Lamentations 2
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(L)he has withdrawn from them his right hand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.”
20 Look, O Lord, and see!
(BY)With whom have you dealt thus?
(BZ)Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of (CA)their tender care?
Should (CB)priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
Lamentations 2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Judgment on Jerusalem
א Alef
2 How the Lord has overshadowed
Daughter Zion with His anger!
He has thrown down Israel’s glory
from heaven to earth.
He has abandoned His footstool[a](A)
in the day of His anger.(B)
ב Bet
2 Without compassion(C) the Lord has swallowed up
all the dwellings of Jacob.
In His wrath He has demolished
the fortified cities(D) of Daughter Judah.
He brought them to the ground
and defiled the kingdom and its leaders.(E)
ג Gimel
3 He has cut off every horn(F) of Israel
in His burning anger
and withdrawn His right hand(G)
in the presence of the enemy.
He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything.(H)
ד Dalet
4 He has bent His bow like an enemy;(I)
His right hand is positioned like an adversary.
He has killed everyone who was loved,[b]
pouring out His wrath like fire
on the tent of Daughter Zion.
ה He
5 The Lord is like an enemy;
He has swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all its palaces
and destroyed its fortified cities.
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation
within Daughter Judah.(J)
ו Vav
6 He has done violence to His temple[c]
as if it were a garden booth,
destroying His place of meeting.(K)
The Lord has abolished
appointed festivals and Sabbaths in Zion.
He has despised king and priest
in His fierce anger.
ז Zayin
7 The Lord has rejected His altar,
repudiated His sanctuary;(L)
He has handed the walls of her palaces
over to the enemy.
They have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.
ח Khet
8 The Lord determined to destroy
the wall of Daughter Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line(M)
and did not restrain Himself from destroying.
He made the ramparts and walls grieve;
together they waste away.
ט Tet
9 Zion’s gates have fallen to the ground;(N)
He has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.
Her king and her leaders live among the nations,
instruction[d] is no more,
and even her prophets receive
no vision from the Lord.(O)
י Yod
10 The elders of Daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence.
They have thrown dust on their heads(P)
and put on sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.(Q)
כ Kaf
11 My eyes are worn out from weeping;(R)
I am churning within.
My heart is poured out in grief[e](S)
because of the destruction of my dear people,(T)
because children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.(U)
ל Lamed
12 They cry out to their mothers:
Where is the grain and wine?(V)
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their lives fade away
in the arms of their mothers.
מ Mem
13 What can I say on your behalf?
What can I compare you to, Daughter Jerusalem?
What can I liken you to,
so that I may console you, Virgin Daughter Zion?
For your ruin is as vast as the sea.
Who can heal you?(W)
נ Nun
14 Your prophets saw visions for you
that were empty and deceptive;(X)
they did not reveal your guilt
and so restore your fortunes.(Y)
They saw oracles for you
that were empty and misleading.
ס Samek
15 All who pass by
scornfully clap their hands(Z) at you.
They mock[f](AA) and shake their heads(AB)
at Daughter Jerusalem:
Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,(AC)
the joy of the whole earth?(AD)
פ Pe
16 All your enemies
open their mouths against you.(AE)
They hiss and gnash their teeth,(AF)
saying, “We have swallowed her up.(AG)
This is the day we have waited for!
We have lived to see it.”
ע Ayin
17 The Lord has done what He planned;
He has accomplished His decree,
which He ordained in days of old.
He has demolished without compassion,(AH)
letting the enemy gloat over you
and exalting the horn of your adversaries.
צ Tsade
18 The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord.
Wall of Daughter Zion,(AI)
let your tears run down like a river
day and night.(AJ)
Give yourself no relief
and your[g] eyes no rest.
ק Qof
19 Arise, cry out in the night
from the first watch of the night.
Pour out your heart like water
before the Lord’s presence.(AK)
Lift up your hands to Him
for the lives of your children
who are fainting from hunger
on the corner of every street.(AL)
ר Resh
20 Lord, look and consider
who You have done this to.
Should women eat their own children,(AM)
the infants they have nurtured?[h]
Should priests and prophets
be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?
שׁ Shin
21 Both young and old
are lying on the ground in the streets.
My young men and women
have fallen by the sword.
You have killed them in the day of Your anger,
slaughtering without compassion.(AN)
ת Tav
22 You summoned my attackers[i] on every side,(AO)
as if for an appointed festival day;
on the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped or survived.
My enemy has destroyed
those I nurtured[j] and reared.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 2:1 Either the ark of the covenant or the temple
- Lamentations 2:4 Lit killed all the delights of the eye; Ezk 24:16
- Lamentations 2:6 Lit booth
- Lamentations 2:9 Or the law
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit My liver is poured out on the ground
- Lamentations 2:15 Lit hiss
- Lamentations 2:18 Lit and the daughter of your
- Lamentations 2:20 Or infants in a healthy condition; Hb obscure
- Lamentations 2:22 Or terrors
- Lamentations 2:22 Or I bore healthy; Hb obscure
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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