Lamentations 2
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 2
The Lord’s Wrath and Zion’s Ruin[a]
1 How the Lord in his wrath
has abhorred daughter Zion,
Casting down from heaven to earth
the glory of Israel,[b]
Not remembering his footstool
on the day of his wrath!
2 The Lord has devoured without pity
all of Jacob’s dwellings;
In his fury he has razed
daughter Judah’s defenses,
Has brought to the ground in dishonor
a kingdom and its princes.
3 In blazing wrath, he cut down entirely
the horn[c] of Israel;
He withdrew the support of his right hand
when the enemy approached;
He burned against Jacob like a blazing fire
that consumes everything in its path.
4 He bent his bow like an enemy;
the arrow in his right hand
Like a foe, he killed
all those held precious;
On the tent of daughter Zion
he poured out his wrath like fire.
5 The Lord has become the enemy,
he has devoured Israel:
Devoured all its strongholds,
destroyed its defenses,
Multiplied moaning and groaning
throughout daughter Judah.
6 He laid waste his booth like a garden,
destroyed his shrine;[d]
The Lord has blotted out in Zion
feast day and sabbath,
Has scorned in fierce wrath
king and priest.(A)
7 The Lord has rejected his altar,
spurned his sanctuary;
He has handed over to the enemy
the walls of its strongholds.
They shout in the house of the Lord
as on a feast day.(B)
8 The Lord was bent on destroying
the wall of daughter Zion:
He stretched out the measuring line;[e]
did not hesitate to devour,
Brought grief on rampart and wall
till both succumbed.(C)
9 Her gates sank into the ground;
he smashed her bars to bits.
Her king and her princes are among the nations;
instruction is wanting,
Even her prophets do not obtain
any vision from the Lord.(D)
10 The elders of daughter Zion
sit silently on the ground;
They cast dust[f] on their heads
and dress in sackcloth;
The young women of Jerusalem
bow their heads to the ground.(E)
11 My eyes are spent with tears,
my stomach churns;[g]
My bile is poured out on the ground
at the brokenness of the daughter of my people,
As children and infants collapse
in the streets of the town.(F)
12 They cry out to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
As they faint away like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
in their mothers’ arms.
13 To what can I compare you[h]—to what can I liken you—
O daughter Jerusalem?
What example can I give in order to comfort you,
virgin daughter Zion?
For your breach is vast as the sea;
who could heal you?(G)
14 Your prophets provided you visions
of whitewashed illusion;
They did not lay bare your guilt,
in order to restore your fortunes;
They saw for you only oracles
of empty deceit.(H)
15 All who pass by on the road,
clap their hands at you;
They hiss and wag their heads
over daughter Jerusalem:
“Is this the city they used to call
perfect in beauty and joy of all the earth?”(I)
16 They open their mouths against you,
all your enemies;
They hiss and gnash their teeth,
saying, “We have devoured her!
How we have waited for this day—
we have lived to see it!”(J)
17 The Lord has done what he planned.
He has fulfilled the threat
Decreed from days of old,
destroying without pity!
He let the enemy gloat over you
and exalted the horn of your foes.(K)
18 Cry out to the Lord from your heart,
wall of daughter Zion!
Let your tears flow like a torrent
day and night;
Give yourself no rest,
no relief for your eyes.
19 Rise up! Wail in the night,
at the start of every watch;
Pour out your heart like water
before the Lord;
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
Who collapse from hunger
at the corner of every street.[i]
20 “Look, O Lord, and pay attention:
to whom have you been so ruthless?
Must women eat their own offspring,[j]
the very children they have borne?
Are priest and prophet to be slain
in the sanctuary of the Lord?(L)
21 They lie on the ground in the streets,
young and old alike;
Both my young women and young men
are cut down by the sword;
You killed them on the day of your wrath,
slaughtered without pity.(M)
22 You summoned as to a feast day
terrors on every side;
On the day of the Lord’s wrath,
none survived or escaped.
Those I have borne and nurtured,
my enemy has utterly destroyed.”(N)
Footnotes
- 2:1–22 This chapter continues to move between the voice of the poet (vv. 1–20) and that of personified Zion (vv. 20–22). The persona of the poet, first portrayed in chap. 1 as a detached observer recounting both the desolation as well as the sins of the city, becomes in this chapter an advocate for Zion in her appeal to the Lord and never once mentions her sins.
