Lamentations 2
Lexham English Bible
The Lord is Angry
2 How, in his anger,[a]
the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion in a cloud!
He has thrown down from heavens to earth
the splendor of Israel,
and he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.[b]
2 The Lord has devoured; he has not shown mercy
to all the dwellings of Jacob;
he has broken down in his wrath
the fortifications of the daughter of Judah;
he has leveled to the ground, he has dishonored
the kingdom and its commanders.[c]
3 He has cut down in fierce anger[d]
all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn his right hand
from the faces of the enemy,
and he has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire,
it has consumed all around.
4 He has bent his bow like an enemy;
he has set his right hand
like a foe, and he has slain
all the treasures of the eye;[e]
in the tent of the daughter of Zion,
he has poured out his anger like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has destroyed Israel;
he has destroyed all its citadel fortresses;[f]
he has ruined all its fortifications
and multiplied lamentation and mourning
in the daughter of Judah.
6 He has broken down his dwelling[g] place like the garden;
he has ruined his appointed feasts;
Yahweh has made them forget in Zion
festival[h] and Sabbath,
and he has despised in his anger
king and priest.
7 The Lord has rejected his altar;
he has rejected his sanctuary;
he has delivered into the hands of the enemy
the walls of its citadel fortresses.[i]
They have cried out in the house of Yahweh
like a day of an appointed feast.
8 Yahweh has planned to destroy
the wall of the daughter of Zion.
He measured with a line; he has not restrained
his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to mourn;
together they have languished away.
9 Her gates have sunk into the earth;
he has ruined and broken her bars,
her kings and its princes are among the nations;
there is no more law.[j]
Also, her prophets have not found
a revelation from Yahweh.
10 They sit on the ground,
the elders of the daughter of Zion are silent.
They cast dust on their head,
they have put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their head down to the ground.
11 My eyes have spent all their tears;[k]
my stomach[l] is in torment,
my heart[m] is poured out on the earth
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because child and babe faint
in the public squares of a city.
12 To their mothers they say,
“Where is the bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
in the public squares of a city,
as their life is being poured out
onto the bosom of their mothers.
13 What can I say for you? What can I compare to you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you so that I can comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your destruction is as vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 Your prophets had a vision for you,
false and worthless;
they have not exposed your sin,
to restore your fortune;
they have seen oracles for you,
false and misleading.
15 They clap hands over you,
all who pass along the way;
they hiss and they shake their head,
at the daughter of Jerusalem.
Is this the city of which it is said,
“A perfection of beauty, a joy for all the earth?”
16 They have opened their mouths against you,
all your enemies.
They hiss and gnash a tooth,
and they say, “We have destroyed her!
Surely this is the day we have hoped for;
we have found it, we have seen it!”
17 Yahweh has done what he has planned;
he has fulfilled his promise
that he ordained from the days of old;
he has demolished and not shown mercy;
he has made an enemy rejoice over you,
he has exalted the might[n] of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord,
“O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears stream down like a river;
day and night,
do not give yourself relief,
do not give your eyes rest.
19 “Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches;
pour out your heart like water,
before the face of the Lord.
Lift to him your hands,
for the life of your children,
who faint in starvation,
at the head of all streets.”
20 See, Yahweh, and take note!
With whom have you dealt thus?
Should women eat their young
children of tender care?
Should priest and prophet be slain
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 They lie in the soil of the streets,
young and old;
my young women[o] and young men,
they have fallen by the sword;
you have slain on the day of your anger,[p]
you have slaughtered and not shown mercy.
22 You have summoned my horror from all around,
as if for a feast day;
no one on the day of Yahweh’s anger
is a fugitive and a survivor;
whoever I have cared for and reared,
my enemy has destroyed.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 2:1 Literally “in his nose”
- Lamentations 2:1 Literally “his nose”
- Lamentations 2:2 Or “her commanders”
- Lamentations 2:3 Literally “in a fierce nose”
- Lamentations 2:4 NRSV translates “all in whom we took pride”
- Lamentations 2:5 Or “her citadel fortresses”
- Lamentations 2:6 Literally “his booth”; or “his tabernacle”
- Lamentations 2:6 Literally “appointed time”
- Lamentations 2:7 Or “her citadel fortress”
- Lamentations 2:9 Hebrew torah
- Lamentations 2:11 Literally “finished with the weeping”
- Lamentations 2:11 Literally “my inward parts”
- Lamentations 2:11 Literally “my liver”
- Lamentations 2:17 Literally “horn”
- Lamentations 2:21 Or “my virgins”
- Lamentations 2:21 Literally “your nose”
Lamentations 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God’s Warnings Fulfilled
2 How the Lord in his anger
has humiliated[a] daughter Zion!
He has thrown down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.(A)
2 The Lord has destroyed without mercy
all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has broken down
the strongholds of daughter Judah;
he has brought down to the ground in dishonor
the kingdom and its rulers.(B)
3 He has cut down in fierce anger
all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn his right hand from them
in the face of the enemy;
he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.(C)
4 He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set like a foe;
he has killed all those
in whom we took pride
in the tent of daughter Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.(D)
5 The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has destroyed Israel.
He has destroyed all its palaces,
laid in ruins its strongholds,
and multiplied in daughter Judah
mourning and lamentation.(E)
6 He has broken down his booth like a garden;
he has destroyed his tabernacle;
the Lord has abolished in Zion
festival and Sabbath
and in his fierce indignation has spurned
king and priest.(F)
7 The Lord has scorned his altar,
disowned his sanctuary;
he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
a clamor was raised in the house of the Lord
as on a day of festival.(G)
8 The Lord determined to lay in ruins
the wall of daughter Zion;
he stretched the line;
he did not withhold his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to lament;
they languish together.(H)
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
he has ruined and broken her bars;
her king and princes are among the nations;
guidance is no more,
and her prophets obtain
no vision from the Lord.(I)
10 The elders of daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have thrown dust on their heads;
they put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.(J)
11 My eyes are spent with weeping;
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out on the ground
because of the destruction of my people,[b]
because infants and babes faint
in the streets of the city.(K)
12 They cry to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosoms.(L)
13 What can I say for you, to what compare you,
O daughter Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter Zion?
For vast as the sea is your ruin;
who can heal you?(M)
14 Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes
but have seen oracles for you
that are false and misleading.(N)
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
at daughter Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?”(O)
16 All your enemies
open their mouths against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We have devoured her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
at last we have seen it!”(P)
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out his threat;
as he ordained long ago,
he has demolished without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the might of your foes.(Q)
18 Cry aloud[c] to the Lord!
O wall of daughter Zion!
Let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!(R)
19 Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.(S)
20 Look, O Lord, and consider!
To whom have you done this?
Should women eat their offspring,
the children they have borne?
Should priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?(T)
21 The young and the old are lying
on the ground in the streets;
my young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
in the day of your anger you have killed them,
slaughtering without mercy.(U)
22 You invited my enemies from all around
as if for a day of festival;
and on the day of the anger of the Lord,
no one escaped or survived;
those whom I bore and reared,
my enemy has destroyed.(V)
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.