Lamentations 1
Christian Standard Bible
Lament over Jerusalem
א Aleph
1 How[a] she sits alone,(A)
the city(B) once crowded with people!
She who was great among the nations
has become like a widow.(C)
The princess among the provinces
has been put to forced labor.
ב Beth
2 She weeps bitterly during the night,(D)
with tears on her cheeks.
There is no one to offer her comfort,
not one from all her lovers.[b](E)
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.
ג Gimel
3 Judah has gone into exile
following[c] affliction and harsh slavery;
she lives among the nations
but finds no place to rest.(F)
All her pursuers have overtaken her
in narrow places.
ד Daleth
4 The roads to Zion(G) mourn,
for no one comes to the appointed festivals.(H)
All her gates are deserted;
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she herself is bitter.
ה He
5 Her adversaries have become her masters;(I)
her enemies are at ease,(J)
for the Lord has made her suffer
because of her many transgressions.
Her children have gone away
as captives before the adversary.
ו Waw
6 All the splendor(K) has vanished
from Daughter Zion.(L)
Her leaders are like stags
that find no pasture;
they stumble away exhausted
before the hunter.(M)
ז Zayin
7 During the days of her affliction and homelessness(N)
Jerusalem remembers all her precious belongings
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the adversary’s hand,
she had no one to help.
The adversaries looked at her,
laughing over her downfall.
ח Cheth
8 Jerusalem has sinned grievously;
therefore, she has become an object of scorn.[d]
All who honored her now despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness.
She herself groans and turns away.
ט Teth
9 Her uncleanness stains her skirts.(O)
She never considered her end.
Her downfall was astonishing;(P)
there was no one to comfort her.
Lord, look on my affliction,
for the enemy boasts.
י Yod
10 The adversary has seized
all her precious belongings.
She has even seen the nations
enter her sanctuary—
those you had forbidden
to enter your assembly.(Q)
כ Kaph
11 All her people groan
while they search for bread.(R)
They have traded their precious belongings for food
in order to stay alive.(S)
Lord, look and see
how I have become despised.
ל Lamed
12 Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by?(T)
Look and see!
Is there any pain like mine,
which was dealt out to me,
which the Lord made me suffer
on the day of his burning anger?(U)
מ Mem
13 He sent fire from on high(V) into my bones;
he made it descend.[e](W)
He spread a net for my feet(X)
and turned me back.
He made me desolate,
sick all day long.
נ Nun
14 My transgressions have been formed into a yoke,[f][g](Y)
fastened together by his hand;
they have been placed on my neck,
and the Lord has broken my strength.
He has handed me over
to those I cannot withstand.
ס Samek
15 The Lord has rejected(Z)
all the mighty men within me.
He has summoned an army[h] against me
to crush my young warriors.
The Lord has trampled Virgin Daughter Judah(AA)
like grapes in a winepress.(AB)
ע Ayin
16 I weep because of these things;
my eyes flow[i] with tears.(AC)
For there is no one nearby to comfort me,(AD)
no one to keep me alive.
My children are desolate
because the enemy has prevailed.
פ Pe
17 Zion stretches out her hands;
there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his adversaries.
Jerusalem has become
something impure(AE) among them.
צ Tsade
18 The Lord is just,
for I have rebelled against his command.(AF)
Listen, all you people;
look at my pain.
My young women and young men
have gone into captivity.(AG)
ק Qoph
19 I called to my lovers,(AH)
but they betrayed me.
My priests and elders
perished in the city
while searching for food
to keep themselves alive.(AI)
ר Resh
20 Lord, see how I am in distress.
I am churning within;(AJ)
my heart is broken,[j]
for I have been very rebellious.
Outside, the sword takes the children;
inside, there is death.(AK)
שׁ Shin
21 People have heard me groaning,(AL)
but there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my misfortune;
they are glad that you have caused it.(AM)
Bring on the day you have announced,
so that they may become like me.(AN)
ת Taw
22 Let all their wickedness come before you,
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions.(AO)
For my groans are many,
and I am sick at heart.
Footnotes
- 1:1 The stanzas in Lm 1–4 form an acrostic.
- 1:2 = Jerusalem’s political allies
- 1:3 Or because of
- 1:8 Or become impure
- 1:13 DSS, LXX; MT reads bones, and it prevailed against them
- 1:14 Some Hb mss, LXX read He kept watch over my transgressions
- 1:14 Or The yoke of my transgressions is bound; Hb obscure
- 1:15 Or has announced an appointed time
- 1:16 Lit my eye, my eye flows
- 1:20 Lit is turned within me
Lamentations 1
The Voice
1 [a] Aaghh! Lonely is this city that once bustled with life;
Cheer is empty; like a widow, she is abandoned
and oh, so lonely.
She who was a princess, great among the nations,
has lost everything and been forced to serve as a slave.
2 Bawling, she weeps without constraint every night,
cries herself to sleep, bitter tears streaming down her cheeks.
Her former friends ignore her;
there is no one there to share her sorrow;
Companions contend and have betrayed her;
friends have been unfaithful and turned against her as enemies.
