Lamentations 2
New International Reader's Version
2 See how the Lord covered the city of Zion
with the cloud of his anger!
He threw Israel’s glory down
from heaven to earth.
When he was angry, he turned his back
on his own city.
2 Without pity the Lord swallowed up
all the homes of Jacob’s people.
When he was angry, he tore down
the forts of the people of Judah.
He brought down their kingdom and princes
to the ground in dishonor.
3 When he was very angry,
he took away Israel’s power.
He pulled back his powerful right hand
as the enemy approached.
His burning anger blazed out in Jacob’s land.
It burned up everything near it.
4 Like an enemy the Lord got his bow ready to use.
He had a sword in his right hand.
Like an enemy he destroyed
everything that used to be pleasing to him.
His anger blazed out like fire.
It burned up the homes in the city of Zion.
5 The Lord was like an enemy.
He swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all of its palaces.
He destroyed its forts.
He filled the people of Judah
with sorrow and sadness.
6 The Lord’s temple was like a garden.
But he completely destroyed it.
He destroyed the place
where he used to meet with his people.
He made Zion’s people forget
their appointed feasts and Sabbath days.
When he was very angry, he turned his back on
king and priest alike.
7 The Lord deserted his altar.
He left his temple.
He gave the walls of Jerusalem’s palaces
into the hands of her enemies.
They shouted loudly in the house of the Lord.
You would have thought it was the day
of an appointed feast.
8 The Lord decided to tear down
the walls around the city of Zion.
He measured out what he wanted to destroy.
Then he destroyed Jerusalem by his power.
He made even her towers and walls sing songs of sadness.
All of them fell down.
9 Her gates sank down into the ground.
He broke the metal bars that locked her gates, and he destroyed them.
Her king and princes were taken away to other nations.
There is no law anymore.
Jerusalem’s prophets no longer receive
visions from the Lord.
10 The elders of the city of Zion
sit silently on the ground.
They have sprinkled dust on their heads.
They’ve put on the clothes of sadness.
The young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads toward the ground.
11 I’ve cried so much I can’t see very well.
I’m suffering deep down inside.
My heart is broken
because my people are destroyed.
Children and babies are fainting
in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
“Where can we find something to eat and drink?”
They faint like wounded soldiers
in the streets of the city.
Their lives are slipping away
in their mothers’ arms.
13 City of Jerusalem, what can I say about you?
What can I compare you to?
People of Zion, what are you like?
I want to comfort you.
Your wound is as deep as the ocean.
Who can heal you?
14 The visions of your prophets were lies.
They weren’t worth anything.
They didn’t show you the sins you had committed.
So that’s why you were captured.
The messages they gave you were lies.
They led you astray.
15 All those who pass by
clap their hands and make fun of you.
They laugh at you and shake their heads
at the city of Jerusalem.
They say, “Could that be the city
that was called perfect and beautiful?
Is that the city that brought joy to everyone on earth?”
16 All your enemies open their mouths
wide against you.
They laugh at you and grind their teeth.
They say, “We have swallowed up Jerusalem’s people.
This is the day we’ve waited for.
And we’ve lived to see it.”
17 The Lord has done what he planned to do.
He has made what he said come true.
He gave the command long ago.
He has destroyed you without pity.
He has let your enemies laugh at you.
He has made them stronger than you are.
18 People in the city of Zion,
cry out from your heart to the Lord.
Let your tears flow like a river
day and night.
Don’t stop at all.
Don’t give your eyes any rest.
19 Get up. Cry out as the night begins.
Tell the Lord all your troubles.
Lift up your hands to him.
Pray that the lives of your children will be spared.
At every street corner they faint
because they are so hungry.
20 Jerusalem says, “Lord, look at me.
Think about my condition.
Have you ever treated anyone else like this?
Should women have to eat their babies?
Should they eat the children they’ve taken care of?
Should priests and prophets be killed
in your own temple?
