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How enveloped in darkness Adonai, in his anger,
has made the daughter of Tziyon!
He has thrown down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Isra’el,
forgotten his footstool [the sanctuary]
on the day of his anger.

Without pity Adonai swallowed up
all the dwellings of Ya‘akov.
In his wrath he broke down the strongholds
of the daughter of Y’hudah,
brought them down to the ground,
thus profaning the kingdom and its rulers.

In his fierce anger he cut off
all the power of Isra’el,
withdrew his protecting right hand
at the approach of the enemy,
and blazed up in Ya‘akov like a flaming fire
devouring everything around it.
He bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set like a foe.
He killed all who were pleasant to see.
In the tent of the daughter of Tziyon,
he poured out his fury like fire.

Adonai became like an enemy;
he swallowed up Isra’el,
swallowed up all its palaces,
and destroyed all its strongholds.
For the daughter of Y’hudah
he has multiplied mourning and moaning.

He wrecked his tabernacle as easily as a garden,
destroyed his place of assembly.
Adonai caused Isra’el to forget
designated times and Shabbats.
In the heat of his anger
he rejected both king and cohen.

Adonai rejected his altar,
disowned his sanctuary,
and gave her palace walls
over to the power of the foe,
who raised such shouts in the house of Adonai
that it sounded like a festival day.

Adonai resolved to destroy
the wall of the daughter of Tziyon.
He measured it with his line and did not stay his hand
until it was all in ruins.
He brought grief to rampart and wall;
together they lie dejected.

Her gates have sunk into the ground;
he destroyed and broke their bars.
Her king and rulers are among the Goyim,
there is no more Torah,
and her prophets do not receive
visions from Adonai.

10 The leaders of the daughter of Tziyon
sit on the ground in silence.
They throw dust on their heads;
they are wearing sackcloth.
The unmarried women of Yerushalayim
lower their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes are worn out from weeping,
everything in me is churning;
I am empty of emotion
because of the wounds to my people,
because children and infants are fainting away
in the streets of the city.

12 They keep asking their mothers,
“Where is something to eat or drink?”
as they faint away
in the streets of the city,
gasping out their last breath
in their mother’s bosom.

13 What can be said to you, what can be compared with you,
daughter of Yerushalayim?
What example can I give to comfort you,
virgin daughter of Tziyon?
For your downfall is as vast as the sea;
who can heal you?

14 The visions your prophets saw for you
were futile, just a whitewash.
They did not expose your guilt,
    so as to reverse your fortunes —
    no, the visions they saw for you
    were alluring, but futile.

15 All who pass your way
clap their hands at you,
hissing and shaking their heads
at the daughter of Yerushalayim:
“This city was called ‘perfection in beauty’?
‘the joy of the whole earth’?”

16 All your adversaries
open their mouths to jeer at you.
They hiss, they grind their teeth;
they say, “We have swallowed her up!
This is the day we were waiting for,
and now we have lived to see it!”

17 Adonai has done what he planned,
he has fulfilled his promise,
which he decreed in ancient times.
He has destroyed without pity,
he has let the enemy gloat over you
and filled your foes with pride.
18 Their hearts cried out to Adonai,
“Wall of the daughter of Tziyon!
Let your tears stream down
like a torrent, day and night!
Give yourself no respite,
give your eyes no rest!

19 “Get up! Cry out in the night,
at the beginning of every watch!
Pour your heart out like water
before the face of Adonai!
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your babies,
who are fainting away from hunger
at every streetcorner.”

20 Adonai, look and see
who it is you have thus tormented!
Should women eat the fruit of their wombs,
the children they have held in their hands?
Should cohanim and prophets be slaughtered
in the sanctuary of Adonai?

21 Youths and old men are lying
on the ground in the streets,
my unmarried women and young men
have fallen by the sword.
You killed them on the day of your anger,
you slaughtered them without pity.

22 You have summoned my terrors from every direction,
as on a festival day.
On the day of Adonai’s anger,
not one escaped; not one survived —
the children I held in my arms and raised,
my enemy has destroyed.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Álef

[a]¡Ay, el Señor ha eclipsado a la bella Sión
    con la nube de su furor![b]
Desde el cielo echó por tierra
    el esplendor de Israel;
en el día de su ira se olvidó
    del estrado de sus pies.

Bet

Sin compasión el Señor ha destruido
    todas las moradas de Jacob;
en su furor ha derribado
    los baluartes de la bella Judá
y ha puesto su honra por los suelos
    al derrocar a su rey y a sus príncipes.

Guímel

Dio rienda suelta a su furor
    y deshizo todo el poder[c] de Israel.
Nos vimos frente al enemigo,
    y el Señor nos negó su ayuda.[d]
Ardió en Jacob como un fuego encendido
    que consumía cuanto le rodeaba.

Dálet

Como enemigo, tensó el arco;
    lista estaba su mano derecha.
Como enemigo, eliminó
    a nuestros seres queridos.
Como fuego, derramó su ira
    sobre las tiendas de la bella Sión.

He

El Señor se porta como enemigo:
    ha destruido a Israel.
Ha destruido todos sus palacios
    y derribado sus baluartes.
Ha multiplicado el luto y los lamentos
    por la bella Judá.

Vav

Ha desolado su morada como a un jardín;
    ha derribado su lugar de reunión.
El Señor ha hecho que Sión olvide
    sus fiestas solemnes y sus sábados;
se desató su furia contra el rey
    y dejó de lado al sacerdote.

Zayin

El Señor ha rechazado su altar;
    ha abandonado su santuario.
Ha puesto en manos del enemigo
    las murallas de sus palacios.
¡Lanzan gritos en la casa del Señor
    como en día de fiesta!

Jet

El Señor decidió derribar
    la muralla que rodea a la bella Sión.
Tomó la vara y midió;
    destruyó sin compasión.
Hubo lamentos en rampas y muros;
    todos ellos se derrumbaron.

Tet

Las puertas se han desplomado;
    él rompió por completo sus cerrojos.
Su rey y sus príncipes
    andan entre las naciones;
ya no hay ley ni profetas,
    ni visiones de parte del Señor.

Yod

10 En la bella Sión, los ancianos
    se sientan silenciosos en el suelo;
se echan ceniza sobre la cabeza
    y se visten de luto.
Postradas yacen en el suelo
    las jóvenes de Jerusalén.

Caf

11 El llanto me consume los ojos;
    siento una profunda agonía.[e]
Estoy con el ánimo[f] por los suelos
    porque mi pueblo ha sido destruido.
Niños e infantes desfallecen
    por las calles de la ciudad.

Lámed

12 «¿Dónde hay pan y vino?»,
    preguntan a sus madres
mientras caen por las calles
    como heridos de muerte,
mientras en los brazos maternos
    exhalan el último suspiro.

Mem

13 ¿Qué puedo decir de ti, bella Jerusalén?
    ¿A qué te puedo comparar?
¿Qué ejemplo darte como consuelo,
    virginal ciudad de Sión?
Profundas como el mar son tus heridas.
    ¿Quién podría devolverte la salud?

Nun

14 Tus profetas te anunciaron
    visiones falsas y engañosas.
No denunciaron tu maldad;
    no evitaron tu cautiverio.
Los mensajes que te anunciaban
    eran patrañas.

Sámej

15 Cuantos pasan por el camino
    aplauden burlones al verte.
Ante ti, bella Jerusalén, hacen muecas,
    y entre silbidos preguntan:
«¿Es esta la ciudad de belleza perfecta?
    ¿Es esta la alegría de toda la tierra?»

Pe

16 Todos tus enemigos abren la boca
    para hablar mal de ti;
rechinando los dientes, declaran burlones:
    «Nos la hemos comido viva.
Llegó el día tan esperado;
    ¡hemos vivido para verlo!»

