Lamentations 2:10-22

New King James Version

¹⁰The elders of the daughter of Zion
^(A)Sit on the ground and keep silence;
^[a]They ^(B)throw dust on their heads
And ^(C)gird themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Bow their heads to the ground.

¹¹^(D)My eyes fail with tears,
My ^[b]heart is troubled;
^(E)My ^[c]bile is poured on the ground
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
Because ^(F)the children and the infants
Faint in the streets of the city.

¹²They say to their mothers,
“Where is grain and wine?”
As they swoon like the wounded
In the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
In their mothers’ bosom.

¹³How shall I ^(G)console^[d] you?
To what shall I liken you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is spread wide as the sea;
Who can heal you?

¹⁴Your ^(H)prophets have seen for you
False and deceptive visions;
They have not ^(I)uncovered your iniquity,
To bring back your captives,
But have envisioned for you false ^(J)prophecies and delusions.

¹⁵All who ^[e]pass by ^(K)clap their hands at you;
They hiss ^(L)and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that is called
^(M)‘The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth’?”

¹⁶^(N)All your enemies have opened their mouth against you;
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, ^(O)“We have swallowed her up!
Surely this is the ^(P)day we have waited for;
We have found it, ^(Q)we have seen it!”

¹⁷The Lord has done what He ^(R)purposed;
He has fulfilled His word
Which He commanded in days of old.
He has thrown down and has not pitied,
And He has caused an enemy to ^(S)rejoice over you;
He has exalted the ^[f]horn of your adversaries.

¹⁸Their heart cried out to the Lord,
“O wall of the daughter of Zion,
^(T)Let tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief;
Give ^[g]your eyes no rest.

¹⁹“Arise, ^(U)cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
^(V)Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him
For the life of your young children,
Who faint from hunger ^(W)at the head of every street.”

²⁰“See, O Lord, and consider!
To whom have You done this?
^(X)Should the women eat their offspring,
The children ^[h]they have cuddled?
Should the priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?

²¹“Young^(Y) and old lie
On the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the ^(Z)sword;
You have slain them in the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered and not pitied.

²²“You have invited as to a feast day
^(AA)The terrors that surround me.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
There was no refugee or survivor.
^(AB)Those whom I have borne and brought up
My enemies have ^(AC)destroyed.”