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Lamentations 2:10-18
The Message
Lamentations 2:10-18
The Message
10 The elders of Daughter Zion sit silent on the ground.
They throw dust on their heads, dress in rough penitential burlap—
the young virgins of Jerusalem, their faces creased with the dirt.
11 My eyes are blind with tears, my stomach in a knot.
My insides have turned to jelly over my people’s fate.
Babies and children are fainting all over the place,
12 Calling to their mothers, “I’m hungry! I’m thirsty!”
then fainting like dying soldiers in the streets,
breathing their last in their mothers’ laps.
13 How can I understand your plight, dear Jerusalem?
What can I say to give you comfort, dear Zion?
Who can put you together again? This bust-up is past understanding.
14 Your prophets courted you with sweet talk.
They didn’t face you with your sin so that you could repent.
Their sermons were all wishful thinking, deceptive illusions.
15 Astonished, passersby can’t believe what they see.
They rub their eyes, they shake their heads over Jerusalem.
Is this the city voted “Most Beautiful” and “Best Place to Live”?
16 But now your enemies gape, slack-jawed.
Then they rub their hands in glee: “We’ve got them!
We’ve been waiting for this! Here it is!”
17 God did carry out, item by item, exactly what he said he’d do.
He always said he’d do this. Now he’s done it—torn the place down.
He’s let your enemies walk all over you, declared them world champions!
18 Give out heart-cries to the Master, dear repentant Zion.
Let the tears roll like a river, day and night,
and keep at it—no time-outs. Keep those tears flowing!
Lamentations 2:10-18
New International Version
Lamentations 2:10-18
New International Version
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)
11 My eyes fail from weeping,(F)
I am in torment within(G);
my heart(H) is poured out(I) on the ground
because my people are destroyed,(J)
because children and infants faint(K)
in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”(L)
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away(M)
in their mothers’ arms.(N)
13 What can I say for you?(O)
With what can I compare you,
Daughter(P) Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
that I may comfort you,
Virgin Daughter Zion?(Q)
Your wound is as deep as the sea.(R)
Who can heal you?
14 The visions of your prophets
were false(S) and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
to ward off your captivity.(T)
The prophecies they gave you
were false and misleading.(U)
15 All who pass your way
clap their hands at you;(V)
they scoff(W) and shake their heads(X)
at Daughter Jerusalem:(Y)
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,(Z)
the joy of the whole earth?”(AA)
16 All your enemies open their mouths
wide against you;(AB)
they scoff and gnash their teeth(AC)
and say, “We have swallowed her up.(AD)
This is the day we have waited for;
we have lived to see it.”(AE)
Footnotes
- Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.