Lamentations 1
English Standard Version
How Lonely Sits the City
1 (A)How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like (B)a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was (C)a princess among the provinces
has become (D)a slave.
2 (E)She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
(F)among all her lovers
she has (G)none to comfort her;
(H)all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
3 (I)Judah has gone into exile because of affliction[a]
and hard servitude;
(J)she dwells now among the nations,
(K)but finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.[b]
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for none come to (L)the festival;
(M)all her gates are desolate;
her priests (N)groan;
her virgins have been afflicted,[c]
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5 (O)Her foes have become the head;
her (P)enemies prosper,
because (Q)the Lord has afflicted her
(R)for the multitude of her transgressions;
(S)her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6 From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
(T)that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembers
in the days of her affliction and wandering
(U)all the precious things
that were hers from (V)days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was none to help her,
her foes gloated over her;
they (W)mocked at her downfall.
8 (X)Jerusalem sinned grievously;
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
(Y)for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself (Z)groans
and turns her face away.
9 Her uncleanness was (AA)in her skirts;
(AB)she took no thought of her future;[d]
therefore her fall is terrible;
(AC)she has no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has (AD)triumphed!”
10 The enemy has stretched out his hands
over all her (AE)precious things;
for she has seen (AF)the nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom you (AG)forbade
to enter your congregation.
11 All her people (AH)groan
as (AI)they search for bread;
they trade their (AJ)treasures for (AK)food
to revive their strength.
“Look, O Lord, and see,
for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all (AL)you who pass by?
(AM)Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which (AN)the Lord inflicted
on (AO)the day of his fierce anger.
13 “From on high he (AP)sent fire;
into my bones[e] he made it descend;
(AQ)he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
(AR)he has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.
14 “My transgressions were bound[f] into (AS)a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord rejected
all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men;
(AT)the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 “For these things (AU)I weep;
my eyes flow with tears;
for (AV)a comforter is far from me,
one to (AW)revive my spirit;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.”
17 (AX)Zion stretches out her hands,
but (AY)there is none to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18 (AZ)“The Lord is in the right,
(BA)for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
(BB)my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
19 “I called to (BC)my lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while (BD)they sought food
to revive their strength.
20 “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;
(BE)my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
(BF)In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21 “They heard[g] (BG)my groaning,
yet (BH)there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
(BI)they are glad that you have done it.
You have brought[h] the day you announced;
(BJ)now let them be as I am.
22 (BK)“Let all their evildoing come before you,
and deal with them
as (BL)you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for (BM)my groans are many,
and (BN)my heart is faint.”
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:3 Or under affliction
- Lamentations 1:3 Or in the narrow passes
- Lamentations 1:4 Septuagint, Old Latin dragged away
- Lamentations 1:9 Or end
- Lamentations 1:13 Septuagint; Hebrew bones and
- Lamentations 1:14 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Lamentations 1:21 Septuagint, Syriac Hear
- Lamentations 1:21 Syriac Bring
Lamentations 1
The Message
Worthless, Cheap, Abject!
1 Oh, oh, oh . . .
How empty the city, once teeming with people.
A widow, this city, once in the front rank of nations,
once queen of the ball, she’s now a drudge in the kitchen.
2 She cries herself to sleep each night, tears soaking her pillow.
No one’s left among her lovers to sit and hold her hand.
Her friends have all dumped her.
3 After years of pain and hard labor, Judah has gone into exile.
She camps out among the nations, never feels at home.
Hunted by all, she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place.
4 Zion’s roads weep, empty of pilgrims headed to the feasts.
All her city gates are deserted, her priests in despair.
Her virgins are sad. How bitter her fate.
5 Her enemies have become her masters. Her foes are living it up
because God laid her low, punishing her repeated rebellions.
Her children, prisoners of the enemy, trudge into exile.
6 All beauty has drained from Daughter Zion’s face.
Her princes are like deer famished for food,
chased to exhaustion by hunters.
7 Jerusalem remembers the day she lost everything,
when her people fell into enemy hands, and not a soul there to help.
Enemies looked on and laughed, laughed at her helpless silence.
8 Jerusalem, who outsinned the whole world, is an outcast.
All who admired her despise her now that they see beneath the surface.
Miserable, she groans and turns away in shame.
9 She played fast and loose with life, she never considered tomorrow,
and now she’s crashed royally, with no one to hold her hand:
“Look at my pain, O God! And how the enemy cruelly struts.”
10 The enemy reached out to take all her favorite things. She watched
as pagans barged into her Sanctuary, those very people for whom
you posted orders: keep out: this assembly off-limits.
11 All the people groaned, so desperate for food, so desperate to stay alive
that they bartered their favorite things for a bit of breakfast:
“O God, look at me! Worthless, cheap, abject!
12 “And you passersby, look at me! Have you ever seen anything like this?
Ever seen pain like my pain, seen what he did to me,
what God did to me in his rage?
13 “He struck me with lightning, skewered me from head to foot,
then he set traps all around so I could hardly move.
He left me with nothing—left me sick, and sick of living.
14 “He wove my sins into a rope
and harnessed me to captivity’s yoke.
I’m goaded by cruel taskmasters.
15 “The Master piled up my best soldiers in a heap,
then called in thugs to break their fine young necks.
The Master crushed the life out of fair virgin Judah.
16 “For all this I weep, weep buckets of tears,
and not a soul within miles around cares for my soul.
My children are wasted, my enemy got his way.”
17 Zion reached out for help, but no one helped.
God ordered Jacob’s enemies to surround him,
and now no one wants anything to do with Jerusalem.
18 “God has right on his side. I’m the one who did wrong.
Listen everybody! Look at what I’m going through!
My fair young women, my fine young men, all herded into exile!
19 “I called to my friends; they betrayed me.
My priests and my leaders only looked after themselves,
trying but failing to save their own skins.
20 “O God, look at the trouble I’m in! My stomach in knots,
my heart wrecked by a life of rebellion.
Massacres in the streets, starvation in the houses.
21 “Oh, listen to my groans. No one listens, no one cares.
When my enemies heard of the trouble you gave me, they cheered.
Bring on Judgment Day! Let them get what I got!
22 “Take a good look at their evil ways and give it to them!
Give them what you gave me for my sins.
Groaning in pain, body and soul, I’ve had all I can take.”
Lamentations 1
King James Version
1 How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!
2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.
4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
5 Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
6 And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.
8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
9 Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.
10 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.
11 All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O Lord, and consider; for I am become vile.
12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
13 From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.
14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.
15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.
16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.
17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.
18 The Lord is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
19 I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.
20 Behold, O Lord; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
21 They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.
22 Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson