Lamentations 1 New International Version

1 ^[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)

²Bitterly she weeps^(F) at night,
    tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers^(G)
    there is no one to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed^(H) her;
    they have become her enemies.^(I)

³After affliction and harsh labor,
    Judah has gone into exile.^(J)
She dwells among the nations;
    she finds no resting place.^(K)
All who pursue her have overtaken her^(L)
    in the midst of her distress.

⁴The roads to Zion mourn,^(M)
    for no one comes to her appointed festivals.
All her gateways are desolate,^(N)
    her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
    and she is in bitter anguish.^(O)

⁵Her foes have become her masters;
    her enemies are at ease.
The Lord has brought her grief^(P)
    because of her many sins.^(Q)
Her children have gone into exile,^(R)
    captive before the foe.^(S)

⁶All the splendor has departed
    from Daughter Zion.^(T)
Her princes are like deer
    that find no pasture;
in weakness they have fled^(U)
    before the pursuer.

⁷In the days of her affliction and wandering
    Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
    that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands,
    there was no one to help her.^(V)
Her enemies looked at her
    and laughed^(W) at her destruction.

⁸Jerusalem has sinned^(X) greatly
    and so has become unclean.^(Y)
All who honored her despise her,
    for they have all seen her naked;^(Z)
she herself groans^(AA)
    and turns away.

⁹Her filthiness clung to her skirts;
    she did not consider her future.^(AB)
Her fall^(AC) was astounding;
    there was none to comfort^(AD) her.
“Look, Lord, on my affliction,^(AE)
    for the enemy has triumphed.”

¹⁰The enemy laid hands
    on all her treasures;^(AF)
she saw pagan nations
    enter her sanctuary^(AG)—
those you had forbidden^(AH)
    to enter your assembly.

¹¹All her people groan^(AI)
    as they search for bread;^(AJ)
they barter their treasures for food
    to keep themselves alive.
“Look, Lord, and consider,
    for I am despised.”

¹²“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?^(AK)
    Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering^(AL)
    that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me
    in the day of his fierce anger?^(AM)

¹³“From on high he sent fire,
    sent it down into my bones.^(AN)
He spread a net^(AO) for my feet
    and turned me back.
He made me desolate,^(AP)
    faint^(AQ) all the day long.

¹⁴“My sins have been bound into a yoke^[b];^(AR)
    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^(AS)
    of those I cannot withstand.

¹⁵“The Lord has rejected
    all the warriors in my midst;^(AT)
he has summoned an army^(AU) against me
    to^[c] crush my young men.^(AV)
In his winepress^(AW) the Lord has trampled^(AX)
    Virgin Daughter^(AY) Judah.

¹⁶“This is why I weep
    and my eyes overflow with tears.^(AZ)
No one is near to comfort^(BA) me,
    no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
    because the enemy has prevailed.”^(BB)

¹⁷Zion stretches out her hands,^(BC)
    but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has decreed for Jacob
    that his neighbors become his foes;^(BD)
Jerusalem has become
    an unclean^(BE) thing^(BF) among them.

¹⁸“The Lord is righteous,^(BG)
    yet I rebelled^(BH) against his command.
Listen, all you peoples;
    look on my suffering.^(BI)
My young men and young women
    have gone into exile.^(BJ)

¹⁹“I called to my allies^(BK)
    but they betrayed me.
My priests and my elders
    perished^(BL) in the city
while they searched for food
    to keep themselves alive.

²⁰“See, Lord, how distressed^(BM) I am!
    I am in torment^(BN) within,
and in my heart I am disturbed,^(BO)
    for I have been most rebellious.^(BP)
Outside, the sword bereaves;
    inside, there is only death.^(BQ)

²¹“People have heard my groaning,^(BR)
    but there is no one to comfort me.^(BS)
All my enemies have heard of my distress;
    they rejoice^(BT) at what you have done.
May you bring the day^(BU) you have announced
    so they may become like me.

²²“Let all their wickedness come before you;
    deal with them
as you have dealt with me
    because of all my sins.^(BV)
My groans^(BW) are many
    and my heart is faint.”

Footnotes

Lamentations 1:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Lamentations 1:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint He kept watch over my sins
Lamentations 1:15 Or has set a time for me / when he will

Cross references

Lamentations 2 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)

²Without 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.

³In 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)

⁴Like 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.

⁵The 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)

⁶He 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)

⁷The 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)

⁸The 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)

⁹Her 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.

¹⁰The 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)

¹¹My 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.

¹²They 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)

¹³What 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?

¹⁴The 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)

¹⁵All 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)

¹⁶All 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)

¹⁷The 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)

¹⁸The 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)

¹⁹Arise, 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.”

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.

Cross references

Obadiah New International Version

Obadiah’s Vision^(A)^(B)

¹The vision^(C) of Obadiah.

This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom^(D)—

We have heard a message from the Lord:
An envoy^(E) was sent to the nations to say,
“Rise, let us go against her for battle”^(F)—

²“See, I will make you small^(G) among the nations;
    you will be utterly despised.
³The pride^(H) of your heart has deceived you,
    you who live in the clefts of the rocks^[a]^(I)
    and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
    ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’^(J)
⁴Though you soar like the eagle
    and make your nest^(K) among the stars,
    from there I will bring you down,”^(L)
declares the Lord.^(M)
⁵“If thieves came to you,
    if robbers in the night—
oh, what a disaster awaits you!—
    would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
If grape pickers came to you,
    would they not leave a few grapes?^(N)
⁶But how Esau will be ransacked,
    his hidden treasures pillaged!
⁷All your allies^(O) will force you to the border;
    your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your bread^(P) will set a trap for you,^[b]
    but you will not detect it.

