Lamentations 2:1-3:38
English Standard Version
The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity
2 How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion (A)under a cloud!
(B)He has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered (C)his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord (D)has swallowed up (E)without mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath (F)he has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought (G)down to the ground (H)in dishonor
the kingdom (I)and its rulers.
3 He has cut down in (J)fierce anger
all (K)the might of Israel;
(L)he has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
(M)he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
4 (N)He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set (O)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 (P)The Lord has become like an enemy;
(Q)he has swallowed up Israel;
(R)he has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
(S)mourning and lamentation.
6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins (T)his meeting place;
(U)the Lord has made Zion forget
festival and (V)Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7 (W)The Lord has scorned his altar,
(X)disowned his sanctuary;
(Y)he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
(Z)they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
as on the day of festival.
8 (AA)The Lord determined to lay in ruins
(AB)the wall of the daughter of Zion;
(AC)he stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
(AD)he caused rampart and wall to lament;
(AE)they languished together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
(AF)he has ruined (AG)and broken her bars;
(AH)her king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and (AI)her prophets find
no vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
(AJ)sit on the ground (AK)in silence;
(AL)they have thrown dust on their heads
and (AM)put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 (AN)My eyes are spent with weeping;
(AO)my stomach churns;
(AP)my bile is poured out to the ground
(AQ)because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
(AR)because infants and babies (AS)faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
(AT)“Where is bread and wine?”
(AU)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, (AV)to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
(AW)What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
(AX)For your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 (AY)Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
(AZ)they have not exposed your iniquity
to (BA)restore your fortunes,
(BB)but have seen for you (BC)oracles
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
(BD)they hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
(BE)the perfection of beauty,
(BF)the joy of all the earth?”
16 (BG)All your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We (BH)have swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; (BI)we see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out (BJ)his word,
which he commanded (BK)long ago;
(BL)he has thrown down (BM)without pity;
(BN)he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the (BO)might of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O (BP)wall of the daughter of Zion,
(BQ)let tears stream down like a torrent
(BR)day and night!
(BS)Give yourself no rest,
(BT)your eyes no respite!
19 “Arise, (BU)cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
(BV)Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
(BW)Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
(BX)who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
20 Look, O Lord, and see!
(BY)With whom have you dealt thus?
(BZ)Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of (CA)their tender care?
Should (CB)priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 In the dust of the streets
(CC)lie the young and the old;
(CD)my young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
(CE)you have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering (CF)without pity.
22 You summoned as if to (CG)a festival day
(CH)my terrors on every side,
(CI)and on the day of the anger of the Lord
no one escaped or survived;
(CJ)those whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed.
Great Is Your Faithfulness
3 (CK)I am the man who has seen affliction
under the (CL)rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
(CM)into darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
(CN)he has broken my bones;
5 (CO)he has besieged and enveloped me
with (CP)bitterness and tribulation;
6 (CQ)he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 (CR)He has walled me about so that (CS)I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8 though (CT)I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 (CU)he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 (CV)He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
11 (CW)he turned aside my steps and (CX)tore me to pieces;
(CY)he has made me desolate;
12 (CZ)he bent his bow (DA)and set me
as a target for his arrow.
13 He drove into my kidneys
(DB)the arrows of his quiver;
14 (DC)I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
(DD)the object of their taunts all day long.
15 (DE)He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with (DF)wormwood.
16 (DG)He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and (DH)made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness[a] is;
18 (DI)so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”
19 (DJ)Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
(DK)the wormwood and (DL)the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
(DM)and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and (DN)therefore I have hope:
22 (DO)The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[b]
(DP)his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new (DQ)every morning;
(DR)great is your faithfulness.
24 (DS)“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
(DT)“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who (DU)wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 (DV)It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 (DW)It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke (DX)in his youth.
28 Let him (DY)sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
29 (DZ)let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30 (EA)let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
31 (EB)For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32 but, though he (EC)cause grief, (ED)he will have compassion
(EE)according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 (EF)for he does not afflict from his heart
or (EG)grieve the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot
all (EH)the prisoners of the earth,
35 (EI)to deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
(EJ)the Lord does not approve.
37 (EK)Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 (EL)Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
Footnotes
- Lamentations 3:17 Hebrew good
- Lamentations 3:22 Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Because of the steadfast love of the Lord, we are not cut off
Lamentations 2:1-3:38
New International Version
2 [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)
2 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.
3 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)
4 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.
5 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)
6 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)
7 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)
8 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)
9 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.”
3 [f]I am the man who has seen affliction(CM)
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.(CN)
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness(CO) rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me(CP)
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old(CQ)
and has broken my bones.(CR)
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness(CS) and hardship.(CT)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.(CU)
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;(CV)
he has weighed me down with chains.(CW)
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,(CX)
he shuts out my prayer.(CY)
9 He has barred(CZ) my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.(DA)
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion(DB) in hiding,(DC)
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled(DD) me
and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow(DE)
and made me the target(DF) for his arrows.(DG)
13 He pierced(DH) my heart
with arrows from his quiver.(DI)
14 I became the laughingstock(DJ) of all my people;(DK)
they mock me in song(DL) all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.(DM)
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;(DN)
he has trampled me in the dust.(DO)
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.”(DP)
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness(DQ) and the gall.(DR)
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast(DS) within me.(DT)
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love(DU) we are not consumed,(DV)
for his compassions never fail.(DW)
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(DX)
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;(DY)
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;(DZ)
26 it is good to wait quietly(EA)
for the salvation of the Lord.(EB)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,(EC)
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust(ED)—
there may yet be hope.(EE)
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,(EF)
and let him be filled with disgrace.(EG)
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.(EH)
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.(EI)
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.(EJ)
Footnotes
- 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.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.