Lamentations 2-4
New American Standard Bible
God’s Anger over Israel
2 How the Lord has [a](A)covered the daughter of Zion
With a cloud in His anger!
He has (B)hurled
The (C)glory of Israel from heaven to earth,
And has not remembered His (D)footstool
In the day of His anger.
2 The Lord has [b](E)destroyed; He has not spared
All the settlements of Jacob.
In His wrath He has (F)overthrown
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah,
He has (G)hurled them down to the ground;
He has (H)profaned the kingdom and its leaders.
3 In fierce anger He has cut off
[c]All the (I)strength of Israel;
He has (J)pulled back His right hand
From the enemy.
And He has (K)burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
Consuming on all sides.
4 He has bent His (L)bow like an enemy;
His right hand is positioned like an adversary,
And He has killed everything that was (M)pleasant to the eye.
In the tent of the daughter of Zion
He has (N)poured out His wrath like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an (O)enemy.
He has (P)engulfed Israel;
He has engulfed all its (Q)palaces,
He has destroyed its strongholds
And (R)caused great mourning and grieving in the daughter of Judah.
6 And He has treated His [d]tabernacle violently, like a despised garden;
He has (S)destroyed His appointed [e]meeting place.
The Lord has (T)caused
The appointed feast and Sabbath in Zion to be forgotten,
And He has (U)despised king and priest
In the indignation of His anger.
7 The Lord has (V)rejected His altar,
He has [f]repudiated His sanctuary;
He (W)has handed over
The walls of her palaces to the enemy.
They have made a (X)noise in the house of the Lord
As on the day of an appointed feast.
8 The Lord determined to destroy
The wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has (Y)stretched out a line,
He has not restrained His hand from [g]destroying,
And He has (Z)caused rampart and wall to mourn;
They have languished together.
9 Her (AA)gates have sunk into the ground,
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her leaders are among the nations;
The (AB)Law is gone.
Her prophets, too, find
(AC)No vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
(AD)Sit on the ground and [h](AE)are silent.
They have thrown (AF)dust on their heads;
They have put on (AG)sackcloth.
The (AH)virgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 My (AI)eyes fail because of tears,
My [i](AJ)spirit is greatly troubled;
My [j](AK)heart is poured out on the earth
(AL)Because of the [k]destruction of the daughter of my people,
When (AM)little ones and infants languish
In the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
“(AN)Where is grain and wine?”
As they faint like a wounded person
In the streets of the city,
As their (AO)lives are poured out
[l]In their mothers’ arms.
13 How shall I admonish you?
What (AP)shall I compare to you,
Daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I liken to you as I comfort you,
(AQ)Virgin daughter of Zion?
For your collapse is as vast as the sea;
Who can (AR)heal you?
14 Your (AS)prophets have seen for you
Worthless and deceptive visions;
And they have not (AT)exposed your wrongdoing
So as to restore you from captivity,
But they have (AU)seen for you worthless and misleading pronouncements.
15 All who pass along the way
(AV)Clap their hands in ridicule at you;
They (AW)[m]hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city of which they said,
‘(AX)Perfect in beauty,
(AY)A joy to all the earth’?”
16 All (AZ)your enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They [n]hiss and (BA)gnash their teeth.
They say, “We have (BB)engulfed her!
This certainly is the (BC)day which we awaited;
We have reached it, we have seen it!”
17 The Lord has (BD)done what He determined;
He has accomplished His word
Which He commanded from days of old.
He has torn down (BE)without sparing,
And He has helped the enemy to (BF)rejoice over you;
He has (BG)exalted the [o]might of your adversaries.
18 Their (BH)heart cried out to the Lord:
“You (BI)wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let your (BJ)tears stream down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief,
Let [p]your eyes have no rest.
19 Arise, whimper in the (BK)night
At the beginning of the night watches;
(BL)Pour out your heart like water
Before the presence of the Lord;
Raise your hands to Him
For the (BM)life of your little ones
Who (BN)languish because of hunger
At the head of every street.
20 See, Lord, and look!
With (BO)whom have You dealt this way?
Should women really (BP)eat their [q]children,
The little ones who were [r]born healthy?
Should (BQ)priest and prophet really be killed
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 On the ground in the streets
Lie (BR)young and old;
My (BS)virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the sword.
You have put them to death on the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered, (BT)without sparing.
22 You called as on the day of an appointed feast
My (BU)terrors on every side;
And there was (BV)no one who survived or escaped
On the day of the Lord’s anger.
As for those (BW)whom I brought forth healthy and whom I raised,
My enemy annihilated them.”
Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Misery
3 I am the man who has (BX)seen misery
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2 He has driven me and made me walk
In (BY)darkness and not in light.