⁸“In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “will I not destroy^(Q) the wise men of Edom,
    those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
⁹Your warriors, Teman,^(R) will be terrified,
    and everyone in Esau’s mountains
    will be cut down in the slaughter.
¹⁰Because of the violence^(S) against your brother Jacob,^(T)
    you will be covered with shame;
    you will be destroyed forever.^(U)
¹¹On the day you stood aloof
    while strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
    and cast lots^(V) for Jerusalem,
    you were like one of them.^(W)
¹²You should not gloat^(X) over your brother
    in the day of his misfortune,^(Y)
nor rejoice^(Z) over the people of Judah
    in the day of their destruction,^(AA)
nor boast^(AB) so much
    in the day of their trouble.^(AC)
¹³You should not march through the gates of my people
    in the day of their disaster,
nor gloat over them in their calamity^(AD)
    in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth
    in the day of their disaster.
¹⁴You should not wait at the crossroads
    to cut down their fugitives,^(AE)
nor hand over their survivors
    in the day of their trouble.

¹⁵“The day of the Lord is near^(AF)
    for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
    your deeds^(AG) will return upon your own head.
¹⁶Just as you drank^(AH) on my holy hill,^(AI)
    so all the nations will drink^(AJ) continually;
they will drink and drink
    and be as if they had never been.^(AK)
¹⁷But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;^(AL)
    it will be holy,^(AM)
    and Jacob will possess his inheritance.^(AN)
¹⁸Jacob will be a fire
    and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
    and they will set him on fire^(AO) and destroy^(AP) him.
There will be no survivors^(AQ)
    from Esau.”
The Lord has spoken.

¹⁹People from the Negev will occupy
    the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess
    the land of the Philistines.^(AR)
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,^(AS)
    and Benjamin^(AT) will possess Gilead.
²⁰This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
    will possess the land as far as Zarephath;^(AU)
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
    will possess the towns of the Negev.^(AV)
²¹Deliverers^(AW) will go up on^[c] Mount Zion
    to govern the mountains of Esau.
    And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.^(AX)

Footnotes

Obadiah 1:3 Or of Sela
Obadiah 1:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
Obadiah 1:21 Or from

Cross references

Revelation 14 New International Version

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb,^(A) standing on Mount Zion,^(B) and with him 144,000^(C) who had his name and his Father’s name^(D) written on their foreheads.^(E) ²And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters^(F) and like a loud peal of thunder.^(G) The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.^(H) ³And they sang a new song^(I) before the throne and before the four living creatures^(J) and the elders.^(K) No one could learn the song except the 144,000^(L) who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins.^(M) They follow the Lamb wherever he goes.^(N) They were purchased from among mankind^(O) and offered as firstfruits^(P) to God and the Lamb. ⁵No lie was found in their mouths;^(Q) they are blameless.^(R)

The Three Angels

⁶Then I saw another angel flying in midair,^(S) and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth^(T)—to every nation, tribe, language and people.^(U) ⁷He said in a loud voice, “Fear God^(V) and give him glory,^(W) because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made^(X) the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”^(Y)

⁸A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’^[a]^(Z) which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”^(AA)

⁹A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast^(AB) and its image^(AC) and receives its mark on their forehead^(AD) or on their hand, ¹⁰they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury,^(AE) which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath.^(AF) They will be tormented with burning sulfur^(AG) in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. ¹¹And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever.^(AH) There will be no rest day or night^(AI) for those who worship the beast and its image,^(AJ) or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”^(AK) ¹²This calls for patient endurance^(AL) on the part of the people of God^(AM) who keep his commands^(AN) and remain faithful to Jesus.

¹³Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord^(AO) from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit,^(AP) “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress

¹⁴I looked, and there before me was a white cloud,^(AQ) and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man^[b]^(AR) with a crown^(AS) of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵Then another angel came out of the temple^(AT) and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle^(AU) and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest^(AV) of the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

¹⁷Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.^(AW) ¹⁸Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar^(AX) and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle^(AY) and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.^(AZ) ²⁰They were trampled in the winepress^(BA) outside the city,^(BB) and blood^(BC) flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.^[c]

Footnotes

Revelation 14:8 Isaiah 21:9
Revelation 14:14 See Daniel 7:13.
Revelation 14:20 That is, about 180 miles or about 300 kilometers

Cross references

New International Version (NIV)

Lamentations 1 New International Version

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Lamentations 2 New International Version

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Obadiah New International Version

Obadiah’s Vision^(A)^(B)

Footnotes

Cross references

Revelation 14 New International Version

The Lamb and the 144,000

The Three Angels

Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress

Footnotes

Cross references

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Lamentations 1 New International Version

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Lamentations 2 New International Version

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Obadiah New International Version

Obadiah’s Vision(A)(B)

Footnotes

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Revelation 14 New International Version

The Lamb and the 144,000

The Three Angels

Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress

Footnotes

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Obadiah’s Vision^(A)^(B)