Add parallel Print Page Options

“I have abandoned my people, my special possession.
    I have surrendered my dearest ones to their enemies.

Read full chapter

“I will forsake(A) my house,
    abandon(B) my inheritance;
I will give the one I love(C)
    into the hands of her enemies.(D)

Read full chapter

For the Lord has rejected his people,
    the descendants of Jacob,
because they have filled their land with practices from the East
    and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do.
    They have made alliances with pagans.

Read full chapter

The Day of the Lord

You, Lord, have abandoned(A) your people,
    the descendants of Jacob.(B)
They are full of superstitions from the East;
    they practice divination(C) like the Philistines(D)
    and embrace(E) pagan customs.(F)

Read full chapter

15 “What right do my beloved people have to come to my Temple,
    when they have done so many immoral things?
Can their vows and sacrifices prevent their destruction?
    They actually rejoice in doing evil!

Read full chapter

15 “What is my beloved doing in my temple
    as she, with many others, works out her evil schemes?
    Can consecrated meat(A) avert your punishment?(B)
When you engage in your wickedness,
    then you rejoice.[a]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 11:15 Or Could consecrated meat avert your punishment? / Then you would rejoice

59 When God heard them, he was very angry,
    and he completely rejected Israel.
60 Then he abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,
    the Tabernacle where he had lived among the people.

Read full chapter

59 When God heard(A) them, he was furious;(B)
    he rejected Israel(C) completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,(D)
    the tent he had set up among humans.(E)

Read full chapter

15 The Lord says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal;
    there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my land
    because of their evil actions.
I will love them no more
    because all their leaders are rebels.

Read full chapter

15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,(A)
    I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,(B)
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;(C)
    all their leaders are rebellious.(D)

Read full chapter

24 They will be killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world. And Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the period of the Gentiles comes to an end.

Read full chapter

24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled(A) on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Read full chapter

I will gather the armies of the world
    into the valley of Jehoshaphat.[a]
There I will judge them
    for harming my people, my special possession,
for scattering my people among the nations,
    and for dividing up my land.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 3:2 Jehoshaphat means “the Lord judges.”

I will gather(A) all nations
    and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.[a](B)
There I will put them on trial(C)
    for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered(D) my people among the nations
    and divided up my land.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Joel 3:2 Jehoshaphat means the Lord judges; also in verse 12.

15 Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!
    Announce a time of fasting;
call the people together
    for a solemn meeting.

Read full chapter

15 Blow the trumpet(A) in Zion,(B)
    declare a holy fast,(C)
    call a sacred assembly.(D)

Read full chapter

21 and I was told to give this message to the people of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will defile my Temple, the source of your security and pride, the place your heart delights in. Your sons and daughters whom you left behind in Judah will be slaughtered by the sword.

Read full chapter

21 Say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary(A)—the stronghold in which you take pride,(B) the delight of your eyes,(C) the object of your affection. The sons and daughters(D) you left behind will fall by the sword.(E)

Read full chapter

20 They were proud of their beautiful jewelry
    and used it to make detestable idols and vile images.
Therefore, I will make all their wealth
    disgusting to them.
21 I will give it as plunder to foreigners,
    to the most wicked of nations,
    and they will defile it.

Read full chapter

20 They took pride in their beautiful jewelry
    and used it to make(A) their detestable idols.
They made it into vile images;(B)
    therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them.(C)
21 I will give their wealth as plunder(D) to foreigners
    and as loot to the wicked of the earth,
    who will defile it.(E)

Read full chapter

God’s Anger at Sin

The Lord in his anger
    has cast a dark shadow over beautiful Jerusalem.[a]
The fairest of Israel’s cities lies in the dust,
    thrown down from the heights of heaven.
In his day of great anger,
    the Lord has shown no mercy even to his Temple.[b]

Without mercy the Lord has destroyed
    every home in Israel.[c]
In his anger he has broken down
    the fortress walls of beautiful Jerusalem.[d]
He has brought them to the ground,
    dishonoring the kingdom and its rulers.

All the strength of Israel
    vanishes beneath his fierce anger.
The Lord has withdrawn his protection
    as the enemy attacks.
He consumes the whole land of Israel
    like a raging fire.

He bends his bow against his people,
    as though he were their enemy.
His strength is used against them
    to kill their finest youth.
His fury is poured out like fire
    on beautiful Jerusalem.[e]

Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel
    like an enemy.
He has destroyed her palaces
    and demolished her fortresses.
He has brought unending sorrow and tears
    upon beautiful Jerusalem.

