[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.

20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates,(A) and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them.

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21 And Solomon ruled(A) over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River(B) to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.(C) These countries brought tribute(D) and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.

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16 and cry out:

“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,(A)
    dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
    and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!(B)
17 In one hour(C) such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’(D)

“Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea,(E) will stand far off.(F)

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16 The crown(A) has fallen from our head.(B)
    Woe to us, for we have sinned!(C)

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“Do not be afraid;(A) you will not be put to shame.(B)
    Do not fear disgrace;(C) you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth(D)
    and remember no more the reproach(E) of your widowhood.(F)

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you town so full of commotion,
    you city of tumult(A) and revelry?(B)
Your slain(C) were not killed by the sword,(D)
    nor did they die in battle.

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35 Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.(A)

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Give her as much torment and grief
    as the glory and luxury she gave herself.(A)
In her heart she boasts,
    ‘I sit enthroned as queen.
I am not a widow;[a]
    I will never mourn.’(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 18:7 See Isaiah 47:7,8.

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem,(A) each of them with cane in hand because of their age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.(B)

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15 This is the city of revelry(A)
    that lived in safety.(B)
She said to herself,
    “I am the one! And there is none besides me.”(C)
What a ruin she has become,
    a lair for wild beasts!(D)
All who pass by her scoff(E)
    and shake their fists.(F)

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16 Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered(A) garments. Clothed(B) with terror, they will sit on the ground,(C) trembling(D) every moment, appalled(E) at you.

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[a]How the gold has lost its luster,
    the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
    at every street corner.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

10 The elders of Daughter Zion
    sit on the ground in silence;(A)
they have sprinkled dust(B) on their heads(C)
    and put on sackcloth.(D)
The young women of Jerusalem
    have bowed their heads to the ground.(E)

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[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)

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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

23 How broken and shattered
    is the hammer(A) of the whole earth!(B)
How desolate(C) is Babylon
    among the nations!

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Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve(A) the Babylonians,[a](B)” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 40:9 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 10

11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap(A) of ruins,
    a haunt of jackals;(B)
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah(C)
    so no one can live there.”(D)

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How beautiful on the mountains(A)
    are the feet of those who bring good news,(B)
who proclaim peace,(C)
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    “Your God reigns!”(D)

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Shake off your dust;(A)
    rise up,(B) sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,(C)
    Daughter Zion,(D) now a captive.

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The Fall of Babylon

47 “Go down, sit in the dust,(A)
    Virgin Daughter(B) Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
    queen city of the Babylonians.[a](C)
No more will you be called
    tender or delicate.(D)
Take millstones(E) and grind(F) flour;
    take off your veil.(G)
Lift up your skirts,(H) bare your legs,
    and wade through the streams.
Your nakedness(I) will be exposed
    and your shame(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;(K)
    I will spare no one.(L)

Our Redeemer(M)—the Lord Almighty(N) is his name(O)
    is the Holy One(P) of Israel.

“Sit in silence,(Q) go into darkness,(R)
    queen city of the Babylonians;(S)
no more will you be called
    queen(T) of kingdoms.(U)
I was angry(V) with my people
    and desecrated my inheritance;(W)
I gave them into your hand,(X)
    and you showed them no mercy.(Y)
Even on the aged
    you laid a very heavy yoke.
You said, ‘I am forever(Z)
    the eternal queen!’(AA)
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect(AB) on what might happen.(AC)

“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
    lounging in your security(AD)
and saying to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.(AE)
I will never be a widow(AF)
    or suffer the loss of children.’
Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,(AG) on a single day:
    loss of children(AH) and widowhood.(AI)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries(AJ)
    and all your potent spells.(AK)
10 You have trusted(AL) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’(AM)
Your wisdom(AN) and knowledge mislead(AO) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster(AP) will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly(AQ) come upon you.

12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,(AR)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.
13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!(AS)
    Let your astrologers(AT) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save(AU) you from what is coming upon you.
14 Surely they are like stubble;(AV)
    the fire(AW) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
    from the power of the flame.(AX)
These are not coals for warmth;
    this is not a fire to sit by.
15 That is all they are to you—
    these you have dealt with
    and labored(AY) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
    there is not one that can save(AZ) you.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5

12 How you have fallen(A) from heaven,
    morning star,(B) son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
    you who once laid low the nations!(C)

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That is where the tribes go up—
    the tribes of the Lord
to praise the name of the Lord
    according to the statute given to Israel.

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37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.(A)

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