- 2:1 The glory of Israel: the Temple. His footstool: the ark of the covenant (1 Chr 28:2; Ps 99:5; 132:7); or again, the Temple (Ez 43:7).
- 2:3 Horn: a symbol of power and strength; cf. v. 17; 1 Sm 2:1, 10; Ps 89:18, 25; 92:11; 112:9.
- 2:6 Booth…shrine: synonyms for the Temple; cf. Ps 27:5; 74:4, 8. The term for “shrine” in Hebrew (mo‘ed) figures prominently in the pentateuchal expression “tent of meeting” (’ohel mo‘ed).
- 2:8 The measuring line: normally used for building, here employed ironically as an instrument of destruction; cf. Is 34:11; 2 Kgs 21:13.
- 2:10 They cast dust: as a sign of mourning; cf. Jos 7:6; Jb 2:12; Ez 27:30.
- 2:11 My eyes are spent with tears, my stomach churns: the poet appropriates the emotional language used by Zion in 1:16 and 1:20 to express a progressively stronger commitment to her cause. After describing the systematic dismantling of the city in vv. 5–9, the poet turns to the plight of the inhabitants in vv. 10–12. It is the description of children dying in the streets that finally brings about the poet’s emotional breakdown, even as it did for Zion in 1:16.
- 2:13 To what can I compare you…?: the author calls attention to the poetic task: to find language that speaks adequately of the atrocities and incomparable suffering experienced by Zion, and thus to attempt to offer comfort.
- 2:19 The poet urges Zion to appeal to the Lord once more on behalf of her dying children. The image of Zion’s children effectively condenses the metaphorical sense of all residents of the city (young and old alike) into the more poignant picture of actual children at the point of death. It was precisely this image, no doubt well known to survivors of besieged cities, that led to the emotional breakdown of both Zion (1:16) and the poet (2:11). The hope is that the Lord will be similarly affected by such a poignant image and respond with mercy.
- 2:20 Must women eat their own offspring: extreme famine in a besieged city sometimes led to cannibalism; this becomes a stereotypical way of expressing the nearly unthinkable horrors of war; cf. Lam 4:10; Dt 28:53; 2 Kgs 6:28–29; Bar 2:3; Ez 5:10.
Lamentaciones 2
Nueva Biblia de las Américas
Juicio de Dios sobre Sión
2 ¡Cómo el Señor nubló, en Su ira,
A la hija de Sión(A)!
Ha arrojado del cielo a la tierra(B)
La gloria de Israel(C),
Y no se ha acordado del estrado de Sus pies(D)
En el día de Su ira.
2 El Señor ha devorado, no ha perdonado(E)
Ninguna de las moradas de Jacob.
Ha derribado en Su furor
Las fortalezas de la hija de Judá(F),
Las ha echado por tierra(G);
Ha profanado al reino y a sus príncipes(H).
3 En el ardor de Su ira ha exterminado
Todas las fuerzas[a](I) de Israel;
Retiró Su diestra
En presencia del enemigo(J);
Y se ha encendido en Jacob como llamas de fuego
Devorando todo en derredor(K).
4 Ha entesado Su arco(L) como enemigo,
Ha afirmado Su diestra como adversario
Y ha matado todo lo que era agradable a la vista(M);
En la tienda de la hija de Sión
Ha derramado Su furor como fuego(N).
5 Se ha vuelto el Señor como enemigo(O):
Ha devorado a Israel,
Ha devorado todos sus palacios,
Ha destruido sus fortalezas
Y ha multiplicado en la hija de Judá(P)
El lamento y el duelo(Q).
6 Y ha tratado con violencia a Su tabernáculo, como a cabaña de huerto;
Ha destruido Su lugar de reunión(R).
El Señor ha hecho olvidar en Sión
La fiesta solemne y el día de reposo(S),
Y en el furor de Su ira ha rechazado
Al rey y al sacerdote(T).
7 El Señor ha rechazado Su altar,
Ha despreciado Su santuario;
Ha entregado en manos del enemigo(U)
Los muros de sus palacios(V).
