Lamentations 2
International Children’s Bible
The Lord Destroyed Jerusalem
2 Look how the Lord in his anger
has brought Jerusalem to shame.
He has thrown down the greatness of Israel
from the sky to the earth.
He did not remember the Temple, his footstool,
on the day of his anger.
2 The Lord swallowed up without mercy
all the houses of the people of Jacob.
In his anger he pulled down
the strong places of Judah.
He threw her kingdom and its rulers
down to the ground in dishonor.
3 In his anger the Lord has removed
all the strength of Israel.
He took away his power from Israel
when the enemy came.
He burned against the people of Jacob like a flaming fire
that burns up everything around it.
4 Like an enemy, the Lord prepared to shoot his bow.
He took hold of his sword.
Like an enemy, he killed
all the good-looking people.
He poured out his anger like fire
on the tents of Jerusalem.
5 The Lord has become like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces.
He has destroyed all her strong places.
He has caused more moaning and groaning
for Judah.
6 He has destroyed his Temple as if it were a garden tent.
He has destroyed the place where he met with his people.
The Lord has made Jerusalem forget
the set feasts and Sabbath days.
He has rejected the king and the priest
in his great anger.
7 The Lord has rejected his altar
and abandoned his Temple.
He has given to the enemy
the walls of Jerusalem’s palaces.
The enemy shouted in the Lord’s Temple
as if it were a feast day.
8 The Lord planned to destroy
the wall around Jerusalem.
He marked the wall off with a measuring line.
He did not stop himself from destroying it.
He made the walls and defenses sad.
Together they have fallen.
9 Jerusalem’s gates have fallen to the ground.
He destroyed and smashed the bars of the gates.
Her king and her princes are sent away among the nations.
The teaching of the Lord has stopped.
The prophets have not had
any visions from the Lord.
10 The elders of Jerusalem
sit on the ground and are silent.
They pour dust on their heads
and put on rough cloth to show how sad they are.
The young women of Jerusalem
bow their heads to the ground in sorrow.
11 My eyes are weak from crying.
I am troubled.
I feel as if I have been poured out on the ground
because my people have been destroyed.
Children and babies are fainting
in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
“Where is some bread and wine?”
They faint like wounded soldiers
in the streets of the city.
They die in their mothers’ arms.
13 What can I say about you, Jerusalem?
What can I compare you to?
What can I say you are like?
How can I comfort you, Jerusalem?
Your ruin is as big as the sea.
No one can heal you.
14 Your prophets saw visions about you.
But they were false and worth nothing.
They did not expose your sins.
They did not keep you from being captured.
The messages they preached to you were false.
They fooled you.
15 All who pass by on the road
clap their hands at you.
They make fun and shake their heads
at Jerusalem.
They ask, “Is this the city that people called
the most beautiful city,
the happiest city on earth?”
16 All your enemies open their mouths
to say things against you.
They make fun and grind their teeth in anger.
They say, “We have swallowed her up.
This is the day we were waiting for.
We have finally seen it happen.”
17 The Lord has done what he planned.
He has carried out the order
that he commanded long ago.
He has destroyed without mercy.
He has made your enemies happy because of what happened to you.
He has strengthened your enemies.
18 The people
cry out to the Lord.
Wall of Jerusalem,
let your tears flow
like a river day and night.
Do not stop.
Do not let your eyes rest.
19 Get up, cry out in the night.
Cry all through the night.
Pour out your heart like water
in prayer to the Lord.
Lift up your hands in prayer to him.
Pray for the life of your children.
They are fainting with hunger
on every street corner.
20 Jerusalem says: “Look, Lord, and see.
You have never done this to anyone else.
Women eat their own babies,
the children they have cared for.
Priests and prophets
are killed in the Temple of the Lord.
21 “Young men and old men
lie on the ground in the streets of the city.
My young women and young men
have been killed by the sword.
You, Lord, killed them on the day of your anger.
You killed them without mercy.
22 “You invited terrors to come against me on every side.
It was as if you were inviting them to a feast.
No one escaped or remained alive
on the day of the Lord’s anger.
My enemy has killed
those whom I gave birth to and brought up.”
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)
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)
18 The 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)
19 Arise, 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)
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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