Lamentations 1-5

New American Standard Bible 1995

1 How ^(A)lonely sits the city
That was ^(B)full of people!
She has become like a ^(C)widow
Who was once ^(D)great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the ^[a]provinces
Has become a ^(E)forced laborer!
² She ^(F)weeps bitterly in the night
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has none to comfort her
Among all her ^(G)lovers.
All her friends have ^(H)dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
^3 (I)Judah has gone into exile ^[b]under affliction
And ^[c]under ^[d]harsh servitude;
She dwells ^(J)among the nations,
But she has found no rest;
All ^(K)her pursuers have overtaken her
In the midst of ^[e]distress.
⁴ The roads ^[f]of Zion are in mourning
Because ^(L)no one comes to the appointed feasts.
All her gates are ^(M)desolate;
Her priests are groaning,
Her ^(N)virgins are afflicted,
And she herself ^[g]is ^(O)bitter.
⁵ Her adversaries have become ^[h]her masters,
Her enemies ^[i]prosper;
For the Lord has ^(P)caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her transgressions;
Her little ones have gone away
As captives before the adversary.
⁶ All her ^(Q)majesty
Has departed from the daughter of Zion;
Her princes have become like deer
That have found no pasture;
And they have ^[j](R)fled without strength
Before the pursuer.
⁷ In the days of her affliction and homelessness
^(S)Jerusalem remembers all her precious things
That were from the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary
And ^(T)no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her,
They ^(U)mocked at her ^[k]ruin.
⁸ Jerusalem sinned ^(V)greatly,
Therefore ^(W)she has become an unclean thing.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even ^(X)she herself groans and turns away.
⁹ Her ^(Y)uncleanness was in her skirts;
She ^[l]did not consider her ^(Z)future.
Therefore she has ^[m](AA)fallen astonishingly;
^(AB)She has no comforter.
“^(AC)See, O Lord, my affliction,
For the enemy has ^(AD)magnified himself!”
¹⁰ The adversary has stretched out his hand
Over all her precious things,
For she has seen the ^(AE)nations enter her sanctuary,
The ones whom You commanded
That they should ^(AF)not enter into Your congregation.
¹¹ All her people groan ^(AG)seeking bread;
They have given their precious things for food
To ^(AH)restore their ^[n]lives themselves.
“See, O Lord, and look,
For I am ^(AI)despised.”
¹² “Is ^(AJ)it nothing to all you who pass this way?
Look and see if there is any ^[o]pain like my ^[p]pain
Which was severely dealt out to me,
Which the ^(AK)Lord inflicted on the day of His ^(AL)fierce anger.
¹³ “From on high He sent fire into my ^(AM)bones,
And it ^[q]prevailed over them.
He has spread a ^(AN)net for my feet;
He has turned me back;
He has made me ^(AO)desolate,
^[r]Faint all day long.
¹⁴ “The ^(AP)yoke of my transgressions is bound;
By His hand they are knit together.
They have ^(AQ)come upon my neck;
He has made my strength ^[s]fail.
The Lord ^(AR)has given me into the hands
Of those against whom I am not able to stand.
¹⁵ “The ^(AS)Lord has rejected all my strong men
In my midst;
He has called an appointed ^[t]time against me
To crush my ^(AT)young men;
The Lord has ^(AU)trodden as in a wine press
The virgin daughter of Judah.
¹⁶ “For these things I ^(AV)weep;
^[u]My eyes run down with water;
Because far from me is a ^(AW)comforter,
One who restores my soul.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy has prevailed.”
¹⁷ Zion ^(AX)stretches out her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
The Lord has ^(AY)commanded concerning Jacob
That the ones round about him should be his adversaries;
^(AZ)Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
¹⁸ “The Lord is ^(BA)righteous;
For I have ^(BB)rebelled against His ^[v]command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And ^(BC)behold my ^[w]pain;
^(BD)My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
¹⁹ “I ^(BE)called to my lovers, but they deceived me;
My ^(BF)priests and my elders perished in the city
While they sought food to ^(BG)restore ^[x]their strength themselves.
²⁰ “See, O Lord, for I am in distress;
My ^[y](BH)spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very ^(BI)rebellious.
In the street the sword ^[z]slays;
In the house it is like death.
²¹ “They have heard that I ^(BJ)groan;
There is no one to comfort me;
All my enemies have heard of my ^[aa]calamity;
They are ^(BK)glad that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,
That they may become ^(BL)like me.
²² “Let all their wickedness come before You;
And ^(BM)deal with them as You have dealt with me
For all my transgressions;
For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”

