Lamentations 2:1-19
English Standard Version
The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity
2 How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion (A)under a cloud!
(B)He has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered (C)his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord (D)has swallowed up (E)without mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath (F)he has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought (G)down to the ground (H)in dishonor
the kingdom (I)and its rulers.
3 He has cut down in (J)fierce anger
all (K)the might of Israel;
(L)he has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
(M)he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
4 (N)He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set (O)like a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.
5 (P)The Lord has become like an enemy;
(Q)he has swallowed up Israel;
(R)he has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
(S)mourning and lamentation.
6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins (T)his meeting place;
(U)the Lord has made Zion forget
festival and (V)Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7 (W)The Lord has scorned his altar,
(X)disowned his sanctuary;
(Y)he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
(Z)they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
as on the day of festival.
8 (AA)The Lord determined to lay in ruins
(AB)the wall of the daughter of Zion;
(AC)he stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
(AD)he caused rampart and wall to lament;
(AE)they languished together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
(AF)he has ruined (AG)and broken her bars;
(AH)her king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and (AI)her prophets find
no vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
(AJ)sit on the ground (AK)in silence;
(AL)they have thrown dust on their heads
and (AM)put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 (AN)My eyes are spent with weeping;
(AO)my stomach churns;
(AP)my bile is poured out to the ground
(AQ)because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
(AR)because infants and babies (AS)faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
(AT)“Where is bread and wine?”
(AU)as they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers' bosom.
13 What can I say for you, (AV)to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
(AW)What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
(AX)For your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 (AY)Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
(AZ)they have not exposed your iniquity
to (BA)restore your fortunes,
(BB)but have seen for you (BC)oracles
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
(BD)they hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
(BE)the perfection of beauty,
(BF)the joy of all the earth?”
16 (BG)All your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We (BH)have swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; (BI)we see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out (BJ)his word,
which he commanded (BK)long ago;
(BL)he has thrown down (BM)without pity;
(BN)he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the (BO)might of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O (BP)wall of the daughter of Zion,
(BQ)let tears stream down like a torrent
(BR)day and night!
(BS)Give yourself no rest,
(BT)your eyes no respite!
19 “Arise, (BU)cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
(BV)Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
(BW)Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
(BX)who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
Lamentations 2:1-19
International Standard Version
The Condition of Israel
2 How the Lord in his wrath
shamed[a] cherished[b] Zion!
He cast down from heaven to earth
the glory of Israel,
He did not remember his footstool[c]
in the time of his anger.
2 The Lord swallowed up without pity
all of Jacob’s habitations.
In his wrath he tore down
the strongholds of fair Judah.[d]
He cast to the ground in dishonor
both her kingdom and its rulers.
3 In his fierce wrath he cut off
all the strength[e] of Israel.
He withdrew his protection[f]
as the enemy approached.[g]
He burned Jacob like a blazing fire
consumes everything around it.
4 He bent his bow against us[h] as would an enemy,
his right hand cocked as would an adversary.
He has killed everyone in whom we took pride;
in the tent of cherished[i] Zion he poured out
his anger like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an enemy—
he has devoured Israel.
He has devoured all of her palaces,
destroying her fortresses.
He filled cherished Judah[j]
with mourning and lament.
6 He plowed under his Temple[k] like a garden,
spoiling his tent.
The Lord abolished in Zion
both festivals and Sabbaths.
In his fierce wrath he despised
both king and priest.
7 The Lord rejected his altar,
disavowing his sanctuary.
He gave up her palace walls
to the control of the enemy.
They shouted in the Lord’s Temple,
as though they were attending a day of celebration.
8 The Lord planned to destroy
the walls of cherished[l] Zion.
He measured them with his line.
He did not withhold his hand from destruction.
He made both ramparts and defensive walls mourn;
they languish together.