3 Indeed, He has (BZ)turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.
4 He has consumed my (CA)flesh and my skin,
He has (CB)broken my bones.
5 He has [s](CC)besieged and surrounded me with [t](CD)bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me live in (CE)dark places,
Like those who have long been dead.
7 He has (CF)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my [u](CG)chain heavy.
8 Even when I cry out and call for help,
He (CH)shuts out my prayer.
9 He has (CI)blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has twisted my paths.
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11 He has made my ways deviate, and (CJ)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He (CK)bent His bow
And (CL)took aim at me as a target for the arrow.
13 He made the [v]arrows of His (CM)quiver
Enter my [w]inward parts.
14 I have become a (CN)laughingstock to all my people,
Their (CO)song of ridicule all the day.
15 He has (CP)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink plenty of wormwood.
16 He has also (CQ)made my teeth grind with (CR)gravel;
He has made me cower in the (CS)dust.
17 My soul has been excluded (CT)from peace;
I have forgotten [x]happiness.
18 So I say, “My [y]strength has failed,
And so has my (CU)hope from the Lord.”
Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy
19 Remember my misery and my homelessness, the (CV)wormwood and [z]bitterness.
20 (CW)My soul certainly remembers,
And [aa]is (CX)bent over within me.
21 I recall this to my mind,
Therefore I [ab](CY)wait.
22 [ac]The Lord’s (CZ)acts of mercy indeed do not end,
(DA)For His compassions do not fail.
23 They are new (DB)every morning;
Great is (DC)Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my (DD)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I [ad](DE)wait for Him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who [ae](DF)await Him,
To the [af]person who (DG)seeks Him.
26 It is good that he (DH)waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him (DI)sit alone and keep quiet,
Since He has laid it on him.
29 Let him [ag]put his mouth in the (DJ)dust;
Perhaps there is (DK)hope.
30 Let him give his (DL)cheek to the one who is going to strike him;
Let him be filled with shame.
31 For the Lord will (DM)not reject forever,
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have (DN)compassion
In proportion to His abundant mercy.
33 For He (DO)does not [ah]afflict [ai]willingly
Or [aj]grieve the sons of mankind.
34 To crush under [ak]one’s feet
All the prisoners of the [al]land,
35 To [am]deprive a man of (DP)justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36 To [an](DQ)defraud someone in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does not [ao]approve.
37 Who is [ap]there who speaks and it (DR)comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That [aq](DS)both adversity and good proceed?
39 Of what can any living [ar]mortal, or any man,
(DT)Complain [as]in view of his sins?
40 Let’s (DU)examine and search out our ways,
And let’s return to the Lord.
41 We (DV)raise our heart [at]and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have (DW)done wrong and rebelled;
You have (DX)not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with (DY)anger
And (DZ)pursued us;
You have slain and (EA)have not spared.
44 You have (EB)veiled Yourself with a cloud
So that (EC)no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere (ED)refuse and rubbish
In the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies have (EE)opened their mouths against us.
47 (EF)Panic and pitfall have come upon us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My [au](EG)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes flow (EH)unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until the Lord (EI)looks down
And sees from heaven.
51 My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies (EJ)without reason
Hunted me down (EK)like a bird;
53 They have silenced [av]me (EL)in the pit
And have [aw](EM)thrown stones on me.
54 Waters flowed (EN)over my head;
I said, “I am [ax]cut off!”
55 I (EO)called on Your name, Lord,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (EP)heard my voice,
“(EQ)Do not cover Your ear from my plea for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You (ER)came near on the day I called to You;
You said, “(ES)Do not fear!”
58 Lord, You (ET)have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have (EU)redeemed my life.
59 Lord, You have (EV)seen my oppression;
(EW)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (EX)schemes against me.
61 You have heard their (EY)reproach, Lord,
All their schemes against me.
62 The (EZ)lips of my assailants and their talk
Are against me all day long.
63 Look at their [ay](FA)sitting and their rising;
(FB)I am their mocking song.
64 You will (FC)repay them, Lord,
In accordance with the work of their hands.
65 You will give them [az](FD)shamelessness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (FE)pursue them in anger and eliminate them
From under the (FF)heavens of the Lord!
Distress of the Siege Described
4 How (FG)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are spilled out
At the [ba]corner of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against pure gold,
How they are regarded as (FH)earthenware jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even (FI)jackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has proved herself (FJ)cruel,
Like (FK)ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The (FL)tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth because of (FM)thirst;
The children (FN)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
5 Those who used to eat (FO)delicacies
Are made to tremble in the streets;
Those who were raised in crimson clothing
Embrace garbage heaps.
6 For the [bb]wrongdoing of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the [bc](FP)sin of Sodom,
Which was (FQ)overthrown as in a moment,
[bd]And no hands were turned toward her.
