Lamentations 2:1-19
Evangelical Heritage Version
Under the Wrath of the Lord[a]
2 How the Lord, in his anger, has covered the daughter of Zion with a dark cloud!
He threw down the beauty of Israel from heaven to earth.
He did not remember his footstool[b] in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord swallowed up and did not spare the pastures[c] of Jacob.
In his fury he tore down the fortifications of the daughter of Judah.
He brought them down to the ground. He brought dishonor to the kingdom and its officials.
3 He completely chopped off the horn[d] of Israel in burning anger.
He withdrew his right hand in the presence of the enemy.
He burned in Jacob like a flaming fire, which consumed all around.
4 He bent his bow like an enemy. His right hand was ready like a foe,
and he killed everyone who was precious in his eyes.
On the tent of the daughter of Zion, he poured out his wrath like fire.
5 The Lord was like an enemy. He swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all her citadels. He left her fortresses in ruins.
He increased mourning and lamenting for the daughter of Judah.
6 He dealt violently with his shelter like a shed in a garden.[e] He ruined his meeting place.
The Lord has caused the appointed assembly and the Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion.
In his indignation and anger he showed contempt for king and priest.
7 The Lord rejected his altar. He abandoned his holy place.
He delivered her walls and palaces into the hand of the enemy.
They gave a shout in the House of the Lord,
like that on the day of an appointed assembly.
8 The Lord had in mind to ruin the wall of the daughter of Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line. He did not restrain his hand from swallowing her up.
He made its rampart and wall mourn. Together they became weak.
9 Her gates have sunk down to the ground. He destroyed and shattered her bars.
Her king and her officials are exiled among the nations. There is no law.
Even her prophets have not received a vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and are silent.
They throw dust on their heads and put on sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes are worn out with tears. I am troubled in my heart.
I am emotionally drained[f] over the breaking of the daughter of my people,
while children and infants grow weak in the public squares of the city.
12 They ask their mothers, “Where are the grain and wine?”
while they faint in the public squares of the city, like someone wounded,
while they take their last breath in their mothers’ laps.
13 What testimony can I give on your behalf?
What can I compare to you, daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I place next to you, so that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion?
Your wound is as wide as the sea. Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets saw visions for you, but they were empty and worthless.
They did not reveal your guilt, in order to turn away your captivity.
They saw oracles for you that were empty and misleading.
15 All who passed by clapped their hands over you.
They hissed and shook their head over the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was said to be the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?”
16 All your enemies opened their mouth against you.
They hissed and gnashed their teeth. They said, “We swallowed her up.
Yes, this is the day we were waiting for. We found it. We saw it.”
17 The Lord has done what he planned. He carried out his word,
which he commanded long ago. He tore down and did not spare.
He let the enemy rejoice over you. He raised up the horn of your foes.
18 Their heart cried out to the Lord.
O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let your tears flow like a torrent, day and night.
Do not let yourself become numb. Do not let your eye stop crying.
19 Get up! Shout out during the night, as the night watches begin!
Pour out your heart like water before the Lord’s face.
Lift up your hands to him to pray for the life of your children,
who are faint with hunger at every street corner.
Notas al pie
- Lamentations 2:1 This chapter is an alphabetic acrostic. The 22 successive verses begin with the 22 successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
- Lamentations 2:1 That is, the Ark of the Covenant
- Lamentations 2:2 Or dwelling places
- Lamentations 2:3 The horn is a symbol of power and often refers to the king.
- Lamentations 2:6 Literally like a garden
- Lamentations 2:11 The Hebrew reads my liver is poured out to the ground.
Lamentations 2:1-19
Lexham English Bible
The Lord is Angry
2 How, in his anger,[a]
the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion in a cloud!
He has thrown down from heavens to earth
the splendor of Israel,
and he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.[b]
2 The Lord has devoured; he has not shown mercy
to all the dwellings of Jacob;
he has broken down in his wrath
the fortifications of the daughter of Judah;
he has leveled to the ground, he has dishonored
the kingdom and its commanders.[c]
3 He has cut down in fierce anger[d]
all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn his right hand
from the faces of the enemy,
and he has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire,
it has consumed all around.
4 He has bent his bow like an enemy;
he has set his right hand
like a foe, and he has slain
all the treasures of the eye;[e]
in the tent of the daughter of Zion,
he has poured out his anger like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has destroyed Israel;
he has destroyed all its citadel fortresses;[f]
he has ruined all its fortifications
and multiplied lamentation and mourning
in the daughter of Judah.
6 He has broken down his dwelling[g] place like the garden;
he has ruined his appointed feasts;
Yahweh has made them forget in Zion
festival[h] and Sabbath,
and he has despised in his anger
king and priest.
7 The Lord has rejected his altar;
he has rejected his sanctuary;
he has delivered into the hands of the enemy
the walls of its citadel fortresses.[i]
They have cried out in the house of Yahweh
like a day of an appointed feast.
8 Yahweh has planned to destroy
the wall of the daughter of Zion.
He measured with a line; he has not restrained
his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to mourn;
together they have languished away.
9 Her gates have sunk into the earth;
he has ruined and broken her bars,
her kings and its princes are among the nations;
there is no more law.[j]
Also, her prophets have not found
a revelation from Yahweh.
10 They sit on the ground,
the elders of the daughter of Zion are silent.
They cast dust on their head,
they have put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their head down to the ground.
11 My eyes have spent all their tears;[k]
my stomach[l] is in torment,
my heart[m] is poured out on the earth
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because child and babe faint
in the public squares of a city.
12 To their mothers they say,
“Where is the bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
in the public squares of a city,
as their life is being poured out
onto the bosom of their mothers.
13 What can I say for you? What can I compare to you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you so that I can comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your destruction is as vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 Your prophets had a vision for you,
false and worthless;
they have not exposed your sin,
to restore your fortune;
they have seen oracles for you,
false and misleading.
15 They clap hands over you,
all who pass along the way;
they hiss and they shake their head,
at the daughter of Jerusalem.
Is this the city of which it is said,
“A perfection of beauty, a joy for all the earth?”
16 They have opened their mouths against you,
all your enemies.
They hiss and gnash a tooth,
and they say, “We have destroyed her!
Surely this is the day we have hoped for;
we have found it, we have seen it!”
17 Yahweh has done what he has planned;
he has fulfilled his promise
that he ordained from the days of old;
he has demolished and not shown mercy;
he has made an enemy rejoice over you,
he has exalted the might[n] of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord,
“O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears stream down like a river;
day and night,
do not give yourself relief,
do not give your eyes rest.
19 “Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches;
pour out your heart like water,
before the face of the Lord.
Lift to him your hands,
for the life of your children,
who faint in starvation,
at the head of all streets.”
Notas al pie
- Lamentations 2:1 Literally “in his nose”
- Lamentations 2:1 Literally “his nose”
- Lamentations 2:2 Or “her commanders”
- Lamentations 2:3 Literally “in a fierce nose”
- Lamentations 2:4 NRSV translates “all in whom we took pride”
- Lamentations 2:5 Or “her citadel fortresses”
- Lamentations 2:6 Literally “his booth”; or “his tabernacle”
- Lamentations 2:6 Literally “appointed time”
- Lamentations 2:7 Or “her citadel fortress”
- Lamentations 2:9 Hebrew torah
- Lamentations 2:11 Literally “finished with the weeping”
- Lamentations 2:11 Literally “my inward parts”
- Lamentations 2:11 Literally “my liver”
- Lamentations 2:17 Literally “horn”
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