2 How the Lord has ^(BN)covered the daughter of Zion
With a cloud in His anger!
He has ^(BO)cast from heaven to earth
The ^(BP)glory of Israel,
And has not remembered His ^(BQ)footstool
In the day of His anger.
² The Lord has ^(BR)swallowed up; He has not spared
All the habitations of Jacob.
In His wrath He has ^(BS)thrown down
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
He has ^(BT)brought them down to the ground;
He has ^(BU)profaned the kingdom and its princes.
³ In fierce anger He has cut off
^[ab]All the ^(BV)strength of Israel;
He has ^(BW)drawn back His right hand
From before the enemy.
And He has ^(BX)burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
Consuming round about.
⁴ He has bent His ^(BY)bow like an enemy;
He has set His right hand like an adversary
And slain all that were ^(BZ)pleasant to the eye;
In the tent of the daughter of Zion
He has ^(CA)poured out His wrath like fire.
⁵ The Lord has become like an ^(CB)enemy.
He has ^(CC)swallowed up Israel;
He has swallowed up all its ^(CD)palaces,
He has destroyed its strongholds
And ^(CE)multiplied in the daughter of Judah
Mourning and moaning.
⁶ And He has violently treated His ^[ac]tabernacle like a garden booth;
He has ^(CF)destroyed His appointed ^[ad]meeting place.
The Lord has ^(CG)caused to be forgotten
The appointed feast and sabbath in Zion,
And He has ^(CH)despised king and priest
In the indignation of His anger.
⁷ The Lord has ^(CI)rejected His altar,
He has abandoned His sanctuary;
He ^(CJ)has delivered into the hand of the enemy
The walls of her palaces.
They have made a ^(CK)noise in the house of the Lord
As in the day of an appointed feast.
⁸ The Lord ^[ae]determined to destroy
The wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has ^(CL)stretched out a line,
He has not restrained His hand from ^[af]destroying,
And He has ^(CM)caused rampart and wall to lament;
They have languished together.
⁹ Her ^(CN)gates have sunk into the ground,
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her princes are among the nations;
The ^(CO)law is no more.
Also, her prophets find
^(CP)No vision from the Lord.
¹⁰ The elders of the daughter of Zion
^(CQ)Sit on the ground, they ^(CR)are silent.
They have thrown ^(CS)dust on their heads;
They have girded themselves with ^(CT)sackcloth.
The ^(CU)virgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads to the ground.
¹¹ My ^(CV)eyes fail because of tears,
My ^[ag](CW)spirit is greatly troubled;
My ^[ah](CX)heart is poured out on the earth
^(CY)Because of the ^[ai]destruction of the daughter of my people,
When ^(CZ)little ones and infants faint
In the streets of the city.
¹² They say to their mothers,
“^(DA)Where is grain and wine?”
As they faint like a wounded man
In the streets of the city,
As their ^(DB)life is poured out
On their mothers’ bosom.
¹³ How shall I admonish you?
To what ^(DC)shall I compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
To what shall I liken you as I comfort you,
O ^(DD)virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ^[aj]ruin is as vast as the sea;
Who can ^(DE)heal you?
¹⁴ Your ^(DF)prophets have seen for you
False and foolish visions;
And they have not ^(DG)exposed your iniquity
So as to restore you from captivity,
But they have ^(DH)seen for you false and misleading ^[ak]oracles.
¹⁵ All who pass along the way
^(DI)Clap their hands in derision at you;
They ^(DJ)hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem,
“Is this the city of which they said,
‘^(DK)The perfection of beauty,
^(DL)A joy to all the earth’?”
¹⁶ All ^(DM)your enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They hiss and ^(DN)gnash their teeth.
They say, “We have ^(DO)swallowed her up!
Surely this is the ^(DP)day for which we waited;
We have reached it, we have seen it.”
¹⁷ The Lord has ^(DQ)done what He purposed;
He has accomplished His word
Which He commanded from days of old.
He has thrown down ^(DR)without sparing,
And He has caused the enemy to ^(DS)rejoice over you;
He has ^(DT)exalted the ^[al]might of your adversaries.
¹⁸ Their ^(DU)heart cried out to the Lord,
“O ^(DV)wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let your ^(DW)tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief,
Let ^[am]your eyes have no rest.
¹⁹ “Arise, cry aloud in the ^(DX)night
At the beginning of the night watches;
^(DY)Pour out your heart like water
Before the presence of the Lord;
Lift up your hands to Him
For the ^(DZ)life of your little ones
Who are ^(EA)faint because of hunger
At the head of every street.”
²⁰ See, O Lord, and look!
With ^(EB)whom have You dealt thus?
Should women ^(EC)eat their ^[an]offspring,
The little ones who were ^[ao]born healthy?
Should ^(ED)priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
²¹ On the ground in the streets
Lie ^(EE)young and old;
My ^(EF)virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the sword.
You have slain them in the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered, ^(EG)not sparing.
²² You called as in the day of an appointed feast
My ^(EH)terrors on every side;
And there was ^(EI)no one who escaped or survived
In the day of the Lord’s anger.
Those ^(EJ)whom I ^[ap]bore and reared,
My enemy annihilated them.