He has broken down his Temple
    as though it were merely a garden shelter.
The Lord has blotted out all memory
    of the holy festivals and Sabbath days.
Kings and priests fall together
    before his fierce anger.

The Lord has rejected his own altar;
    he despises his own sanctuary.
He has given Jerusalem’s palaces
    to her enemies.
They shout in the Lord’s Temple
    as though it were a day of celebration.

The Lord was determined
    to destroy the walls of beautiful Jerusalem.
He made careful plans for their destruction,
    then did what he had planned.
Therefore, the ramparts and walls
    have fallen down before him.

Jerusalem’s gates have sunk into the ground.
    He has smashed their locks and bars.
Her kings and princes have been exiled to distant lands;
    her law has ceased to exist.
Her prophets receive
    no more visions from the Lord.

10 The leaders of beautiful Jerusalem
    sit on the ground in silence.
They are clothed in burlap
    and throw dust on their heads.
The young women of Jerusalem
    hang their heads in shame.

11 I have cried until the tears no longer come;
    my heart is broken.
My spirit is poured out in agony
    as I see the desperate plight of my people.
Little children and tiny babies
    are fainting and dying in the streets.

12 They cry out to their mothers,
    “We need food and drink!”
Their lives ebb away in the streets
    like the life of a warrior wounded in battle.
They gasp for life
    as they collapse in their mothers’ arms.

13 What can I say about you?
    Who has ever seen such sorrow?
O daughter of Jerusalem,
    to what can I compare your anguish?
O virgin daughter of Zion,
    how can I comfort you?
For your wound is as deep as the sea.
    Who can heal you?

14 Your prophets have said
    so many foolish things, false to the core.
They did not save you from exile
    by pointing out your sins.
Instead, they painted false pictures,
    filling you with false hope.

15 All who pass by jeer at you.
    They scoff and insult beautiful Jerusalem,[f] saying,
“Is this the city called ‘Most Beautiful in All the World’
    and ‘Joy of All the Earth’?”

16 All your enemies mock you.
    They scoff and snarl and say,
“We have destroyed her at last!
    We have long waited for this day,
    and it is finally here!”

17 But it is the Lord who did just as he planned.
    He has fulfilled the promises of disaster
    he made long ago.
He has destroyed Jerusalem without mercy.
    He has caused her enemies to gloat over her
    and has given them power over her.

18 Cry aloud[g] before the Lord,
    O walls of beautiful Jerusalem!
Let your tears flow like a river
    day and night.
Give yourselves no rest;
    give your eyes no relief.

19 Rise during the night and cry out.
    Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him in prayer,
    pleading for your children,
for in every street
    they are faint with hunger.

20 “O Lord, think about this!
    Should you treat your own people this way?
Should mothers eat their own children,
    those they once bounced on their knees?
Should priests and prophets be killed
    within the Lord’s Temple?

21 “See them lying in the streets—
    young and old,
boys and girls,
    killed by the swords of the enemy.
You have killed them in your anger,
    slaughtering them without mercy.

22 “You have invited terrors from all around,
    as though you were calling them to a day of feasting.
In the day of the Lord’s anger,
    no one has escaped or survived.
The enemy has killed all the children
    whom I carried and raised.”

Footnotes

  1. 2:1a Hebrew the daughter of Zion; also in 2:8, 10, 18.
  2. 2:1b Hebrew his footstool.
  3. 2:2a Hebrew Jacob; also in 2:3b. See note on 1:17.
  4. 2:2b Hebrew the daughter of Judah; also in 2:5.
  5. 2:4 Hebrew on the tent of the daughter of Zion.
  6. 2:15 Hebrew the daughter of Jerusalem.
  7. 2:18 Hebrew Their heart cried.

[a]How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion
    with the cloud of his anger[b]!(A)
He has hurled down the splendor of Israel
    from heaven to earth;
he has not remembered his footstool(B)
    in the day of his anger.(C)

Without pity(D) the Lord has swallowed(E) up
    all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has torn down
    the strongholds(F) of Daughter Judah.
He has brought her kingdom and its princes
    down to the ground(G) in dishonor.

In fierce anger he has cut off
    every horn[c][d](H) of Israel.
He has withdrawn his right hand(I)
    at the approach of the enemy.
He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
    that consumes everything around it.(J)

Like an enemy he has strung his bow;(K)
    his right hand is ready.
Like a foe he has slain
    all who were pleasing to the eye;(L)
he has poured out his wrath(M) like fire(N)
    on the tent(O) of Daughter Zion.

