34 “Nebuchadnezzar(A) king of Babylon has devoured(B) us,(C)
    he has thrown us into confusion,
    he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
    and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
    and then has spewed(D) us out.

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17 “Israel is a scattered flock(A)
    that lions(B) have chased away.
The first to devour(C) them
    was the king(D) of Assyria;
the last to crush their bones(E)
    was Nebuchadnezzar(F) king(G) of Babylon.”

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44 I will punish Bel(A) in Babylon
    and make him spew out(B) what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
    And the wall(C) of Babylon will fall.

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Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!(A) You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.(B)

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The Lord’s Devastation of the Earth

24 See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth(A)
    and devastate(B) it;
he will ruin its face
    and scatter(C) its inhabitants—
it will be the same
    for priest as for people,(D)
    for the master as for his servant,
    for the mistress as for her servant,
    for seller as for buyer,(E)
    for borrower as for lender,
    for debtor as for creditor.(F)
The earth will be completely laid waste(G)
    and totally plundered.(H)
The Lord has spoken(I) this word.

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15 He will spit out the riches(A) he swallowed;
    God will make his stomach vomit(B) them up.

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The Lord will restore(A) the splendor(B) of Jacob
    like the splendor of Israel,
though destroyers have laid them waste
    and have ruined their vines.

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Hear this, you who trample the needy
    and do away with the poor(A) of the land,(B)

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Therefore prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because they ravaged(A) and crushed you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people’s malicious talk and slander,(B)

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

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Plunder the silver!
    Plunder the gold!
The supply is endless,
    the wealth from all its treasures!
10 She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
    Hearts melt,(A) knees give way,
    bodies tremble, every face grows pale.(B)

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14 “My sins have been bound into a yoke[a];(A)
    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(B)
    of those I cannot withstand.

15 “The Lord has rejected
    all the warriors in my midst;(C)
he has summoned an army(D) against me
    to[b] crush my young men.(E)
In his winepress(F) the Lord has trampled(G)
    Virgin Daughter(H) Judah.

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint He kept watch over my sins
  2. Lamentations 1:15 Or has set a time for me / when he will

[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)

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

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