Jerusalem in Affliction

How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
(A)How like a widow is she,
Who was great among the nations!
The (B)princess among the provinces
Has become a [a]slave!

She (C)weeps bitterly in the (D)night,
Her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers
She has none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.

(E)Judah has gone into captivity,
Under affliction and hard servitude;
(F)She dwells among the [b]nations,
She finds no (G)rest;
All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.

The roads to Zion mourn
Because no one comes to the [c]set feasts.
All her gates are (H)desolate;
Her priests sigh,
Her virgins are afflicted,
And she is in bitterness.

Her adversaries (I)have become [d]the master,
Her enemies prosper;
For the Lord has afflicted her
(J)Because of the multitude of her transgressions.
Her (K)children have gone into captivity before the enemy.

And from the daughter of Zion
All her splendor has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
That find no pasture,
That [e]flee without strength
Before the pursuer.

In the days of her affliction and roaming,
Jerusalem (L)remembers all her pleasant things
That she had in the days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
With no one to help her,
The adversaries saw her
And mocked at her [f]downfall.

(M)Jerusalem has sinned gravely,
Therefore she has become [g]vile.
All who honored her despise her
Because (N)they have seen her nakedness;
Yes, she sighs and turns away.

Her uncleanness is in her skirts;
She (O)did not consider her destiny;
Therefore her collapse was awesome;
She had no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
For the enemy is exalted!”

10 The adversary has spread his hand
Over all her [h]pleasant things;
For she has seen (P)the nations enter her [i]sanctuary,
Those whom You commanded
(Q)Not to enter Your assembly.

11 All her people sigh,
(R)They [j]seek bread;
They have given their [k]valuables for food to restore life.
“See, O Lord, and consider,
For I am scorned.”

12 Is it nothing to you, all you who [l]pass by?
Behold and see
(S)If there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
Which has been brought on me,
Which the Lord has inflicted
In the day of His fierce anger.

13 “From above He has sent fire into my bones,
And it overpowered them;
He has (T)spread a net for my feet
And turned me back;
He has made me desolate
And faint all the day.

14 “The(U) yoke of my transgressions was [m]bound;
They were woven together by His hands,
And thrust upon my neck.
He made my strength fail;
The Lord delivered me into the hands of those whom I am not able to withstand.

15 “The Lord has trampled underfoot all my mighty men in my midst;
He has called an assembly against me
To crush my young men;
(V)The Lord trampled as in a winepress
The virgin daughter of Judah.

16 “For these things I weep;
My eye, (W)my eye overflows with water;
Because the comforter, who should restore my life,
Is far from me.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy prevailed.”

17 (X)Zion [n]spreads out her hands,
But no one comforts her;
The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob
That those (Y)around him become his adversaries;
Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

18 “The Lord is (Z)righteous,
For I (AA)rebelled against His [o]commandment.
Hear now, all peoples,
And behold my sorrow;
My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.

19 “I called for my lovers,
But they deceived me;
My priests and my elders
Breathed their last in the city,
While they sought food
To restore their life.

20 “See, O Lord, that I am in distress;
My (AB)soul[p] is troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very rebellious.
(AC)Outside the sword bereaves,
At home it is like death.

21 “They have heard that I sigh,
But no one comforts me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
They are (AD)glad that You have done it.
Bring on (AE)the day You have [q]announced,
That they may become like me.

22 “Let(AF) all their wickedness come before You,
And do to them as You have done to me
For all my transgressions;
For my sighs are many,
And my heart is faint.”

God’s Anger with Jerusalem

How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion
With a (AG)cloud in His anger!
(AH)He cast down from heaven to the earth
(AI)The beauty of Israel,
And did not remember (AJ)His footstool
In the day of His anger.

The Lord has swallowed up and has (AK)not pitied
All the dwelling places of Jacob.
He has thrown down in His wrath
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
He has brought them down to the ground;
(AL)He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.

He has cut off in fierce anger
Every [r]horn of Israel;
(AM)He has drawn back His right hand
From before the enemy.
(AN)He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
Devouring all around.

(AO)Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow;
With His right hand, like an adversary,
He has slain (AP)all who were pleasing to His eye;
On the tent of the daughter of Zion,
He has poured out His fury like fire.