9 Jerusalem’s[m] gates collapsed to the ground;
he destroyed and broke the bars of her gates.[n]
Both king and prince have gone into captivity.[o]
There is no instruction,[p]
and the prophets receive
no vision from the Lord.
10 The leaders of cherished[q] Zion
sit silently on the ground;
they throw dust on their heads
and dress in mourning clothes.
The young women of Jerusalem
bow their heads in sorrow.[r]
11 My eyes are worn out from crying,
my insides are churning,
My emotions pour out in grief[s]
because my people are destroyed—
Children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They ask their mothers,
“Is there anything to eat or drink?”[t]
They faint in the streets of the city
like wounded men.
Their life ebbs away
while they lie on their mother’s bosom.
13 What can be said about you?
To what should you be compared, fair[u] Jerusalem?
To what may I liken you,
so I may comfort you, fair one[v] of Zion?
Indeed, your wound is as deep as the sea—
who can heal you?
14 Your prophets look on your behalf;
they see false and deceptive visions.
They did not expose your sins
in order to restore what had been captured.[w]
Instead, they crafted oracles for you
that are false and misleading.
15 Everyone who passes by on the road
shake their fists[x] at you.
They hiss and shake their heads
at cherished[y] Jerusalem:
“Is this the city men used to call ‘The Perfection of Beauty,’
and ‘The Joy of the Entire Earth’”?
16 All of your enemies
insult you with gaping mouths.
They hiss and grind their teeth while saying,
“We have devoured her completely.
Yes, this is the day that we anticipated!
We found it at last;[z] we have seen it!”
17 The Lord did what he planned.
He carried out his threat.
Just as he commanded long ago,
he has torn down without pity;
He let the enemy boast about you
and has exalted the power[aa] of your enemies.
18 Cry out from your heart to the Lord,
wall of fair[ab] Zion!
Let your tears run down like a river
day and night.
Allow yourself no rest,
and don’t stop crying.
19 Get up and cry aloud in the night,
at the beginning of every hour.[ac]
Pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord!
Lift up your hands toward him
for the lives of your children,
who are fainting away
at every street corner.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 2:1 Or enveloped
- Lamentations 2:1 Lit. the daughter of
- Lamentations 2:1 I.e. the Temple
- Lamentations 2:2 Lit. of the daughter of Judah
- Lamentations 2:3 Lit. every horn
- Lamentations 2:3 Lit. his right hand
- Lamentations 2:3 Lit. in front of the enemy
- Lamentations 2:4 The Heb. lacks against us
- Lamentations 2:4 Lit. of the daughter of
- Lamentations 2:5 Lit. the daughters of Judah
- Lamentations 2:6 Lit. tent
- Lamentations 2:8 Lit. of the daughter of
- Lamentations 2:9 Lit. Her
- Lamentations 2:9 The Heb. lacks gates
- Lamentations 2:9 Lit. into the nations
- Lamentations 2:9 Or Law; or The priests do not give their guidance
- Lamentations 2:10 Lit. of the daughter of
- Lamentations 2:10 Lit. heads to the ground
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit. my liver empties upon the ground
- Lamentations 2:12 Lit. any grain and wine
- Lamentations 2:13 Lit. daughter of
- Lamentations 2:13 Lit. virgin daughter
- Lamentations 2:14 Lit. restore your captivity
- Lamentations 2:15 Or road clap their hands
- Lamentations 2:15 Lit. at the daughter
- Lamentations 2:16 The Heb. lacks at last
- Lamentations 2:17 Lit. horn
- Lamentations 2:18 Lit. of the daughter of
- Lamentations 2:19 Lit. of the night watches
Lamentations 2:1-19
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)
2 Without 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.
3 In 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)
4 Like 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.
5 The 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)
6 He 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)
7 The 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)
8 The 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)
9 Her 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.
10 The 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)
11 My 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.
12 They 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)
13 What 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?
14 The 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)
15 All 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)
16 All 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)
17 The 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)
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.
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