11 My eyes fail from weeping,(A)
    I am in torment within(B);
my heart(C) is poured out(D) on the ground
    because my people are destroyed,(E)
because children and infants faint(F)
    in the streets of the city.

12 They say to their mothers,
    “Where is bread and wine?”(G)
as they faint like the wounded
    in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away(H)
    in their mothers’ arms.(I)

13 What can I say for you?(J)
    With what can I compare you,
    Daughter(K) Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
    that I may comfort you,
    Virgin Daughter Zion?(L)
Your wound is as deep as the sea.(M)
    Who can heal you?

14 The visions of your prophets
    were false(N) and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
    to ward off your captivity.(O)
The prophecies they gave you
    were false and misleading.(P)

15 All who pass your way
    clap their hands at you;(Q)
they scoff(R) and shake their heads(S)
    at Daughter Jerusalem:(T)
“Is this the city that was called
    the perfection of beauty,(U)
    the joy of the whole earth?”(V)

16 All your enemies open their mouths
    wide against you;(W)
they scoff and gnash their teeth(X)
    and say, “We have swallowed her up.(Y)
This is the day we have waited for;
    we have lived to see it.”(Z)

17 The Lord has done what he planned;
    he has fulfilled(AA) his word,
    which he decreed long ago.(AB)
He has overthrown you without pity,(AC)
    he has let the enemy gloat over you,(AD)
    he has exalted the horn[a] of your foes.(AE)

18 The hearts of the people
    cry out to the Lord.(AF)
You walls of Daughter Zion,(AG)
    let your tears(AH) flow like a river
    day and night;(AI)
give yourself no relief,
    your eyes no rest.(AJ)

19 Arise, cry out in the night,
    as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart(AK) like water
    in the presence of the Lord.(AL)
Lift up your hands(AM) to him
    for the lives of your children,
who faint(AN) from hunger
    at every street corner.

20 “Look, Lord, and consider:
    Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,(AO)
    the children they have cared for?(AP)
Should priest and prophet be killed(AQ)
    in the sanctuary of the Lord?(AR)

21 “Young and old lie together
    in the dust of the streets;
my young men and young women
    have fallen by the sword.(AS)
You have slain them in the day of your anger;
    you have slaughtered them without pity.(AT)

22 “As you summon to a feast day,
    so you summoned against me terrors(AU) on every side.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
    no one escaped(AV) or survived;
those I cared for and reared(AW)
    my enemy has destroyed.”

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.

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