Lamentations 2
Christian Standard Bible
Judgment on Jerusalem
א Aleph
2 How the Lord has overshadowed
Daughter Zion with his anger!
He has thrown down Israel’s glory
from heaven to earth.
He did not acknowledge his footstool(A)
in the day of his anger.(B)
ב Beth
2 Without compassion(C) the Lord has swallowed up
all the dwellings of Jacob.
In his wrath he has demolished
the fortified cities(D) of Daughter Judah.
He brought them to the ground
and defiled the kingdom and its leaders.(E)
ג Gimel
3 He has cut off every horn(F) of Israel
in his burning anger
and withdrawn his right hand(G)
in the presence of the enemy.
He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything.(H)
ד Daleth
4 He has strung his bow like an enemy;(I)
his right hand is positioned like an adversary.
He has killed everyone who was the delight to the eye,(J)
pouring out his wrath like fire
on the tent of Daughter Zion.
ה He
5 The Lord is like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all its palaces
and destroyed its fortified cities.
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation
within Daughter Judah.(K)
ו Waw
6 He has wrecked his temple[a]
as if it were merely a shack in a field,[b]
destroying his place of meeting.(L)
The Lord has abolished
appointed festivals and Sabbaths in Zion.
He has despised king and priest
in his fierce anger.
ז Zayin
7 The Lord has rejected his altar,
repudiated his sanctuary;(M)
he has handed the walls of her palaces
over to the enemy.
They have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.
ח Cheth
8 The Lord determined to destroy
the wall of Daughter Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line(N)
and did not restrain himself from destroying.
He made the ramparts and walls grieve;
together they waste away.
ט Teth
9 Zion’s gates have fallen to the ground;(O)
he has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.
Her king and her leaders live among the nations,
instruction[c] is no more,
and even her prophets receive
no vision from the Lord.(P)
י Yod
10 The elders of Daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence.
They have thrown dust on their heads(Q)
and put on sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.(R)
כ Kaph
11 My eyes are worn out from weeping;(S)
I am churning within.
My heart is poured out in grief[d](T)
because of the destruction of my dear people,(U)
because infants and nursing babies faint
in the streets of the city.(V)
ל Lamed
12 They cry out to their mothers,
“Where is the grain and wine?” (W)
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their life pours out
in the arms of their mothers.
מ Mem
13 What can I say on your behalf?
What can I compare you to, Daughter Jerusalem?
What can I liken you to,
so that I may console you, Virgin Daughter Zion?
For your ruin is as vast as the sea.
Who can heal you?(X)
נ Nun
14 Your prophets saw visions for you
that were empty and deceptive;[e](Y)
they did not reveal your iniquity
and so restore your fortunes.(Z)
They saw pronouncements for you
that were empty and misleading.
ס Samek
15 All who pass by
scornfully clap their hands(AA) at you.
They hiss(AB) and shake their heads(AC)
at Daughter Jerusalem:
Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,(AD)
the joy of the whole earth?(AE)
פ Pe
16 All your enemies
open their mouths against you.(AF)
They hiss and gnash their teeth,(AG)
saying, “We have swallowed her up.(AH)
This is the day we have waited for!
We have lived to see it.”
ע Ayin
17 The Lord has done what he planned;
he has accomplished his decree,
which he ordained in days of old.
He has demolished without compassion,(AI)
letting the enemy gloat over you
and exalting the horn of your adversaries.
צ Tsade
18 The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord.
Wall of Daughter Zion,(AJ)
let your tears run down like a river
day and night.(AK)
Give yourself no relief
and your[f] eyes no rest.
ק Qoph
19 Arise, cry out in the night
from the first watch of the night.
Pour out your heart like water
before the Lord’s presence.(AL)
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your children
who are fainting from hunger
at the head of every street.(AM)
ר Resh
20 Lord, look and consider
to whom you have done this.
Should women eat their own children,(AN)
the infants they have nurtured?[g]
Should priests and prophets
be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?
שׁ Shin
21 Both young and old
are lying on the ground in the streets.
My young women and young men
have fallen by the sword.