7 Her [be]consecrated ones were (FR)purer than snow,
They shined more than milk;
They were more ruddy in [bf]body than pearls of coral,
Their form was like [bg](FS)lapis lazuli.
8 Their appearance is (FT)darker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their (FU)skin is shriveled on their bones,
It is dry, it has become like wood.
9 Better off are those (FV)killed by the sword
Than those killed by hunger;
For they [bh](FW)waste away, [bi]stricken
By the lack of the produce of the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women
(FX)Boiled their own children;
They became (FY)food for them
Due to the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord has (FZ)expended His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has (GA)kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has consumed its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of (GB)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Would (GC)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Because of the sins of her (GD)prophets
And the wrongdoings of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The (GE)blood of the righteous,
14 They wandered, (GF)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with (GG)blood,
Such that no one could touch their (GH)garments.
15 “Keep away! (GI)Unclean!” [bj]they cried out of themselves.
“Keep away, keep away, do not touch!”
For they (GJ)distanced themselves as well as wandered;
People among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to reside with us.”
16 The presence of the Lord has scattered them,
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not [bk](GK)honor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
17 Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for [bl]help was (GL)useless;
At our observation point we have watched
For a (GM)nation that could not save.
18 They (GN)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our (GO)end drew near,
Our days were [bm]finished
For our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were (GP)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
20 The (GQ)breath of our nostrils, the (GR)Lord’s anointed,
Was (GS)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “[bn]In his (GT)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be joyful, daughter of (GU)Edom,
Who lives in the land of Uz;
But the (GV)cup will pass to you as well,
You will become drunk and expose yourself.
22 The punishment of your wrongdoing has been (GW)completed, daughter of Zion;
He will no longer exile you.
But He (GX)will punish your wrongdoing, daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!
Footnotes
- Lamentations 2:1 Or scorned...Zion in His anger
- Lamentations 2:2 Lit engulfed
- Lamentations 2:3 Lit Every horn
- Lamentations 2:6 Or booth
- Lamentations 2:6 Or feast
- Lamentations 2:7 I.e., scornfully rejected
- Lamentations 2:8 Lit engulfing
- Lamentations 2:10 Another reading is wail
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit inward parts are in ferment
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit liver
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit breaking
- Lamentations 2:12 Lit on...breast
- Lamentations 2:15 Or whistle
- Lamentations 2:16 Or whistle
- Lamentations 2:17 Lit horn
- Lamentations 2:18 Lit the daughter of your eye
- Lamentations 2:20 Lit fruit
- Lamentations 2:20 Or tenderly cared for
- Lamentations 3:5 Lit built against
- Lamentations 3:5 Lit poison
- Lamentations 3:7 Lit bronze piece
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit sons
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit kidneys
- Lamentations 3:17 Lit good
- Lamentations 3:18 Or splendor
- Lamentations 3:19 Lit poison
- Lamentations 3:20 Or bows down
- Lamentations 3:21 Lit have hope
- Lamentations 3:22 As in ancient versions; MT It is...mercy that we do not end
- Lamentations 3:24 Or hope in
- Lamentations 3:25 Or hope in
- Lamentations 3:25 Lit soul
- Lamentations 3:29 Lit give
- Lamentations 3:33 Or oppress
- Lamentations 3:33 Lit from His heart
- Lamentations 3:33 Or torment
- Lamentations 3:34 Lit his
- Lamentations 3:34 Or earth
- Lamentations 3:35 Or turn aside a man’s case
- Lamentations 3:36 Lit bend
- Lamentations 3:36 Lit see
- Lamentations 3:37 Lit this
- Lamentations 3:38 Lit the evil things and the good
- Lamentations 3:39 Or human being
- Lamentations 3:39 Or on the basis of
- Lamentations 3:41 Lit toward our
- Lamentations 3:48 Lit eye goes down
- Lamentations 3:53 Lit my life
- Lamentations 3:53 Or thrown a stone
- Lamentations 3:54 Or destroyed
- Lamentations 3:63 I.e., daily activities
- Lamentations 3:65 Or insanity
- Lamentations 4:1 Lit head
- Lamentations 4:6 Or punishment for wrongdoing
- Lamentations 4:6 Or punishment for sin
- Lamentations 4:6 I.e., without human intervention
- Lamentations 4:7 Or Nazirites
- Lamentations 4:7 Lit bones
- Lamentations 4:7 Heb sappir
- Lamentations 4:9 Lit flow away
- Lamentations 4:9 Lit pierced through
- Lamentations 4:15 Or they (other people) cried to them
- Lamentations 4:16 Lit lift up the faces of
- Lamentations 4:17 Lit our help
- Lamentations 4:18 Lit full
- Lamentations 4:20 I.e., under his protection
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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