21 “Young people and old people alike
lie dead in the dust of my streets.
My young men and women
have been killed by swords.
You killed them when you were angry.
You put them to death without pity.
22 “You sent for terrors to come against me on every side.
It was as if you were inviting people to enjoy a feast day.
Because you were angry, no one escaped.
No one was left alive.
I took good care of my children and brought them up.
But my enemies have destroyed them.”
Lamentations 2
King James Version
2 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!
2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.
3 He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.
4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.
5 The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
6 And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast.
8 The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.
9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers' bosom.
13 What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?
14 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.
15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.
17 The Lord hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.
18 Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
19 Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.
20 Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.
22 Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the Lord's anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
Lamentations 2
Expanded Bible
The Lord Destroyed Jerusalem
2 Look how the Lord in his anger
has ·brought Jerusalem to shame [L treated the daughter of Zion with contempt; or brought a cloud over the daughter of Zion].
He has thrown down the ·greatness [splendor; beauty] of Israel
from the ·sky [heavens] to the earth;
he did not remember his footstool [C the Temple; Ps. 99:5; 132:7],
on the day of his anger.
2 The Lord swallowed up without ·mercy [pity]
all the ·houses [homes; dwellings] of the people of Jacob;
in his anger he ·pulled down [demolished]
the strong places of [L the daughter of] Judah.
He threw her kingdom and its rulers
down to the ground in dishonor.
3 In his anger he has ·removed [cut to pieces]
all the ·strength [L horn; C a symbol of pride and power] of Israel;
he took away his ·power [L right hand] from Israel
when the enemy came.
He burned against the people of Jacob [C another name for Israel] like a flaming fire
that burns up everything around it.
4 Like an enemy, he ·prepared to shoot [bent; drew] his bow,
and his right hand was against us [Ps. 7:12–13].
Like an ·enemy [foe], he killed
all ·the good-looking people [L which eye desired];
he poured out his anger like fire
on the tents of ·Jerusalem [L the daughter of Zion; C the location of the Temple].
5 The Lord was like an enemy;
he swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all her palaces
and destroyed all her strongholds.
He has ·caused more [multiplied] moaning and groaning
for ·Judah [L the daughter of Judah].
6 He ·cut down [laid waste to; violently treated] his ·Temple [L booth] like a ·garden [vineyard];
he destroyed the meeting place.
The Lord has made ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple] forget
the ·set feasts [or meeting place] and Sabbath days.
He has ·rejected [despised] the king and the priest
in his great anger.
7 The Lord has rejected his altar
and ·abandoned [disavowed] his ·Temple [L Holy Place; Ezek. 9–11].
He has ·handed over to [L delivered into the hand of] the enemy
the walls of its [C probably Jerusalem’s] palaces.
·Their uproar [L They gave forth voice] in the Lord’s ·Temple [L house]
was like that of a feast day.
8 The Lord planned to destroy
the wall around ·Jerusalem [L the daughter of Zion; C the location of the Temple].
He ·measured the wall [L extended a measuring line; C usually used in construction but here in demolition]
and did not stop himself from ·destroying [L swallowing] it.
He made the walls and ·defenses [ramparts] ·sad [mourn];
together they have ·fallen [languished].
9 ·Jerusalem’s [L Its] gates have ·fallen [sunk] to the ground;
he destroyed and smashed the bars [C of the gates; Ps. 107:16; Is. 45:2; Jer. 51:30; Nah. 3:13].
Her king and her princes are among the nations.
The ·teaching [law; instruction; C God’s law] has stopped,
and the prophets do not have
visions from the Lord.
10 The elders of ·Jerusalem [L the daughter of Zion; C the location of the Temple]
sit on the ground in silence.
They throw dust on their heads
and put on ·rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap; signs of grief or repentance].
The young women of Jerusalem
bow their heads to the ground [C in sorrow].