Ayin

17 El Señor ha llevado a cabo sus planes;
    ha cumplido su palabra,
    que decretó hace mucho tiempo.
Sin piedad, te echó por tierra;
    dejó que el enemigo se burlara de ti,
    y enalteció el poder[g] de tus oponentes.

Tsade

18 El corazón de la gente
    clama al Señor con angustia.
Bella Sión amurallada,
    ¡deja que día y noche
    corran tus lágrimas como un río!
¡No te des un momento de descanso!
    ¡No retengas el llanto de tus ojos![h]

Qof

19 Levántate y clama por las noches,
    cuando empiece la vigilancia nocturna.
Deja correr el llanto de tu corazón
    como ofrenda derramada ante el Señor.
Eleva tus manos a Dios en oración
    por la vida de tus hijos,
que desfallecen de hambre
    y quedan tendidos por las calles.

Resh

20 «Mira, Señor, y ponte a pensar:
    ¿A quién trataste alguna vez así?
¿Habrán de comerse las mujeres
    a sus hijos, fruto de sus entrañas?
¿Habrán de matar a sacerdotes y profetas
    en el santuario del Señor?

Shin

21 »Jóvenes y ancianos por igual
    yacen en el polvo de las calles;
mis jóvenes y mis doncellas
    cayeron a filo de espada.
En tu enojo les quitaste la vida;
    ¡los masacraste sin piedad!

Tav

22 »Como si invitaras a una fiesta solemne,
    enviaste contra mí terror de todas partes.
En el día de la ira del Señor,
    nadie pudo escapar, nadie quedó con vida.
A mis seres queridos, a los que eduqué,
    los aniquiló el enemigo».

Footnotes

  1. + Este capítulo es un poema acróstico, que sigue el orden del alfabeto hebreo.
  2. 2:1 ¡Ay … furor! Alt. ¡Cómo el Señor, en su enojo, / ha tratado con reproches a la hija de Sión!
  3. 2:3 todo el poder. Lit. todo cuerno.
  4. 2:3 nos negó su ayuda. Lit. retiró su mano derecha.
  5. 2:11 siento … agonía. Lit. mis entrañas se agitan.
  6. 2:11 Estoy con el ánimo. Lit. Mi hígado está derramado.
  7. 2:17 poder. Lit. cuerno.
  8. 2:18 no retengas … ojos. Lit. no acalles a la niña de tus ojos.

God’s Anger with Jerusalem

How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion
With a (A)cloud in His anger!
(B)He cast down from heaven to the earth
(C)The beauty of Israel,
And did not remember (D)His footstool
In the day of His anger.

The Lord has swallowed up and has (E)not pitied
All the dwelling places of Jacob.
He has thrown down in His wrath
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
He has brought them down to the ground;
(F)He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.

He has cut off in fierce anger
Every [a]horn of Israel;
(G)He has drawn back His right hand
From before the enemy.
(H)He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
Devouring all around.

(I)Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow;
With His right hand, like an adversary,
He has slain (J)all who were pleasing to His eye;
On the tent of the daughter of Zion,
He has poured out His fury like fire.

(K)The Lord was like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel,
He has swallowed up all her palaces;
(L)He has destroyed her strongholds,
And has increased mourning and lamentation
In the daughter of Judah.

He has done violence (M)to His [b]tabernacle,
(N)As if it were a garden;
He has destroyed His place of assembly;
The Lord has caused
The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.
In His burning indignation He has (O)spurned the king and the priest.

The Lord has spurned His altar,
He has (P)abandoned His sanctuary;
He has [c]given up the walls of her palaces
Into the hand of the enemy.
(Q)They have made a noise in the house of the Lord
As on the day of a set feast.

The Lord has [d]purposed to destroy
The (R)wall of the daughter of Zion.
(S)He has stretched out a line;
He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying;
Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament;
They languished together.

