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Lonely Jerusalem

The Prophet Speaks:

(A) Jerusalem, once so crowded,
    lies deserted and lonely.
This city that was known
all over the world
    is now like a widow.
This queen of the nations
    has been made a slave.
Each night, bitter tears
    flood her cheeks.
None of her former lovers
    are there to offer comfort;
her friends[a] have betrayed her
    and are now her enemies.

The people of Judah are slaves,
suffering in a foreign land,
    with no rest from sorrow.
Their enemies captured them
    and were terribly cruel.[b]
The roads to Zion mourn
because no one travels there
    to celebrate the festivals.
The city gates are deserted;
    priests are weeping.
Young women are raped;[c]
    Zion is in sorrow!
Enemies now rule the city
    and live as they please.
The Lord has punished Jerusalem
    because of her awful sins;
he has let her people
    be dragged away.

Zion's glory has disappeared.
Her leaders are like deer
    that cannot find pasture;
they are hunted down
    till their strength is gone.
Her people recall the good life
    that once was theirs;
now they suffer
    and are scattered.
No one was there to protect them
from their enemies who sneered
    when their city was taken.

Jerusalem's horrible sins
    have made the city a joke.
Those who once admired her
    now hate her instead—
she has been disgraced;
    she groans and turns away.

Her sins had made her filthy,
but she wasn't worried
    about what could happen.
And when Jerusalem fell,
    it was so tragic.
No one gave her comfort
    when she cried out,
“Help! I'm in trouble, Lord!
    The enemy has won.”

10 Zion's treasures were stolen.
Jerusalem saw foreigners
    enter her place of worship,
though the Lord
had forbidden them
    to belong to his people.[d]
11 Everyone in the city groans
    while searching for food;
they trade their valuables
for barely enough scraps
    to stay alive.

Jerusalem Speaks:

Jerusalem shouts to the Lord,
“Please look and see
    how miserable I am!”
12 No passerby even cares.[e]
Why doesn't someone notice
    my terrible sufferings?
You were fiercely angry, Lord,
and you punished me
    worst of all.
13 From heaven you sent a fire
    that burned in my bones;
you set a trap for my feet
    and made me turn back.
All day long you leave me
    in shock from constant pain.
14 You have tied my sins
    around my neck,[f]
and they weigh so heavily
    that my strength is gone.
You have put me in the power
    of enemies too strong for me.

15 You, Lord, have turned back
my warriors and crushed
    my young heroes.
Judah was a woman untouched,
but you let her be trampled
    like grapes in a wine pit.
16 Because of this, I mourn,
    and tears flood my eyes.
No one is here to comfort
    or to encourage me;
we have lost the war—
    my people are suffering.

The Prophet Speaks:

17 Zion reaches out her hands,
    but no one offers comfort.
The Lord has turned
the neighboring nations
    against Jacob's descendants.
Jerusalem is merely a filthy rag
    to her neighbors.

Jerusalem Speaks:

18 The Lord was right,
    but I refused to obey him.
Now I ask all of you to look
    at my sufferings—
even my young people
    have been dragged away.
19 I called out to my lovers,
    but they betrayed me.
My priests and my leaders died
while searching the city
    for scraps of food.

20 Won't you look and see
    how upset I am, our Lord?
My stomach is in knots,
and my heart is broken
    because I betrayed you.
In the streets and at home,
    my people are slaughtered.

21 Everyone heard my groaning,
    but no one offered comfort.
My enemies know of the trouble
that you have brought on me,
    and it makes them glad.
Hurry and punish them,
    as you have promised.
22 Don't let their evil deeds
    escape your sight.
Punish them as much
as you have punished me
    because of my sins.
I never stop groaning—
    I've lost all hope!

The Lord Was Like an Enemy

The Prophet Speaks:

The Lord was angry!
    So he disgraced[g] Zion
though it was Israel's pride
    and his own place of rest.
In his anger he threw Zion down
    from heaven to earth.
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.

