Add parallel Print Page Options

How the city sits solitary,

    that was full of people!
She has become as a widow,
    who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
    has become a slave!

She weeps bitterly in the night.
    Her tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers
    she has no one to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her.
    They have become her enemies.

Judah has gone into captivity because of affliction,
    and because of great servitude.
She dwells among the nations.
    She finds no rest.
    All her persecutors overtook her within the straits.

The roads to Zion mourn,
    because no one comes to the solemn assembly.
All her gates are desolate.
    Her priests sigh.
Her virgins are afflicted,
    and she herself is in bitterness.

Her adversaries have become the head.
    Her enemies prosper;
for Yahweh[a] has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions.
    Her young children have gone into captivity before the adversary.

All majesty has departed from the daughter of Zion.
    Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture.
    They have gone without strength before the pursuer.

Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and of her miseries
    all her pleasant things that were from the days of old;
when her people fell into the hand of the adversary,
    and no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her.
    They mocked at her desolations.

Jerusalem has grievously sinned.
    Therefore she has become unclean.
All who honored her despise her,
    because they have seen her nakedness.
    Yes, she sighs, and turns backward.

Her filthiness was in her skirts.
    She didn’t remember her latter end.
Therefore she has come down astoundingly.
    She has no comforter.
“See, Yahweh, my affliction;
    for the enemy has magnified himself.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:5 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.

The Sorrowful City[a]

How lonely she lies,
    the city that thronged with people!
Like a widow she has become,
    this great one among nations!
The princess among provinces
    has become a vassal.

Bitterly she cries in the night,
    as tears stream down[b] her cheeks.
No one consoles her
    of all her friends.
All her neighbors have betrayed her;
    they have become her enemies.

Judah has gone into exile
    to escape affliction and servitude.
She that sat among the nations,
    has found no rest.
All her pursuers overtook her
    amid narrow passes.

The roads that lead to Zion are in mourning,
    because no one travels to the festivals.

All her gates are desolate;
    her priests are moaning.
Her young women[c] are grieving,[d]
    and she is bitter.

Her adversaries dominate her,
    her enemies prosper.
For the Lord has made her suffer
    because of her many transgressions.
Her children have gone away,
    taken into captivity in the presence of the enemy.

Fled from cherished[e] Zion
    are all that were her splendor.
Her princes have become like deer
    that cannot find their feeding grounds.
They flee with strength exhausted
    from their pursuers.

Jerusalem remembers[f]
    her time of affliction and misery;
all her valued belongings[g]
    of days gone by,
when her people fell into enemy hands,
    with no one to help her,
and her enemies stared at her,
    mocking her downfall.

Jerusalem sinned greatly,
    and she became unclean.[h]
All who honored her now despise her,
    because they saw her naked.
She herself groans
    and turns her face away.

Uncleanness has soiled her skirts,
    and she gave no thought to what would follow.
She fell in such a startling way,
    with no one to comfort her.
Look, Lord, upon my affliction,
    because my enemy is boasting.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:1 This book is an acrostic—successive verses begin with a consecutive letter of the Heb. alphabet except in chapter 3, where every three verses begin with the same consecutive Heb. letter.
  2. Lamentations 1:2 The Heb. lacks stream down
  3. Lamentations 1:4 Lit. virgins
  4. Lamentations 1:4 Or are led away.
  5. Lamentations 1:6 Lit. from the daughter of
  6. Lamentations 1:7 Or Remember, Lord, Jerusalem,
  7. Lamentations 1:7 Or Perished are all her valued belongings
  8. Lamentations 1:8 Lit. has been removed; i.e. due to ritual uncleanness