(AQ)The Lord was like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel,
He has swallowed up all her palaces;
(AR)He has destroyed her strongholds,
And has increased mourning and lamentation
In the daughter of Judah.

He has done violence (AS)to His [s]tabernacle,
(AT)As if it were a garden;
He has destroyed His place of assembly;
The Lord has caused
The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.
In His burning indignation He has (AU)spurned the king and the priest.

The Lord has spurned His altar,
He has (AV)abandoned His sanctuary;
He has [t]given up the walls of her palaces
Into the hand of the enemy.
(AW)They have made a noise in the house of the Lord
As on the day of a set feast.

The Lord has [u]purposed to destroy
The (AX)wall of the daughter of Zion.
(AY)He has stretched out a line;
He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying;
Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament;
They languished together.

Her gates have sunk into the ground;
He has destroyed and (AZ)broken her bars.
(BA)Her king and her princes are among the [v]nations;
(BB)The Law is no more,
And her (BC)prophets find no [w]vision from the Lord.

10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
(BD)Sit on the ground and keep silence;
[x]They (BE)throw dust on their heads
And (BF)gird themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Bow their heads to the ground.

11 (BG)My eyes fail with tears,
My [y]heart is troubled;
(BH)My [z]bile is poured on the ground
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
Because (BI)the children and the infants
Faint in the streets of the city.

12 They 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.

13 How shall I (BJ)console[aa] 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?

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

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

16 (BQ)All your enemies have opened their mouth against you;
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, (BR)“We have swallowed her up!
Surely this is the (BS)day we have waited for;
We have found it, (BT)we have seen it!

17 The Lord has done what He (BU)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 (BV)rejoice over you;
He has exalted the [ac]horn of your adversaries.

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

19 “Arise, (BX)cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
(BY)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 (BZ)at the head of every street.”

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

21 “Young(CB) and old lie
On the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the (CC)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
(CD)The terrors that surround me.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
There was no refugee or survivor.
(CE)Those whom I have borne and brought up
My enemies have (CF)destroyed.”

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:1 Lit. forced laborer
  2. Lamentations 1:3 Gentiles
  3. Lamentations 1:4 appointed
  4. Lamentations 1:5 Lit. her head
  5. Lamentations 1:6 Lit. are gone
  6. Lamentations 1:7 Vg. Sabbaths
  7. Lamentations 1:8 LXX, Vg. moved or removed
  8. Lamentations 1:10 desirable
  9. Lamentations 1:10 holy place, the temple
  10. Lamentations 1:11 hunt food
  11. Lamentations 1:11 desirable things
  12. Lamentations 1:12 Lit. pass by this way
  13. Lamentations 1:14 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr., Vg. watched over
  14. Lamentations 1:17 Prays
  15. Lamentations 1:18 Lit. mouth
  16. Lamentations 1:20 Lit. inward parts
  17. Lamentations 1:21 proclaimed
  18. Lamentations 2:3 Strength
  19. Lamentations 2:6 Lit. booth
  20. Lamentations 2:7 delivered
  21. Lamentations 2:8 determined
  22. Lamentations 2:9 Gentiles
  23. Lamentations 2:9 Prophetic revelation
  24. Lamentations 2:10 A sign of mourning
  25. Lamentations 2:11 Lit. inward parts
  26. Lamentations 2:11 Lit. liver
  27. Lamentations 2:13 Or bear witness to
  28. Lamentations 2:15 Lit. pass by this way
  29. Lamentations 2:17 Strength
  30. Lamentations 2:18 Lit. the daughter of your eye
  31. Lamentations 2:20 Vg. a span long

The Coming Judgment on Edom

The vision of Obadiah.

Thus says the Lord God (A)concerning Edom
(B)(We have heard a report from the Lord,
And a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,
“Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle”):

“Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
You shall be greatly despised.
The (C)pride of your heart has deceived you,
You who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
Whose habitation is high;
(D)You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’
(E)Though you ascend as high as the eagle,
And though you (F)set your nest among the stars,
From there I will bring you down,” says the Lord.

“If (G)thieves had come to you,
If robbers by night—
Oh, how you will be cut off!—
Would they not have stolen till they had enough?
If grape-gatherers had come to you,
(H)Would they not have left some gleanings?

