Lamentations 1
Legacy Standard Bible
Zion Lays Desolate
Aleph
1 How (A)lonely sits the city
That was (B)great with people!
She has become like a (C)widow
Who was once (D)great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the [a]provinces
Has become a (E)forced laborer!
Beth
2 She (F)weeps bitterly in the night,
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has none to comfort her
Among all her (G)lovers.
All her friends have (H)dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
Gimel
3 (I)Judah has gone into exile because of affliction
And because of great slavery;
She sits (J)among the nations,
But she has found no rest;
All (K)her pursuers have overtaken her
In the midst of [b]distress.
Daleth
4 The roads [c]of Zion are in mourning
Because (L)no one comes to the appointed times.
All her gates are (M)desolate;
Her priests are sighing,
Her (N)virgins are grieving,
And she herself [d]is (O)bitter.
He
5 Her adversaries have become [e]her masters;
Her enemies are complacent;
For [f]Yahweh has (P)caused her grief
Because of the greatness of her transgressions;
Her infants have gone away
As captives before the adversary.
Vav
6 So all her (Q)majesty
Has gone out from the daughter of Zion;
Her princes have become like deer
That have found no pasture;
So they have [g](R)fled without strength
Before the pursuer.
Zayin
7 In the days of her affliction and homelessness
(S)Jerusalem remembers all her precious things
That were from the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary
And (T)no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her;
They (U)laughed at her [h]ruin.
Heth
8 Jerusalem sinned (V)greatly;
Therefore (W)she has become an impure thing.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even (X)she herself sighs and turns away.
Teth
9 Her (Y)uncleanness was in her skirts;
She did not remember her (Z)future.
Therefore she has (AA)gone down astonishingly;
(AB)She has no comforter.
“(AC)See, O Yahweh, my affliction,
For the enemy has (AD)magnified himself!”
Yodh
10 The adversary has stretched out his hand
Over all her desirable things,
For she has seen the (AE)nations enter her sanctuary,
The ones whom You commanded
That they should (AF)not enter into Your assembly.
Kaph
11 All her people are sighing, (AG)seeking bread;
They have given their desirable things for food
To (AH)restore their souls.
“See, O Yahweh, and look,
For I am (AI)despised.”
Lamedh
12 “Is (AJ)it nothing to all you who pass this way?
Look and see if there is any [i]pain like my [j]pain
Which was dealt severely to me,
Which (AK)Yahweh grieved me with on the day of His (AL)burning anger.
Mem
13 From on high He sent fire into my (AM)bones,
And it dominated them.
He has spread a (AN)net for my feet;
He has turned me back;
He has made me (AO)desolate,
[k]Faint all day long.
Nun
14 The (AP)yoke of my transgressions is bound;
By His hand they are knit together.
They have (AQ)come upon my neck;
He has made my strength stumble.
The Lord (AR)has given me into the hands
Of those against whom I am not able to stand.
Samekh
15 The (AS)Lord has rejected all my mighty men
In my midst;
He has called an appointed time against me
To break my (AT)young men;
The Lord has (AU)trodden as in a wine press
The virgin daughter of Judah.
Ayin
16 For these things I (AV)am weeping;
[l]My eyes run down with water;
Because far from me is a (AW)comforter,
One who restores my soul.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy has prevailed.”
Pe
17 Zion (AX)stretches out her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
Yahweh has (AY)commanded concerning Jacob
That the ones round about him should be his adversaries;
(AZ)Jerusalem has become an impure thing among them.
Tsadhe
18 “Yahweh is (BA)righteous;
For I have (BB)rebelled against His [m]command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And (BC)behold my [n]pain;
(BD)My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
Qoph
19 I (BE)called to my lovers, but they deceived me;
My (BF)priests and my elders breathed their last in the city
While they sought food for themselves in order to (BG)restore their souls.
Resh
20 See, O Yahweh, for I am in distress;
My [o](BH)inmost being is greatly disturbed;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very (BI)rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
In the house it is like death.
Shin
21 They have heard that I (BJ)am sighing;
There is no one to comfort me;
All my enemies have heard of the [p]evil done to me;
They (BK)rejoice that You have done it.
You have brought the day which You have proclaimed,
So that they will become (BL)like me.
Tav
22 Let all their evil come before You;
And (BM)deal severely with them as You have dealt severely with me
For all my transgressions;
For my groans are great and my heart is faint.”