Her gates have sunk into the ground;
He has destroyed and (T)broken her bars.
(U)Her king and her princes are among the [e]nations;
(V)The Law is no more,
And her (W)prophets find no [f]vision from the Lord.

10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
(X)Sit on the ground and keep silence;
[g]They (Y)throw dust on their heads
And (Z)gird themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Bow their heads to the ground.

11 (AA)My eyes fail with tears,
My [h]heart is troubled;
(AB)My [i]bile is poured on the ground
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
Because (AC)the children and the infants
Faint in the streets of the city.

12 They say to their mothers,
“Where is grain and wine?”
As they swoon like the wounded
In the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
In their mothers’ bosom.

13 How shall I (AD)console[j] you?
To what shall I liken you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is spread wide as the sea;
Who can heal you?

14 Your (AE)prophets have seen for you
False and deceptive visions;
They have not (AF)uncovered your iniquity,
To bring back your captives,
But have envisioned for you false (AG)prophecies and delusions.

15 All who [k]pass by (AH)clap their hands at you;
They hiss (AI)and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
Is this the city that is called
(AJ)‘The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth’?”

16 (AK)All your enemies have opened their mouth against you;
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, (AL)“We have swallowed her up!
Surely this is the (AM)day we have waited for;
We have found it, (AN)we have seen it!

17 The Lord has done what He (AO)purposed;
He has fulfilled His word
Which He commanded in days of old.
He has thrown down and has not pitied,
And He has caused an enemy to (AP)rejoice over you;
He has exalted the [l]horn of your adversaries.

18 Their heart cried out to the Lord,
“O wall of the daughter of Zion,
(AQ)Let tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief;
Give [m]your eyes no rest.

19 “Arise, (AR)cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
(AS)Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him
For the life of your young children,
Who faint from hunger (AT)at the head of every street.”

20 “See, O Lord, and consider!
To whom have You done this?
(AU)Should the women eat their offspring,
The children [n]they have cuddled?
Should the priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?

21 “Young(AV) and old lie
On the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the (AW)sword;
You have slain them in the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered and not pitied.

22 “You have invited as to a feast day
(AX)The terrors that surround me.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
There was no refugee or survivor.
(AY)Those whom I have borne and brought up
My enemies have (AZ)destroyed.”

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 2:3 Strength
  2. Lamentations 2:6 Lit. booth
  3. Lamentations 2:7 delivered
  4. Lamentations 2:8 determined
  5. Lamentations 2:9 Gentiles
  6. Lamentations 2:9 Prophetic revelation
  7. Lamentations 2:10 A sign of mourning
  8. Lamentations 2:11 Lit. inward parts
  9. Lamentations 2:11 Lit. liver
  10. Lamentations 2:13 Or bear witness to
  11. Lamentations 2:15 Lit. pass by this way
  12. Lamentations 2:17 Strength
  13. Lamentations 2:18 Lit. the daughter of your eye
  14. Lamentations 2:20 Vg. a span long

[a]How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion
    with the cloud of his anger[b]!(A)
He has hurled down the splendor of Israel
    from heaven to earth;
he has not remembered his footstool(B)
    in the day of his anger.(C)

Without pity(D) the Lord has swallowed(E) up
    all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has torn down
    the strongholds(F) of Daughter Judah.
He has brought her kingdom and its princes
    down to the ground(G) in dishonor.

In fierce anger he has cut off
    every horn[c][d](H) of Israel.
He has withdrawn his right hand(I)
    at the approach of the enemy.
He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
    that consumes everything around it.(J)

Like an enemy he has strung his bow;(K)
    his right hand is ready.
Like a foe he has slain
    all who were pleasing to the eye;(L)
he has poured out his wrath(M) like fire(N)
    on the tent(O) of Daughter Zion.