The Lord is like an enemy;(P)
    he has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
    and destroyed her strongholds.(Q)
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation(R)
    for Daughter Judah.(S)

He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden;
    he has destroyed(T) his place of meeting.(U)
The Lord has made Zion forget
    her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths;(V)
in his fierce anger he has spurned
    both king and priest.(W)

The Lord has rejected his altar
    and abandoned his sanctuary.(X)
He has given the walls of her palaces(Y)
    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.(Z)

The Lord determined to tear down
    the wall around Daughter Zion.(AA)
He stretched out a measuring line(AB)
    and did not withhold his hand from destroying.
He made ramparts(AC) and walls lament;
    together they wasted away.(AD)

Her gates(AE) have sunk into the ground;
    their bars(AF) he has broken and destroyed.
Her king and her princes are exiled(AG) among the nations,
    the law(AH) is no more,
and her prophets(AI) no longer find
    visions(AJ) from the Lord.

10 The elders of Daughter Zion
    sit on the ground in silence;(AK)
they have sprinkled dust(AL) on their heads(AM)
    and put on sackcloth.(AN)
The young women of Jerusalem
    have bowed their heads to the ground.(AO)

11 My eyes fail from weeping,(AP)
    I am in torment within(AQ);
my heart(AR) is poured out(AS) on the ground
    because my people are destroyed,(AT)
because children and infants faint(AU)
    in the streets of the city.

12 They say to their mothers,
    “Where is bread and wine?”(AV)
as they faint like the wounded
    in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away(AW)
    in their mothers’ arms.(AX)

13 What can I say for you?(AY)
    With what can I compare you,
    Daughter(AZ) Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
    that I may comfort you,
    Virgin Daughter Zion?(BA)
Your wound is as deep as the sea.(BB)
    Who can heal you?

14 The visions of your prophets
    were false(BC) and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
    to ward off your captivity.(BD)
The prophecies they gave you
    were false and misleading.(BE)

15 All who pass your way
    clap their hands at you;(BF)
they scoff(BG) and shake their heads(BH)
    at Daughter Jerusalem:(BI)
“Is this the city that was called
    the perfection of beauty,(BJ)
    the joy of the whole earth?”(BK)

16 All your enemies open their mouths
    wide against you;(BL)
they scoff and gnash their teeth(BM)
    and say, “We have swallowed her up.(BN)
This is the day we have waited for;
    we have lived to see it.”(BO)

17 The Lord has done what he planned;
    he has fulfilled(BP) his word,
    which he decreed long ago.(BQ)
He has overthrown you without pity,(BR)
    he has let the enemy gloat over you,(BS)
    he has exalted the horn[e] of your foes.(BT)

18 The hearts of the people
    cry out to the Lord.(BU)
You walls of Daughter Zion,(BV)
    let your tears(BW) flow like a river
    day and night;(BX)
give yourself no relief,
    your eyes no rest.(BY)

19 Arise, cry out in the night,
    as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart(BZ) like water
    in the presence of the Lord.(CA)
Lift up your hands(CB) to him
    for the lives of your children,
who faint(CC) from hunger
    at every street corner.

20 “Look, Lord, and consider:
    Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,(CD)
    the children they have cared for?(CE)
Should priest and prophet be killed(CF)
    in the sanctuary of the Lord?(CG)

21 “Young and old lie together
    in the dust of the streets;
my young men and young women
    have fallen by the sword.(CH)
You have slain them in the day of your anger;
    you have slaughtered them without pity.(CI)

22 “As you summon to a feast day,
    so you summoned against me terrors(CJ) on every side.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
    no one escaped(CK) or survived;
those I cared for and reared(CL)
    my enemy has destroyed.”

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 2:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
  2. Lamentations 2:1 Or How the Lord in his anger / has treated Daughter Zion with contempt
  3. Lamentations 2:3 Or off / all the strength; or every king
  4. Lamentations 2:3 Horn here symbolizes strength.
  5. Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.

For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    has not abandoned Israel and Judah.
He is still their God,
    even though their land was filled with sin
    against the Holy One of Israel.”

Read full chapter

For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken(A)
    by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land[a] is full of guilt(B)
    before the Holy One of Israel.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:5 Or Almighty, / and the land of the Babylonians

29 Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the Lord has rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.’

Read full chapter

29 “‘Cut off(A) your hair and throw it away; take up a lament(B) on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned(C) this generation that is under his wrath.

Read full chapter