(MC)
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
- Lamentations 1:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint He kept watch over my sins
- Lamentations 1:15 Or has set a time for me / when he will
- Lamentations 2:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
- Lamentations 2:1 Or How the Lord in his anger / has treated Daughter Zion with contempt
- Lamentations 2:3 Or off / all the strength; or every king
- Lamentations 2:3 Horn here symbolizes strength.
- Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.
- Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter.
- Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
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