“Oh, how Esau shall be searched out!
How his hidden treasures shall be sought after!
All the men in your confederacy
Shall force you to the border;
(I)The men at peace with you
Shall deceive you and prevail against you.
Those who eat your bread shall lay a [a]trap for you.
(J)No[b] one is aware of it.

“Will(K) I not in that day,” says the Lord,
“Even destroy the wise men from Edom,
And understanding from the mountains of Esau?
Then your (L)mighty men, O (M)Teman, shall be dismayed,
To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau
May be cut off by slaughter.

Edom Mistreated His Brother

10 “For (N)violence against your brother Jacob,
Shame shall cover you,
And (O)you shall be cut off forever.
11 In the day that you (P)stood on the other side—
In the day that strangers carried captive his forces,
When foreigners entered his gates
And (Q)cast lots for Jerusalem—
Even you were as one of them.

12 “But you should not have (R)gazed[c] on the day of your brother
[d]In the day of his captivity;
Nor should you have (S)rejoiced over the children of Judah
In the day of their destruction;
Nor should you have spoken proudly
In the day of distress.
13 You should not have entered the gate of My people
In the day of their calamity.
Indeed, you should not have [e]gazed on their affliction
In the day of their calamity,
Nor laid hands on their substance
In the day of their calamity.
14 You should not have stood at the crossroads
To cut off those among them who escaped;
Nor should you have [f]delivered up those among them who remained
In the day of distress.

15 “For(T) the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near;
(U)As you have done, it shall be done to you;
Your [g]reprisal shall return upon your own head.
16 (V)For as you drank on My holy mountain,
So shall all the nations drink continually;
Yes, they shall drink, and swallow,
And they shall be as though they had never been.

Israel’s Final Triumph

17 “But on Mount Zion there (W)shall be [h]deliverance,
And there shall be holiness;
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph (X)a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble;
They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord has spoken.

19 The [i]South (Y)shall possess the mountains of Esau,
(Z)And the Lowland shall possess Philistia.
They shall possess the fields of Ephraim
And the fields of Samaria.
Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel
Shall possess the land of the Canaanites
As (AA)far as Zarephath.
The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
(AB)Shall possess the cities of the [j]South.
21 Then (AC)saviors[k] shall come to Mount Zion
To judge the mountains of Esau,
And the (AD)kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Footnotes

  1. Obadiah 1:7 Or wound or plot
  2. Obadiah 1:7 Or There is no understanding in him
  3. Obadiah 1:12 Gloated over
  4. Obadiah 1:12 Lit. On the day he became a foreigner
  5. Obadiah 1:13 Gloated over
  6. Obadiah 1:14 Handed over to the enemy
  7. Obadiah 1:15 Or reward
  8. Obadiah 1:17 Or salvation
  9. Obadiah 1:19 Heb. Negev
  10. Obadiah 1:20 Heb. Negev
  11. Obadiah 1:21 deliverers

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

Come now, you (A)rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your (B)riches [a]are corrupted, and (C)your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. (D)You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed (E)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and (F)the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of [b]Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and [c]luxury; you have [d]fattened your hearts [e]as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord [f]is at hand.

Do not [g]grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be [h]condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 (G)My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and (H)patience. 11 Indeed (I)we count them blessed who (J)endure. You have heard of (K)the perseverance of Job and seen (L)the end intended by the Lord—that (M)the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

12 But above all, my brethren, (N)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into [i]judgment.

Meeting Specific Needs(O)

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him (P)pray. Is anyone cheerful? (Q)Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, (R)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. (S)And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 [j]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. (T)The effective, [k]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man (U)with a nature like ours, and (V)he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed (W)again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Bring Back the Erring One

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone (X)turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way (Y)will save [l]a soul from death and (Z)cover a multitude of sins.

Footnotes

  1. James 5:2 have rotted
  2. James 5:4 Lit., in Heb., Hosts
  3. James 5:5 indulgence
  4. James 5:5 Lit. nourished
  5. James 5:5 NU omits as
  6. James 5:8 has drawn near
  7. James 5:9 Lit. groan
  8. James 5:9 NU, M judged
  9. James 5:12 M hypocrisy
  10. James 5:16 NU Therefore confess your sins
  11. James 5:16 supplication
  12. James 5:20 NU his soul

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