3 Carried off to a foreign place, Judah is exiled in misery
and debased by affliction and hard labor;
She cannot find rest living among the pagan nations.
She tried to run and hide, but in her distress pursuers have overcome her.
4 Despair permeates the very dust of Zion’s roads.
Nobody walks them in anticipation of celebration and worship.
No one enters the city’s desolate gates bringing offerings or sacrifices to God.
The religious leaders are heavyhearted,
And the virgin women despair.
It’s so bitter for dear Zion!
5 Enemies of Jerusalem have gained the upper hand.
Her foes prosper against her.
The Eternal One has caused her sorrow because of her rebellions,
for she acted against Him, willfully, again and again.
Even her little ones are taken away at the whim of her foes.
6 Faded beauty, this daughter Zion.
Her princely young men, like stags,
They have no place to graze, no strength to fight;
they fled to the woods,
Pursued mercilessly by hunters.
7 Gone are the days that she remembers, happy and precious;
Jerusalem wanders aimlessly and remembers what precious things she has lost—
Things from the old days of David, Solomon, and Josiah.
But now her people have fallen to her enemies,
And in this defeat by her enemies, no one ran to her aid,
and her enemies now snicker and gloat at her downfall.
8 Hideous must be Jerusalem’s crimes
that the city itself is now morally and ritually impure.
Those who once admired her now hate her.
They strip her naked and laugh.
All she can do is groan
and shrink back, ashamed.
9 Impurity clung to her inside the cover of her clothes.
She refused to consider anything but the present,
Never expecting her impurity would be revealed.
Nobody came forward with comfort—no one.
Lady Jerusalem: See, Eternal One, how badly I suffer
and how my enemies swell with pride.
The people of Judah and Jerusalem have had many opportunities to recognize their failings. Now they learn that their choices have grave consequences. For generations they have ignored the warnings and continued in idolatry, dependence upon foreign powers, and oppression of the less fortunate. Yes, the sacrifices in the temple have continued, but they have continually turned away from God. One prophet after another has called them back to a life of trust in the Lord, but they still look to others for assurance. Time has run out.
10 Jabbing and fondling,
mauling all her treasures, the enemy takes stock.
Foreign nations enter even her holy place,
claiming what You decided was off-limits
And forbidden to them—Your temple.[b]
11 Kept in hunger,
her people are desperate for food.
Once prosperous, they trade her treasures
for nourishment of any kind.
Lady Jerusalem: Look, Eternal One—
really see how hated I’ve become.
12 Look around, you who pass by and go about your business.
Is there any sorrow as great as mine?
Any pain as great as that which has been forced on me?
No. Because my pain comes from the Eternal.
It is His judgment, rendered on the day of His intense anger.
13 My bones burn with the wrath of God,
the fire sent from on high.
He laid a trap, then left me,
turned me back to the destruction,
With the shakes, constantly sick and faint.
14 Now the burden of all my wrongs is a yoke.
God has laid them upon my shoulders,
Bound them around my neck.
He has made sure I’m too weak to support them.
The Lord gave me into the hand of an enemy.
I could not resist.
15 Overwhelmed by none other than God,
the Lord has determined that all my warriors are worthless.
He has summoned a meeting of those who are against me
to crush the young men who would protect me,
And He has stomped lovely Judah, virgin daughter,
like grapes in a winepress.
16 Pity, my eyes won’t stop their crying; I can’t stop.
There is no one nearby to comfort me or revive my spirit,
No one to pull me up.
My children know it—they’re left empty,
The enemy has won.
17 Quietly, Zion spreads out her hands, pleading for comfort.
But no one comes. The Lord forbids it.
God has commanded Jacob’s enemies
to surround her.
Jerusalem has become their foe;
she is an impurity among them.
The poetic imagery is violently and sexually disturbing. Zion’s captors enter her sacred area and cart off her children. She has been unfaithful to her husband, the Eternal One.
18 Lady Jerusalem: Right and true is the Eternal One.
I am the one in the wrong: I have rebelled against His law.
Listen all of you peoples.
See how much I have suffered;
My handsome men and my gentle women, unmarried and unprotected,
have marched away into captivity.
19 Summoning my lovers brings nothing—
nothing but pain in their betrayal.
The old guard, religious and political leaders,
have died starving here in the city;
Their search for sustenance failed.
20 Take account, Eternal One, of me; how miserable I am.
My belly growls and turns;
My heart is wrung out like a rag; my faults and failings are to blame
because I have been rebellious.
Death is everywhere in the homes;
the sword makes women childless in the streets.
21 Uncaring, with no compassion from others,
they know how badly I suffer.
O how alone I am.
My enemies gloat, and You have brought about my misery,
So happy to know I’m in pain.
But You, O God, will make them as bad off as I.
22 Vindicate me and judge their evil actions
and make them suffer,
As You’ve made me suffer
for all my wrongdoings.
I’m a wreck, and I groan with a faint heart.
Footnotes
- 1:1 A Hebrew acrostic poem. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the alphabet.
- 1:10 Deuteronomy 23:3
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.