Gritos se han dado en la casa del Señor(W)
Como en día de fiesta solemne.
8 El Señor determinó destruir
La muralla de la hija de Sión;
Ha extendido el cordel,
No ha retraído Su mano de destruir,
Y ha hecho que se lamenten el antemuro y el muro(X);
A una desfallecen(Y).
9 Se han hundido en la tierra sus puertas(Z),
Él ha destruido y quebrado sus cerrojos.
Su rey y sus príncipes están entre las naciones;
Ya no hay ley(AA);
Tampoco sus profetas hallan
Visión del Señor(AB).
10 Están sentados en tierra(AC), en silencio(AD),
Los ancianos de la hija de Sión.
Han echado polvo sobre sus cabezas(AE),
Se han ceñido de cilicio(AF).
Han inclinado a tierra sus cabezas
Las vírgenes de Jerusalén(AG).
11 Mis ojos se consumen por las lágrimas,
Hierven mis entrañas(AH);
Mi hiel se derrama por tierra(AI),
A causa de la destrucción[b] de la hija de mi pueblo[c](AJ),
Cuando niños y lactantes desfallecen
En las calles de la ciudad(AK).
12 Dicen a sus madres:
«¿Dónde hay grano y vino?».
Mientras desfallecen como heridos
En las calles de la ciudad(AL),
Mientras exhalan su espíritu
En el regazo de sus madres(AM).
13 ¿Cómo he de amonestarte(AN)?
¿A qué te compararé,
Hija de Jerusalén?
¿A qué te igualaré al consolarte,
Virgen hija de Sión(AO)?
Porque grande como el mar es tu ruina;
¿Quién te podrá sanar(AP)?
14 Tus profetas tuvieron para ti
Visiones falsas y necias(AQ),
Y no manifestaron tu iniquidad(AR)
Para que regresaras de tu cautiverio,
Sino que vieron para ti oráculos falsos y engañosos(AS).
15 Baten palmas contra ti
Todos los que pasan por el camino;
Silban(AT) y mueven sus cabezas
Contra la hija de Jerusalén, diciendo:
«¿Es esta la ciudad de la cual decían(AU):
“La perfección de la hermosura(AV),
El gozo de toda la tierra(AW)?”».
16 Han abierto su boca contra ti
Todos tus enemigos(AX);
Silban y rechinan los dientes(AY).
Dicen: «La hemos devorado(AZ).
Ciertamente este es el día que esperábamos(BA);
Lo hemos alcanzado, lo hemos visto».
17 El Señor ha hecho lo que se propuso(BB),
Ha cumplido Su palabra
Que había ordenado desde tiempos antiguos.
Ha derribado sin perdonar(BC),
Ha hecho que se alegre el enemigo sobre ti(BD),
Ha exaltado el poder de tus adversarios(BE).
18 El corazón de ellos clamó al Señor(BF):
«Muralla de la hija de Sión(BG),
Corran tus lágrimas como un río día y noche,
No te des reposo,
No tengan descanso tus ojos(BH).
19 -»Levántate, da voces en la noche
Al comenzar las vigilias(BI).
Derrama como agua tu corazón
Ante la presencia del Señor(BJ).
Alza hacia Él tus manos
Por la vida de tus pequeños,
Que desfallecen de hambre(BK)
En las esquinas de todas las calles(BL)».
20 Mira, oh Señor, y observa:
¿A quién has tratado así(BM)?
¿Habían de comerse las mujeres el fruto de sus entrañas(BN),
A los pequeños criados con cariño?
¿Habían de ser muertos en el santuario del Señor
El sacerdote y el profeta(BO)?
21 Yacen por tierra en las calles
Jóvenes y ancianos;
Mis vírgenes y mis mancebos
Han caído a espada(BP).
Has matado en el día de Tu ira,
Has hecho matanza, no has perdonado(BQ).
22 Como en día de fiesta solemne convocaste
Mis terrores de todas partes(BR);
Y no hubo en el día de la ira del Señor
Quien escapara(BS) ni sobreviviera(BT).
A los que crié y mantuve,
Mi enemigo los exterminó.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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