3 I am the man who has ^(EK)seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
² He has driven me and made me walk
In ^(EL)darkness and not in light.
³ Surely against me He has ^(EM)turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
⁴ He has caused my ^(EN)flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has ^(EO)broken my bones.
⁵ He has ^(EP)besieged and encompassed me with ^(EQ)bitterness and hardship.
⁶ In ^(ER)dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
⁷ He has ^(ES)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my ^[aq](ET)chain heavy.
⁸ Even when I cry out and call for help,
He ^(EU)shuts out my prayer.
⁹ He has ^(EV)blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
¹⁰ He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
¹¹ He has turned aside my ways and ^(EW)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
¹² He ^(EX)bent His bow
And ^(EY)set me as a target for the arrow.
¹³ He made the ^[ar]arrows of His ^(EZ)quiver
To enter into my ^[as]inward parts.
¹⁴ I have become a ^(FA)laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking ^(FB)song all the day.
¹⁵ He has ^(FC)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
¹⁶ He has ^(FD)broken my teeth with ^(FE)gravel;
He has made me cower in the ^(FF)dust.
¹⁷ My soul has been rejected ^(FG)from peace;
I have forgotten ^[at]happiness.
¹⁸ So I say, “My strength has perished,
And so has my ^(FH)hope from the Lord.”

¹⁹ Remember my affliction and my ^[au]wandering, the ^(FI)wormwood and bitterness.
²⁰ Surely ^(FJ)my soul remembers
And is ^(FK)bowed down within me.
²¹ This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have ^(FL)hope.
²² The Lord’s ^(FM)lovingkindnesses ^[av]indeed never cease,
^(FN)For His compassions never fail.
²³ They are new ^(FO)every morning;
Great is ^(FP)Your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my ^(FQ)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I ^(FR)have hope in Him.”
²⁵ The Lord is good to those who ^(FS)wait for Him,
To the ^[aw]person who ^(FT)seeks Him.
²⁶ It is good that he ^(FU)waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷ It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
²⁸ Let him ^(FV)sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
²⁹ Let him ^[ax]put his mouth in the ^(FW)dust,
Perhaps there is ^(FX)hope.
³⁰ Let him give his ^(FY)cheek to ^[ay]the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
³¹ For the Lord will ^(FZ)not reject forever,
³² For if He causes grief,
Then He will have ^(GA)compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
³³ For He ^(GB)does not afflict ^[az]willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
³⁴ To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the ^[ba]land,
³⁵ To ^[bb]deprive a man of ^(GC)justice
In the presence of the Most High,
³⁶ To ^[bc](GD)defraud a man in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does not ^[bd]approve.
³⁷ Who is ^[be]there who speaks and it ^(GE)comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That ^[bf](GF)both good and ill go forth?

