Lamentations 1-2
English Standard Version
How Lonely Sits the City
1 (A)How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like (B)a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was (C)a princess among the provinces
has become (D)a slave.
2 (E)She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
(F)among all her lovers
she has (G)none to comfort her;
(H)all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
3 (I)Judah has gone into exile because of affliction[a]
and hard servitude;
(J)she dwells now among the nations,
(K)but finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.[b]
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for none come to (L)the festival;
(M)all her gates are desolate;
her priests (N)groan;
her virgins have been afflicted,[c]
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5 (O)Her foes have become the head;
her (P)enemies prosper,
because (Q)the Lord has afflicted her
(R)for the multitude of her transgressions;
(S)her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6 From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
(T)that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembers
in the days of her affliction and wandering
(U)all the precious things
that were hers from (V)days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was none to help her,
her foes gloated over her;
they (W)mocked at her downfall.
8 (X)Jerusalem sinned grievously;
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
(Y)for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself (Z)groans
and turns her face away.
9 Her uncleanness was (AA)in her skirts;
(AB)she took no thought of her future;[d]
therefore her fall is terrible;
(AC)she has no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has (AD)triumphed!”
10 The enemy has stretched out his hands
over all her (AE)precious things;
for she has seen (AF)the nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom you (AG)forbade
to enter your congregation.
11 All her people (AH)groan
as (AI)they search for bread;
they trade their (AJ)treasures for (AK)food
to revive their strength.
“Look, O Lord, and see,
for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all (AL)you who pass by?
(AM)Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which (AN)the Lord inflicted
on (AO)the day of his fierce anger.
13 “From on high he (AP)sent fire;
into my bones[e] he made it descend;
(AQ)he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
(AR)he has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.
14 “My transgressions were bound[f] into (AS)a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord rejected
all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men;
(AT)the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 “For these things (AU)I weep;
my eyes flow with tears;
for (AV)a comforter is far from me,
one to (AW)revive my spirit;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.”
17 (AX)Zion stretches out her hands,
but (AY)there is none to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18 (AZ)“The Lord is in the right,
(BA)for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
(BB)my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
19 “I called to (BC)my lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while (BD)they sought food
to revive their strength.
20 “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;
(BE)my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
(BF)In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21 “They heard[g] (BG)my groaning,
yet (BH)there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
(BI)they are glad that you have done it.
You have brought[h] the day you announced;
(BJ)now let them be as I am.
22 (BK)“Let all their evildoing come before you,
and deal with them
as (BL)you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for (BM)my groans are many,
and (BN)my heart is faint.”
The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity
2 How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion (BO)under a cloud!
(BP)He has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered (BQ)his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord (BR)has swallowed up (BS)without mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath (BT)he has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought (BU)down to the ground (BV)in dishonor
the kingdom (BW)and its rulers.
3 He has cut down in (BX)fierce anger
all (BY)the might of Israel;
(BZ)he has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
(CA)he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
4 (CB)He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set (CC)like a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.
5 (CD)The Lord has become like an enemy;
(CE)he has swallowed up Israel;
(CF)he has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
(CG)mourning and lamentation.
6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins (CH)his meeting place;
(CI)the Lord has made Zion forget
festival and (CJ)Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7 (CK)The Lord has scorned his altar,
(CL)disowned his sanctuary;
(CM)he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
(CN)they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
as on the day of festival.
8 (CO)The Lord determined to lay in ruins
(CP)the wall of the daughter of Zion;
(CQ)he stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
(CR)he caused rampart and wall to lament;
(CS)they languished together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
(CT)he has ruined (CU)and broken her bars;
(CV)her king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and (CW)her prophets find
no vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
(CX)sit on the ground (CY)in silence;
(CZ)they have thrown dust on their heads
and (DA)put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 (DB)My eyes are spent with weeping;
(DC)my stomach churns;
(DD)my bile is poured out to the ground
(DE)because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
(DF)because infants and babies (DG)faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
(DH)“Where is bread and wine?”
(DI)as they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers' bosom.
13 What can I say for you, (DJ)to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
(DK)What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
(DL)For your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 (DM)Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
(DN)they have not exposed your iniquity
to (DO)restore your fortunes,
(DP)but have seen for you (DQ)oracles
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
(DR)they hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
(DS)the perfection of beauty,
(DT)the joy of all the earth?”
16 (DU)All your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We (DV)have swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; (DW)we see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out (DX)his word,
which he commanded (DY)long ago;
(DZ)he has thrown down (EA)without pity;
(EB)he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the (EC)might of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O (ED)wall of the daughter of Zion,
(EE)let tears stream down like a torrent
(EF)day and night!
(EG)Give yourself no rest,
(EH)your eyes no respite!
19 “Arise, (EI)cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
(EJ)Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
(EK)Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
(EL)who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
20 Look, O Lord, and see!
(EM)With whom have you dealt thus?
(EN)Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of (EO)their tender care?
Should (EP)priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 In the dust of the streets
(EQ)lie the young and the old;
(ER)my young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
(ES)you have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering (ET)without pity.
22 You summoned as if to (EU)a festival day
(EV)my terrors on every side,
(EW)and on the day of the anger of the Lord
no one escaped or survived;
(EX)those whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:3 Or under affliction
- Lamentations 1:3 Or in the narrow passes
- Lamentations 1:4 Septuagint, Old Latin dragged away
- Lamentations 1:9 Or end
- Lamentations 1:13 Septuagint; Hebrew bones and
- Lamentations 1:14 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Lamentations 1:21 Septuagint, Syriac Hear
- Lamentations 1:21 Syriac Bring
Lamentations 1-2
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)
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.
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