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:1 Or districts
- Lamentations 1:3 Or narrow places
- Lamentations 1:4 Or to
- Lamentations 1:4 Or suffers bitterly
- Lamentations 1:5 Lit head
- Lamentations 1:5 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Lamentations 1:6 Lit gone
- Lamentations 1:7 Lit cessation
- Lamentations 1:12 Or sorrow
- Lamentations 1:12 Or sorrow
- Lamentations 1:13 Or Sick
- Lamentations 1:16 Lit My eye, my eye
- Lamentations 1:18 Lit mouth
- Lamentations 1:18 Or sorrow
- Lamentations 1:20 Lit inward parts are in ferment
- Lamentations 1:21 Or calamity
Lamentations 1
Common English Bible
Jerusalem’s suffering
1 Oh, no!
She sits alone, the city that was once full of people.
Once great among nations, she has become like a widow.
Once a queen over provinces, she has become a slave.
2 She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears on her cheek.
None of her lovers comfort her.
All her friends lied to her; they have become her enemies.
3 Judah was exiled after suffering and hard service.
She lives among the nations; she finds no rest.
All who were chasing her caught her—
right in the middle of her distress.
4 Zion’s roads are in mourning; no one comes to the festivals.
All her gates are deserted. Her priests are groaning,
her young women grieving. She is bitter.
5 Her adversaries have become rulers; her enemies relax.
Certainly the Lord caused her grief because of her many wrong acts.
Her children have gone away, captive before the enemy.
6 Daughter Zion lost all her glory.
Her officials are like deer that can’t find pasture.
They have gone away, frail, before the hunter.
7 While suffering and homeless, Jerusalem remembers all her treasures from days long past.
When her people fell by the enemy’s hand, there was no one to help her.
Enemies saw her, laughed at her defeat.
8 Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore, she’s become a joke.[a]
All who honored her now detest her, for they’ve seen her naked.
Even she groans and turns away.
9 Her uncleanness shows on her clothing; she didn’t consider what would happen to her.
She’s gone down shockingly; she has no comforter.
“Lord, look at my suffering—the enemy has definitely triumphed!”
10 The enemy grabbed all her treasures.
She watched nations enter her sanctuary—
nations that you, God,[b] commanded: They must not enter your assembly.
11 All her people are groaning, seeking bread.
They give up their most precious things for food to survive.
“Lord, look and take notice: I am most certainly despised.”
12 Is this nothing to all you who pass by?[c]
Look around: Is there any suffering like the suffering inflicted on me,
the grief that the Lord caused on the day of his fierce anger?
13 From above he sent fire into my bones; he trampled them.
He spread a net for my feet; he forced me backward.
He left me devastated, constantly sick.
14 My steps[d] are being watched;[e] by his hand they are tripped up.
His yoke is on my neck; he makes my strength fail.
My Lord has handed me over to people I can’t resist.
15 My Lord has despised my mighty warriors.
He called a feast for me—in order to crush my young men!
My Lord has stomped on the winepress of the young woman Daughter Judah.
16 Because of all these things I’m crying. My eyes, my own eyes pour water
because a comforter who might encourage me is nowhere near.
My children are destroyed because the enemy was so strong.
17 Zion spreads out her hands; she has no comforter.
The Lord commanded Jacob’s enemies to surround him.
Jerusalem is just a piece of garbage to them.
18 The Lord is right, because I disobeyed his word.
Listen, all you people; look at my suffering.
My young women and young men have gone away as prisoners.
19 I called to my lovers, but they deceived me.
My priests and my elders have perished in the city;
they were looking for food to survive.
20 Pay attention, Lord, for I am in trouble. My stomach is churning;
my heart is pounding inside me because I am so bitter.
In the streets the sword kills; in the house it is like death.
21 People heard that I was groaning, that I had no comforter.
All my enemies heard about my distress; they were thrilled that you had done this.
Bring the day you have announced so they become like me!
22 Let all their evil come before you.
Then injure them like you’ve injured me because of all my wrong acts;
my groans are many, my heart is sick.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:8 Or she’s become unclean.
- Lamentations 1:10 Heb lacks God.
- Lamentations 1:12 Heb uncertain
- Lamentations 1:14 Correction; or my wrong acts
- Lamentations 1:14 Or a yoke is bound to my wrong acts; Heb uncertain
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