4 How ^(HT)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At the ^[bn]corner of every street.
² The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as ^(HU)earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
³ Even ^(HV)jackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become ^(HW)cruel
Like ^(HX)ostriches in the wilderness.
⁴ The ^(HY)tongue of the infant cleaves
To the roof of its mouth because of ^(HZ)thirst;
The little ones ^(IA)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
⁵ Those who ate ^(IB)delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those ^[bo]reared in purple
Embrace ash pits.
⁶ For the ^[bp]iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the ^[bq](IC)sin of Sodom,
Which was ^(ID)overthrown as in a moment,
And no hands were ^[br]turned toward her.
⁷ Her ^[bs]consecrated ones were ^(IE)purer than snow,
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in ^[bt]body than corals,
Their polishing was like ^[bu](IF)lapis lazuli.
⁸ Their appearance is ^(IG)blacker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their ^(IH)skin is shriveled on their bones,
It is withered, it has become like wood.
⁹ Better are those ^[bv](II)slain with the sword
Than those ^[bw]slain with hunger;
For they ^[bx](IJ)pine away, being stricken
For lack of the fruits of ^[by]the field.
¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women
^(IK)Boiled their own children;
They became ^(IL)food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
¹¹ The Lord has ^(IM)accomplished His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has ^(IN)kindled a fire in Zion
Which has consumed its foundations.
¹² The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of ^(IO)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could ^(IP)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
¹³ Because of the sins of her ^(IQ)prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The ^(IR)blood of the righteous;
¹⁴ They wandered, ^(IS)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with ^(IT)blood
So that no one could touch their ^(IU)garments.
¹⁵ “Depart! ^(IV)Unclean!” ^[bz]they cried of themselves.
“Depart, depart, do not touch!”
So they ^(IW)fled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to dwell with us.”
¹⁶ The presence of the Lord has scattered them,
He will not continue to regard them;
They did not ^[ca](IX)honor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
¹⁷ Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for ^[cb]help was ^(IY)useless;
In our watching we have watched
For a ^(IZ)nation that could not save.
¹⁸ They ^(JA)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our ^(JB)end drew near,
Our days were ^[cc]finished
For our end had come.
¹⁹ Our pursuers were ^(JC)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
²⁰ The ^(JD)breath of our nostrils, the ^(JE)Lord’s anointed,
Was ^(JF)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “Under his ^(JG)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
²¹ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of ^(JH)Edom,
Who dwells in the land of Uz;
But the ^(JI)cup will come around to you as well,
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
²² The punishment of your iniquity has been ^(JJ)completed, O daughter of Zion;
He will exile you no longer.
But He ^(JK)will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!

5 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
Look, and see our ^(JL)reproach!
² Our inheritance has been turned over to ^(JM)strangers,
Our ^(JN)houses to aliens.
³ We have become orphans ^(JO)without a father,
Our mothers are like widows.
^4 [cd]We have to pay for our drinking ^(JP)water,
Our wood comes to us at a price.
^5 [ce]Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out, there is ^(JQ)no rest for us.
⁶ We have ^[cf]submitted to ^(JR)Egypt and Assyria ^[cg]to get enough bread.
⁷ Our ^(JS)fathers sinned, and are no more;
It is we who have borne their iniquities.
^8 (JT)Slaves rule over us;
There is ^(JU)no one to deliver us from their hand.
⁹ We get our bread ^[ch]at the ^(JV)risk of our lives
^[ci]Because of the sword in the wilderness.
¹⁰ Our skin has become as ^(JW)hot as an oven,
Because of ^[cj]the burning heat of famine.
¹¹ They ravished the ^(JX)women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
¹² Princes were hung by their hands;
^[ck](JY)Elders were not respected.
¹³ Young men ^[cl](JZ)worked at the grinding mill,
And youths ^(KA)stumbled under loads of wood.
¹⁴ Elders ^[cm]are gone from the gate,
Young men from their ^(KB)music.
¹⁵ The joy of our hearts has ^(KC)ceased;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
¹⁶ The ^(KD)crown has fallen from our head;
^(KE)Woe to us, for we have sinned!
¹⁷ Because of this our ^(KF)heart is faint,
Because of these things our ^(KG)eyes are dim;
¹⁸ Because of ^(KH)Mount Zion which lies desolate,
^(KI)Foxes prowl in it.