The Lord was so furiously angry
that he wiped out
    the whole army[h] of Israel
by not supporting them
    when the enemy attacked.
He was like a raging fire
that swallowed up
    the descendants of Jacob.
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.[i]

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.
He shattered his temple
    like a hut in a garden;[j]
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.

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.

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.
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?[k]
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.[l]

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.

There Is Still Hope

The Prophet Speaks:

I have suffered much
    because God was angry.
He chased me into a dark place,
    where no light could enter.
I am the only one he punishes
over and over again,
    without ever stopping.
God caused my skin and flesh
to waste away,
    and he crushed my bones.
He attacked and surrounded me
    with hardships and trouble;
he forced me to sit in the dark
    like someone long dead.

God built a fence around me
that I cannot climb over,
    and he chained me down.
Even when I shouted
and prayed for help,
    he refused to listen.
God put big rocks in my way
and made me follow
    a crooked path.
10 God was like a bear or a lion
    waiting in ambush for me;
11 he dragged me from the road,
    then tore me to shreds.[m]
12 God took careful aim
and shot his arrows
13     straight through my heart.

14 I am a joke to everyone—
no one ever stops
    making fun of me.
15 God has turned my life sour.
16 He made me eat gravel
    and rubbed me in the dirt.
17 I cannot find peace
    or remember happiness.

18 I tell myself, “I am finished!
I can't count on the Lord
    to do anything for me.”
19 Just thinking of my troubles
and my lonely wandering
    makes me miserable.
20 That's all I ever think about,
    and I am depressed.[n]
21 Then I remember something
    that fills me with hope.
22 The Lord's kindness never fails!
If he had not been merciful,
    we would have been destroyed.[o]
23 The Lord can always be trusted
    to show mercy each morning.
24 Deep in my heart I say,
“The Lord is all I need;
    I can depend on him!”

25 The Lord is kind to everyone
    who trusts and obeys him.
26 It is good to wait patiently
    for the Lord to save us.
27 When we are young,
    it is good to struggle hard
28 and to sit silently alone,
if this is what
    the Lord intends.
29 Being rubbed in the dirt
    can teach us a lesson;[p]
30 we can also learn from insults
    and hard knocks.

31 The Lord won't always reject us!
32     He causes a lot of suffering,
but he also has pity
    because of his great love.
33 The Lord doesn't enjoy
    sending grief or pain.

34 Don't trample prisoners
    under your feet
35 or cheat anyone out of
    what is rightfully theirs.
God Most High sees everything,
36 and he knows when you refuse
    to give someone a fair trial.

Footnotes

  1. 1.2 lovers … friends: Israel's former allies.
  2. 1.3 Their … cruel: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  3. 1.4 raped: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 1.10 to … people: Or “to enter his temple.”
  5. 1.12 No … cares: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  6. 1.14 You … neck: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  7. 2.1 disgraced: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  8. 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.
  9. 2.4 the homes on Mount Zion: Or “the temple on Mount Zion.”
  10. 2.6 He … garden: Or “He shattered the temple walls, as if they were the walls of a garden.”
  11. 2.13 How great … pain: Or “What are you really like?” or “What can I say about you?”
  12. 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.
  13. 3.11 shreds: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 11.
  14. 3.20 I am depressed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  15. 3.22 destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 22.
  16. 3.29 lesson: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 29.

[a]How deserted(A) lies the city,
    once so full of people!(B)
How like a widow(C) is she,
    who once was great(D) among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
    has now become a slave.(E)

Bitterly she weeps(F) at night,
    tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers(G)
    there is no one to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed(H) her;
    they have become her enemies.(I)

After affliction and harsh labor,
    Judah has gone into exile.(J)
She dwells among the nations;
    she finds no resting place.(K)
All who pursue her have overtaken her(L)
    in the midst of her distress.

The roads to Zion mourn,(M)
    for no one comes to her appointed festivals.
All her gateways are desolate,(N)
    her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
    and she is in bitter anguish.(O)

Her foes have become her masters;
    her enemies are at ease.
The Lord has brought her grief(P)
    because of her many sins.(Q)
Her children have gone into exile,(R)
    captive before the foe.(S)

All the splendor has departed
    from Daughter Zion.(T)
Her princes are like deer
    that find no pasture;
in weakness they have fled(U)
    before the pursuer.