11 My eyes ·have no more tears [L are exhausted from tears],
and ·I am sick to my stomach [L my innards/stomach/bowels are agitated].
·I feel empty inside [L My bile/gall is poured out on the ground],
because ·my people [L the daughter of my people] have been ·destroyed [shattered; broken].
Children and ·babies [nurslings] are fainting
in the ·streets [public areas] of the city.
12 They ask their mothers,
“Where is the grain and wine?”
They faint like wounded soldiers
in the ·streets [public areas] of the city
and ·die [L pour out their lives] in their mothers’ ·arms [L bosom].
13 What can I ·say [testify] about you, [L daughter] Jerusalem?
What can I compare you to?
What can I say you are like?
How can I comfort you, ·Jerusalem [L virgin daughter Zion; C location of the Temple]?
Your ·ruin [wound] is as ·deep [great] as the sea.
·No one [L Who…?] can heal you.
14 Your prophets saw visions,
but they were ·false [empty] and ·worth nothing [insipid; nonsense; Ezek. 10:10–12].
They did not ·point out [expose] your ·sins [guilt]
to ·keep you from being captured [or restore your fortunes].
They ·preached what was [L saw oracles for you that were] ·false [empty]
and ·led you wrongly [fraudulent].
15 All who pass by on the road
clap their hands at you [C in approval of Jerusalem’s destruction; Ezek. 25:6];
they ·make fun of [hiss at; C in scorn; 1 Kin. 9:8; Jer. 19:8; Zeph. 2:15] [L the daughter of] Jerusalem
and shake their heads.
They ask, “Is this the city that people called
the most beautiful city,
the ·happiest place on [joy of the whole] earth [Ps. 48:2]?”
16 All your enemies ·open [L crack] their mouths
to speak against you.
They make fun and ·grind [gnash] their teeth [C in anger].
They say, “We have swallowed you up.
This is the day we were ·waiting [hoping] for!
We have finally seen it happen.”
17 The Lord has done what he planned;
he has ·kept [fulfilled] his ·word [threat; C the covenant curses; Deut. 28:45–50]
that he commanded ·long ago [L in days of old].
He has ·destroyed [demolished] without ·mercy [pity],
and he has let your enemies laugh at you [C such as Edom; Obad. 1–21].
He has ·strengthened [L exalted the horn of; C symbol of pride and power] your enemies.
18 ·The people [L Their hearts] cry out to the Lord.
Wall of ·Jerusalem [L the daughter of Zion; C the location of the Temple],
let your tears flow
like a ·river [torrent; wadi] day and night.
Do not ·stop [L allow yourself relaxation]
or let your eyes rest.
19 Get up, cry out in the night,
·even as the night begins [L at the beginning of the night watches; C the night was divided into three four-hour watches].
Pour out your heart like water
·in prayer to [L before the presence/face of] the Lord.
Lift up your hands in prayer to him
for the life of your children
who are ·fainting [growing weak] with hunger
·on every street corner [L at the head of every street].
20 Jerusalem says: “Look, Lord, and see
to whom you have done this.
·Women [L Should women…?] eat their own ·babies [L fruit; C short for “fruit of their womb”],
the children ·they have cared for [they have nursed/borne; or which are well-formed; Deut. 28:53–55; Jer. 19:6–9].
·Priests and prophets are [L Should priests and prophets be…?] killed
in the ·Temple [L holy place] of the Lord.
21 “People young and old
lie outside on the ground.
My young women and young men
have ·been killed [L fallen] by the sword.
You killed them on the day of your anger;
you ·killed [slaughtered] them without ·mercy [pity].
22 “You invited ·terrors [or enemies] to come against me on every side,
as if ·you were inviting them to a feast [L on an appointed/feast day].
No one escaped or remained alive
on the day of the Lord’s anger.
My enemy has ·killed [annihilated]
those I ·cared for [nursed; bore] and brought up.”
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