You have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering without compassion.(AO)
ת Taw
Lamentations 2
Contemporary English Version
The Lord Was Like an Enemy
The Prophet Speaks:
2 The Lord was angry!
So he disgraced[a] Zion
though it was Israel's pride
and his own place of rest.
In his anger he threw Zion down
from heaven to earth.
2 The Lord had no mercy!
He destroyed the homes
of Jacob's descendants.
In his anger he tore down
every walled city in Judah;
he toppled the nation
together with its leaders,
leaving them in shame.
3 The Lord was so furiously angry
that he wiped out
the whole army[b] of Israel
by not supporting them
when the enemy attacked.
He was like a raging fire
that swallowed up
the descendants of Jacob.
4 He attacked like an enemy
with a bow and arrows,
killing our loved ones.
He has burned to the ground
the homes on Mount Zion.[c]
5 The Lord was like an enemy!
He left Israel in ruins
with its palaces
and fortresses destroyed,
and with everyone in Judah
moaning and weeping.
6 He shattered his temple
like a hut in a garden;[d]
he completely wiped out
his meeting place,
and did away with festivals
and Sabbaths
in the city of Zion.
In his fierce anger he rejected
our king and priests.
7 The Lord abandoned his altar
and his temple;
he let Zion's enemies
capture her fortresses.
Noisy shouts were heard
from the temple,
as if it were a time
of celebration.
8 The Lord had decided
to tear down the walls of Zion
stone by stone.
So he started destroying
and did not stop
until walls and fortresses
mourned and trembled.
9 Zion's gates have fallen
facedown on the ground;
the bars that locked the gates
are smashed to pieces.
Her king and royal family
are prisoners
in foreign lands.
Her priests don't teach,
and her prophets don't have
a message from the Lord.
10 Zion's leaders are silent.
They just sit on the ground,
tossing dirt on their heads
and wearing sackcloth.
Her young women can do nothing
but stare at the ground.
11 My eyes are red from crying,
my stomach is in knots,
and I feel sick all over.
My people are being wiped out,
and children lie helpless
in the streets of the city.
12 A child begs its mother
for food and drink,
then blacks out
like a wounded soldier
lying in the street.
The child slowly dies
in its mother's arms.
13 Zion, how can I comfort you?
How great is your pain?[e]
Lovely city of Jerusalem,
how can I heal your wounds,
gaping as wide as the sea?
14 Your prophets deceived you
with false visions
and lying messages—
they should have warned you
to leave your sins
and be saved from disaster.
15 Those who pass by
shake their heads and sneer
as they make fun and shout,
“What a lovely city you were,
the happiest on earth,
but look at you now!”
16 Zion, your enemies curse you
and snarl like wild animals,
while shouting,
“This is the day
we've waited for!
At last, we've got you!”
17 The Lord has done everything
that he had planned
and threatened long ago.
He destroyed you without mercy
and let your enemies boast
about their powerful forces.[f]
18 Zion, deep in your heart
you cried out to the Lord.
Now let your tears overflow
your walls day and night.
Don't ever lose hope
or let your tears stop.
19 Get up and pray for help
all through the night.
Pour out your feelings
to the Lord,
as you would pour water
out of a jug.
Beg him to save your people,
who are starving to death
at every street crossing.
Jerusalem Speaks:
20 Think about it, Lord!
Have you ever been this cruel
to anyone before?
Is it right for mothers
to eat their children,
or for priests and prophets
to be killed in your temple?
21 My people, both young and old,
lie dead in the streets.
Because you were angry,
my young men and women
were brutally slaughtered.
22 When you were angry, Lord,
you invited my enemies
like guests for a party.
No one survived that day;
enemies killed my children,
my own little ones.
Footnotes
- 2.1 disgraced: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 2.3 army: The Hebrew text has “horn,” which refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Palestine.
- 2.4 the homes on Mount Zion: Or “the temple on Mount Zion.”
- 2.6 He … garden: Or “He shattered the temple walls, as if they were the walls of a garden.”
- 2.13 How great … pain: Or “What are you really like?” or “What can I say about you?”
- 2.17 powerful forces: The Hebrew text has “horn,” which refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Palestine.
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