The Lord is like an enemy;(P)
    he has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
    and destroyed her strongholds.(Q)
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation(R)
    for Daughter Judah.(S)

He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden;
    he has destroyed(T) his place of meeting.(U)
The Lord has made Zion forget
    her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths;(V)
in his fierce anger he has spurned
    both king and priest.(W)

The Lord has rejected his altar
    and abandoned his sanctuary.(X)
He has given the walls of her palaces(Y)
    into the hands of the enemy;
they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
    as on the day of an appointed festival.(Z)

The Lord determined to tear down
    the wall around Daughter Zion.(AA)
He stretched out a measuring line(AB)
    and did not withhold his hand from destroying.
He made ramparts(AC) and walls lament;
    together they wasted away.(AD)

Her gates(AE) have sunk into the ground;
    their bars(AF) he has broken and destroyed.
Her king and her princes are exiled(AG) among the nations,
    the law(AH) is no more,
and her prophets(AI) no longer find
    visions(AJ) from the Lord.

10 The elders of Daughter Zion
    sit on the ground in silence;(AK)
they have sprinkled dust(AL) on their heads(AM)
    and put on sackcloth.(AN)
The young women of Jerusalem
    have bowed their heads to the ground.(AO)

11 My eyes fail from weeping,(AP)
    I am in torment within(AQ);
my heart(AR) is poured out(AS) on the ground
    because my people are destroyed,(AT)
because children and infants faint(AU)
    in the streets of the city.

12 They say to their mothers,
    “Where is bread and wine?”(AV)
as they faint like the wounded
    in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away(AW)
    in their mothers’ arms.(AX)

13 What can I say for you?(AY)
    With what can I compare you,
    Daughter(AZ) Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
    that I may comfort you,
    Virgin Daughter Zion?(BA)
Your wound is as deep as the sea.(BB)
    Who can heal you?

14 The visions of your prophets
    were false(BC) and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
    to ward off your captivity.(BD)
The prophecies they gave you
    were false and misleading.(BE)

15 All who pass your way
    clap their hands at you;(BF)
they scoff(BG) and shake their heads(BH)
    at Daughter Jerusalem:(BI)
“Is this the city that was called
    the perfection of beauty,(BJ)
    the joy of the whole earth?”(BK)

16 All your enemies open their mouths
    wide against you;(BL)
they scoff and gnash their teeth(BM)
    and say, “We have swallowed her up.(BN)
This is the day we have waited for;
    we have lived to see it.”(BO)

17 The Lord has done what he planned;
    he has fulfilled(BP) his word,
    which he decreed long ago.(BQ)
He has overthrown you without pity,(BR)
    he has let the enemy gloat over you,(BS)
    he has exalted the horn[e] of your foes.(BT)

18 The hearts of the people
    cry out to the Lord.(BU)
You walls of Daughter Zion,(BV)
    let your tears(BW) flow like a river
    day and night;(BX)
give yourself no relief,
    your eyes no rest.(BY)

19 Arise, cry out in the night,
    as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart(BZ) like water
    in the presence of the Lord.(CA)
Lift up your hands(CB) to him
    for the lives of your children,
who faint(CC) from hunger
    at every street corner.

20 “Look, Lord, and consider:
    Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,(CD)
    the children they have cared for?(CE)
Should priest and prophet be killed(CF)
    in the sanctuary of the Lord?(CG)

21 “Young and old lie together
    in the dust of the streets;
my young men and young women
    have fallen by the sword.(CH)
You have slain them in the day of your anger;
    you have slaughtered them without pity.(CI)

22 “As you summon to a feast day,
    so you summoned against me terrors(CJ) on every side.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
    no one escaped(CK) or survived;
those I cared for and reared(CL)
    my enemy has destroyed.”

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 2:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
  2. Lamentations 2:1 Or How the Lord in his anger / has treated Daughter Zion with contempt
  3. Lamentations 2:3 Or off / all the strength; or every king
  4. Lamentations 2:3 Horn here symbolizes strength.
  5. Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.