In the days of her affliction and wandering
    Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
    that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands,
    there was no one to help her.(V)
Her enemies looked at her
    and laughed(W) at her destruction.

Jerusalem has sinned(X) greatly
    and so has become unclean.(Y)
All who honored her despise her,
    for they have all seen her naked;(Z)
she herself groans(AA)
    and turns away.

Her filthiness clung to her skirts;
    she did not consider her future.(AB)
Her fall(AC) was astounding;
    there was none to comfort(AD) her.
“Look, Lord, on my affliction,(AE)
    for the enemy has triumphed.”

10 The enemy laid hands
    on all her treasures;(AF)
she saw pagan nations
    enter her sanctuary(AG)
those you had forbidden(AH)
    to enter your assembly.

11 All her people groan(AI)
    as they search for bread;(AJ)
they barter their treasures for food
    to keep themselves alive.
“Look, Lord, and consider,
    for I am despised.”

12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?(AK)
    Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering(AL)
    that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me
    in the day of his fierce anger?(AM)

13 “From on high he sent fire,
    sent it down into my bones.(AN)
He spread a net(AO) for my feet
    and turned me back.
He made me desolate,(AP)
    faint(AQ) all the day long.

14 “My sins have been bound into a yoke[b];(AR)
    by his hands they were woven together.
They have been hung on my neck,
    and the Lord has sapped my strength.
He has given me into the hands(AS)
    of those I cannot withstand.

15 “The Lord has rejected
    all the warriors in my midst;(AT)
he has summoned an army(AU) against me
    to[c] crush my young men.(AV)
In his winepress(AW) the Lord has trampled(AX)
    Virgin Daughter(AY) Judah.

16 “This is why I weep
    and my eyes overflow with tears.(AZ)
No one is near to comfort(BA) me,
    no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
    because the enemy has prevailed.”(BB)

17 Zion stretches out her hands,(BC)
    but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has decreed for Jacob
    that his neighbors become his foes;(BD)
Jerusalem has become
    an unclean(BE) thing(BF) among them.

18 “The Lord is righteous,(BG)
    yet I rebelled(BH) against his command.
Listen, all you peoples;
    look on my suffering.(BI)
My young men and young women
    have gone into exile.(BJ)

19 “I called to my allies(BK)
    but they betrayed me.
My priests and my elders
    perished(BL) in the city
while they searched for food
    to keep themselves alive.

20 “See, Lord, how distressed(BM) I am!
    I am in torment(BN) within,
and in my heart I am disturbed,(BO)
    for I have been most rebellious.(BP)
Outside, the sword bereaves;
    inside, there is only death.(BQ)

21 “People have heard my groaning,(BR)
    but there is no one to comfort me.(BS)
All my enemies have heard of my distress;
    they rejoice(BT) at what you have done.
May you bring the day(BU) you have announced
    so they may become like me.

22 “Let all their wickedness come before you;
    deal with them
as you have dealt with me
    because of all my sins.(BV)
My groans(BW) are many
    and my heart is faint.”

[d]How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion
    with the cloud of his anger[e]!(BX)
He has hurled down the splendor of Israel
    from heaven to earth;
he has not remembered his footstool(BY)
    in the day of his anger.(BZ)

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

In fierce anger he has cut off
    every horn[f][g](CE) of Israel.
He has withdrawn his right hand(CF)
    at the approach of the enemy.
He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
    that consumes everything around it.(CG)

Like an enemy he has strung his bow;(CH)
    his right hand is ready.
Like a foe he has slain
    all who were pleasing to the eye;(CI)
he has poured out his wrath(CJ) like fire(CK)
    on the tent(CL) of Daughter Zion.

The Lord is like an enemy;(CM)
    he has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
    and destroyed her strongholds.(CN)
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation(CO)
    for Daughter Judah.(CP)

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

The Lord has rejected his altar
    and abandoned his sanctuary.(CU)
He has given the walls of her palaces(CV)
    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.(CW)

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

Her gates(DB) have sunk into the ground;
    their bars(DC) he has broken and destroyed.
Her king and her princes are exiled(DD) among the nations,
    the law(DE) is no more,
and her prophets(DF) no longer find
    visions(DG) from the Lord.

10 The elders of Daughter Zion
    sit on the ground in silence;(DH)
they have sprinkled dust(DI) on their heads(DJ)
    and put on sackcloth.(DK)
The young women of Jerusalem
    have bowed their heads to the ground.(DL)

11 My eyes fail from weeping,(DM)
    I am in torment within(DN);
my heart(DO) is poured out(DP) on the ground
    because my people are destroyed,(DQ)
because children and infants faint(DR)
    in the streets of the city.

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

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

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

15 All who pass your way
    clap their hands at you;(EC)
they scoff(ED) and shake their heads(EE)
    at Daughter Jerusalem:(EF)
“Is this the city that was called
    the perfection of beauty,(EG)
    the joy of the whole earth?”(EH)

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

17 The Lord has done what he planned;
    he has fulfilled(EM) his word,
    which he decreed long ago.(EN)
He has overthrown you without pity,(EO)
    he has let the enemy gloat over you,(EP)
    he has exalted the horn[h] of your foes.(EQ)

18 The hearts of the people
    cry out to the Lord.(ER)
You walls of Daughter Zion,(ES)
    let your tears(ET) flow like a river
    day and night;(EU)
give yourself no relief,
    your eyes no rest.(EV)

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

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

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

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

[i]I am the man who has seen affliction(FJ)
    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.(FK)
He has driven me away and made me walk
    in darkness(FL) rather than light;
indeed, he has turned his hand against me(FM)
    again and again, all day long.

He has made my skin and my flesh grow old(FN)
    and has broken my bones.(FO)
He has besieged me and surrounded me
    with bitterness(FP) and hardship.(FQ)
He has made me dwell in darkness
    like those long dead.(FR)

He has walled me in so I cannot escape;(FS)
    he has weighed me down with chains.(FT)
Even when I call out or cry for help,(FU)
    he shuts out my prayer.(FV)
He has barred(FW) my way with blocks of stone;
    he has made my paths crooked.(FX)

10 Like a bear lying in wait,
    like a lion(FY) in hiding,(FZ)
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled(GA) me
    and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow(GB)
    and made me the target(GC) for his arrows.(GD)

13 He pierced(GE) my heart
    with arrows from his quiver.(GF)
14 I became the laughingstock(GG) of all my people;(GH)
    they mock me in song(GI) all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
    and given me gall to drink.(GJ)

16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;(GK)
    he has trampled me in the dust.(GL)
17 I have been deprived of peace;
    I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
    and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”(GM)

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
    the bitterness(GN) and the gall.(GO)
20 I well remember them,
    and my soul is downcast(GP) within me.(GQ)
21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love(GR) we are not consumed,(GS)
    for his compassions never fail.(GT)
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.(GU)
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;(GV)
    therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;(GW)
26 it is good to wait quietly(GX)
    for the salvation of the Lord.(GY)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
    while he is young.

28 Let him sit alone in silence,(GZ)
    for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust(HA)
    there may yet be hope.(HB)
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,(HC)
    and let him be filled with disgrace.(HD)

31 For no one is cast off
    by the Lord forever.(HE)
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
    so great is his unfailing love.(HF)
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
    or grief to anyone.(HG)

34 To crush underfoot
    all prisoners in the land,
35 to deny people their rights
    before the Most High,(HH)
36 to deprive them of justice—
    would not the Lord see such things?(HI)

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
  2. Lamentations 1:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint He kept watch over my sins
  3. Lamentations 1:15 Or has set a time for me / when he will
  4. Lamentations 2:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
  5. Lamentations 2:1 Or How the Lord in his anger / has treated Daughter Zion with contempt
  6. Lamentations 2:3 Or off / all the strength; or every king
  7. Lamentations 2:3 Horn here symbolizes strength.
  8. Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.
  9. Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter.