Lamentations 1-4
New King James Version
Jerusalem in Affliction
1 How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
(A)How like a widow is she,
Who was great among the nations!
The (B)princess among the provinces
Has become a [a]slave!
2 She (C)weeps bitterly in the (D)night,
Her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers
She has none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
3 (E)Judah has gone into captivity,
Under affliction and hard servitude;
(F)She dwells among the [b]nations,
She finds no (G)rest;
All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.
4 The roads to Zion mourn
Because no one comes to the [c]set feasts.
All her gates are (H)desolate;
Her priests sigh,
Her virgins are afflicted,
And she is in bitterness.
5 Her adversaries (I)have become [d]the master,
Her enemies prosper;
For the Lord has afflicted her
(J)Because of the multitude of her transgressions.
Her (K)children have gone into captivity before the enemy.
6 And from the daughter of Zion
All her splendor has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
That find no pasture,
That [e]flee without strength
Before the pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and roaming,
Jerusalem (L)remembers all her pleasant things
That she had in the days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
With no one to help her,
The adversaries saw her
And mocked at her [f]downfall.
8 (M)Jerusalem has sinned gravely,
Therefore she has become [g]vile.
All who honored her despise her
Because (N)they have seen her nakedness;
Yes, she sighs and turns away.
9 Her uncleanness is in her skirts;
She (O)did not consider her destiny;
Therefore her collapse was awesome;
She had no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
For the enemy is exalted!”
10 The adversary has spread his hand
Over all her [h]pleasant things;
For she has seen (P)the nations enter her [i]sanctuary,
Those whom You commanded
(Q)Not to enter Your assembly.
11 All her people sigh,
(R)They [j]seek bread;
They have given their [k]valuables for food to restore life.
“See, O Lord, and consider,
For I am scorned.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who [l]pass by?
Behold and see
(S)If there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
Which has been brought on me,
Which the Lord has inflicted
In the day of His fierce anger.
13 “From above He has sent fire into my bones,
And it overpowered them;
He has (T)spread a net for my feet
And turned me back;
He has made me desolate
And faint all the day.
14 “The(U) yoke of my transgressions was [m]bound;
They were woven together by His hands,
And thrust upon my neck.
He made my strength fail;
The Lord delivered me into the hands of those whom I am not able to withstand.
15 “The Lord has trampled underfoot all my mighty men in my midst;
He has called an assembly against me
To crush my young men;
(V)The Lord trampled as in a winepress
The virgin daughter of Judah.
16 “For these things I weep;
My eye, (W)my eye overflows with water;
Because the comforter, who should restore my life,
Is far from me.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy prevailed.”
17 (X)Zion [n]spreads out her hands,
But no one comforts her;
The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob
That those (Y)around him become his adversaries;
Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
18 “The Lord is (Z)righteous,
For I (AA)rebelled against His [o]commandment.
Hear now, all peoples,
And behold my sorrow;
My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
19 “I called for my lovers,
But they deceived me;
My priests and my elders
Breathed their last in the city,
While they sought food
To restore their life.
20 “See, O Lord, that I am in distress;
My (AB)soul[p] is troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very rebellious.
(AC)Outside the sword bereaves,
At home it is like death.
21 “They have heard that I sigh,
But no one comforts me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
They are (AD)glad that You have done it.
Bring on (AE)the day You have [q]announced,
That they may become like me.
22 “Let(AF) all their wickedness come before You,
And do to them as You have done to me
For all my transgressions;
For my sighs are many,
And my heart is faint.”
God’s Anger with Jerusalem
2 How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion
With a (AG)cloud in His anger!
(AH)He cast down from heaven to the earth
(AI)The beauty of Israel,
And did not remember (AJ)His footstool
In the day of His anger.
2 The Lord has swallowed up and has (AK)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;
(AL)He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
3 He has cut off in fierce anger
Every [r]horn of Israel;
(AM)He has drawn back His right hand
From before the enemy.
(AN)He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
Devouring all around.
4 (AO)Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow;
With His right hand, like an adversary,
He has slain (AP)all who were pleasing to His eye;
On the tent of the daughter of Zion,
He has poured out His fury like fire.
5 (AQ)The Lord was like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel,
He has swallowed up all her palaces;
(AR)He has destroyed her strongholds,
And has increased mourning and lamentation
In the daughter of Judah.
6 He has done violence (AS)to His [s]tabernacle,
(AT)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 (AU)spurned the king and the priest.
7 The Lord has spurned His altar,
He has (AV)abandoned His sanctuary;
He has [t]given up the walls of her palaces
Into the hand of the enemy.
(AW)They have made a noise in the house of the Lord
As on the day of a set feast.
8 The Lord has [u]purposed to destroy
The (AX)wall of the daughter of Zion.
(AY)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.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
He has destroyed and (AZ)broken her bars.
(BA)Her king and her princes are among the [v]nations;
(BB)The Law is no more,
And her (BC)prophets find no [w]vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
(BD)Sit on the ground and keep silence;
[x]They (BE)throw dust on their heads
And (BF)gird themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Bow their heads to the ground.
11 (BG)My eyes fail with tears,
My [y]heart is troubled;
(BH)My [z]bile is poured on the ground
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
Because (BI)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 (BJ)console[aa] 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 (BK)prophets have seen for you
False and deceptive visions;
They have not (BL)uncovered your iniquity,
To bring back your captives,
But have envisioned for you false (BM)prophecies and delusions.
15 All who [ab]pass by (BN)clap their hands at you;
They hiss (BO)and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that is called
(BP)‘The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth’?”
16 (BQ)All your enemies have opened their mouth against you;
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, (BR)“We have swallowed her up!
Surely this is the (BS)day we have waited for;
We have found it, (BT)we have seen it!”
17 The Lord has done what He (BU)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 (BV)rejoice over you;
He has exalted the [ac]horn of your adversaries.
18 Their heart cried out to the Lord,
“O wall of the daughter of Zion,
(BW)Let tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief;
Give [ad]your eyes no rest.
19 “Arise, (BX)cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
(BY)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 (BZ)at the head of every street.”
20 “See, O Lord, and consider!
To whom have You done this?
(CA)Should the women eat their offspring,
The children [ae]they have cuddled?
Should the priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 “Young(CB) and old lie
On the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the (CC)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
(CD)The terrors that surround me.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
There was no refugee or survivor.
(CE)Those whom I have borne and brought up
My enemies have (CF)destroyed.”
The Prophet’s Anguish and Hope
3 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
2 He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3 Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.
4 He has aged (CG)my flesh and my skin,
And (CH)broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me
And surrounded me with bitterness and [af]woe.
6 (CI)He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.
7 (CJ)He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8 Even (CK)when I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10 (CL)He has been to me a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in [ag]ambush.
11 He has turned aside my ways and (CM)torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He has bent His bow
And (CN)set me up as a target for the arrow.
13 He has caused (CO)the [ah]arrows of His quiver
To pierce my [ai]loins.
14 I have become the (CP)ridicule of all my people—
(CQ)Their taunting song all the day.
15 (CR)He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink wormwood.
16 He has also broken my teeth (CS)with gravel,
And [aj]covered me with ashes.
17 You have moved my soul far from peace;
I have forgotten [ak]prosperity.
18 (CT)And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and roaming,
(CU)The wormwood and the [al]gall.
20 My soul still remembers
And [am]sinks within me.
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have (CV)hope.
22 (CW)Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions (CX)fail not.
23 They are new (CY)every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my (CZ)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I (DA)hope in Him!”
25 The Lord is good to those who (DB)wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should (DC)hope (DD)and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 (DE)It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 (DF)Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
29 (DG)Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
30 (DH)Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.
31 (DI)For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
33 For (DJ)He does not afflict [an]willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
36 Or subvert a man in his cause—
(DK)The Lord does not approve.
37 Who is he (DL)who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That (DM)woe and well-being proceed?
39 (DN)Why should a living man [ao]complain,
(DO)A man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the Lord;
41 (DP)Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.
42 (DQ)We have transgressed and rebelled;
You have not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and not pitied.
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
That prayer should not pass through.
45 You have made us an (DR)offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46 (DS)All our enemies
Have opened their mouths against us.
47 (DT)Fear and a snare have come upon us,
(DU)Desolation and destruction.
48 (DV)My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 (DW)My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,
50 Till the Lord from heaven
(DX)Looks down and sees.
51 My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies (DY)without cause
Hunted me down like a bird.
53 They [ap]silenced my life (DZ)in the pit
And (EA)threw [aq]stones at me.
54 (EB)The waters flowed over my head;
(EC)I said, “I am cut off!”
55 (ED)I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest (EE)pit.
56 (EF)You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
57 You (EG)drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, (EH)“Do not fear!”
58 O Lord, You have (EI)pleaded the case for my soul;
(EJ)You have redeemed my life.
59 O Lord, You have seen [ar]how I am wronged;
(EK)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (EL)schemes against me.
61 You have heard their reproach, O Lord,
All their schemes against me,
62 The lips of my enemies
And their whispering against me all the day.
63 Look at their (EM)sitting down and their rising up;
I am their taunting song.
64 (EN)Repay them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
65 Give them [as]a veiled heart;
Your curse be upon them!
66 In Your anger,
Pursue and destroy them
(EO)From under the heavens of the (EP)Lord.
The Degradation of Zion
4 How the gold has become dim!
How changed the fine gold!
The stones of the sanctuary are [at]scattered
At the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
[au]Valuable as fine gold,
How they are [av]regarded (EQ)as clay pots,
The work of the hands of the potter!
3 Even the jackals present their breasts
To nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people is cruel,
(ER)Like ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth for thirst;
(ES)The young children ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
5 Those who ate delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those who were brought up in scarlet
(ET)Embrace ash heaps.
6 The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the punishment of the (EU)sin of Sodom,
Which was (EV)overthrown in a moment,
With no hand to help her!
7 Her [aw]Nazirites were [ax]brighter than snow
And whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in body than rubies,
Like sapphire in their [ay]appearance.
8 Now their appearance is blacker than soot;
They go unrecognized in the streets;
(EW)Their skin clings to their bones,
It has become as dry as wood.
9 Those slain by the sword are better off
Than those who die of hunger;
For these (EX)pine away,
Stricken for lack of the fruits of the (EY)field.
10 The hands of the (EZ)compassionate women
Have [az]cooked their (FA)own children;
They became (FB)food for them
In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord has fulfilled His fury,
(FC)He has poured out His fierce anger.
(FD)He kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has devoured its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth,
And all inhabitants of the world,
Would not have believed
That the adversary and the enemy
Could (FE)enter the gates of Jerusalem—
13 (FF)Because of the sins of her prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
(FG)Who shed in her midst
The blood of the just.
14 They wandered blind in the streets;
(FH)They have defiled themselves with blood,
(FI)So that no one would touch their garments.
15 They cried out to them,
“Go away, (FJ)unclean!
Go away, go away,
Do not touch us!”
When they fled and wandered,
Those among the nations said,
“They shall no longer dwell here.”
16 The [ba]face of the Lord scattered them;
He no longer regards them.
(FK)The people do not respect the priests
Nor show favor to the elders.
17 Still (FL)our eyes failed us,
Watching vainly for our help;
In our watching we watched
For a nation that could not save us.
18 (FM)They [bb]tracked our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets.
(FN)Our end was near;
Our days were over,
For our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were (FO)swifter
Than the eagles of the heavens.
They pursued us on the mountains
And lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The (FP)breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord,
(FQ)Was caught in their pits,
Of whom we said, “Under his shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of (FR)Edom,
You who dwell in the land of Uz!
(FS)The cup shall also pass over to you
And you shall become drunk and make yourself naked.
22 (FT)The punishment of your iniquity [bc]is accomplished,
O daughter of Zion;
He will no longer send you into captivity.
(FU)He will punish your iniquity,
O daughter of Edom;
He will uncover your sins!
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:1 Lit. forced laborer
- Lamentations 1:3 Gentiles
- Lamentations 1:4 appointed
- Lamentations 1:5 Lit. her head
- Lamentations 1:6 Lit. are gone
- Lamentations 1:7 Vg. Sabbaths
- Lamentations 1:8 LXX, Vg. moved or removed
- Lamentations 1:10 desirable
- Lamentations 1:10 holy place, the temple
- Lamentations 1:11 hunt food
- Lamentations 1:11 desirable things
- Lamentations 1:12 Lit. pass by this way
- Lamentations 1:14 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr., Vg. watched over
- Lamentations 1:17 Prays
- Lamentations 1:18 Lit. mouth
- Lamentations 1:20 Lit. inward parts
- Lamentations 1:21 proclaimed
- Lamentations 2:3 Strength
- Lamentations 2:6 Lit. booth
- Lamentations 2:7 delivered
- Lamentations 2:8 determined
- Lamentations 2:9 Gentiles
- Lamentations 2:9 Prophetic revelation
- Lamentations 2:10 A sign of mourning
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit. inward parts
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit. liver
- Lamentations 2:13 Or bear witness to
- Lamentations 2:15 Lit. pass by this way
- Lamentations 2:17 Strength
- Lamentations 2:18 Lit. the daughter of your eye
- Lamentations 2:20 Vg. a span long
- Lamentations 3:5 hardship or weariness
- Lamentations 3:10 Lit. secret places
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit. sons of
- Lamentations 3:13 Lit. kidneys
- Lamentations 3:16 Lit. bent me down in
- Lamentations 3:17 Lit. good
- Lamentations 3:19 bitterness
- Lamentations 3:20 Lit. bowed down
- Lamentations 3:33 Lit. from His heart
- Lamentations 3:39 Or murmur
- Lamentations 3:53 LXX put to death
- Lamentations 3:53 Lit. a stone on
- Lamentations 3:59 Lit. my wrong
- Lamentations 3:65 A Jewish tradition sorrow of
- Lamentations 4:1 Lit. poured out
- Lamentations 4:2 Lit. Weighed against
- Lamentations 4:2 reckoned
- Lamentations 4:7 Or nobles
- Lamentations 4:7 Or purer
- Lamentations 4:7 Lit. polishing
- Lamentations 4:10 boiled
- Lamentations 4:16 Tg. anger
- Lamentations 4:18 Lit. hunted
- Lamentations 4:22 has been completed
Lamentations 1-4
New International Version
1 [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)
2 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)
3 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.
4 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)
5 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)
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.”
2 [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)
2 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.
3 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)
4 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.
5 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)
6 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)
7 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)
8 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)
9 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.”
3 [i]I am the man who has seen affliction(FJ)
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.(FK)
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness(FL) rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me(FM)
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old(FN)
and has broken my bones.(FO)
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness(FP) and hardship.(FQ)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.(FR)
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;(FS)
he has weighed me down with chains.(FT)
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,(FU)
he shuts out my prayer.(FV)
9 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)
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?(HJ)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?(HK)
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?(HL)
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,(HM)
and let us return to the Lord.(HN)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven,(HO) and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled(HP)
and you have not forgiven.(HQ)
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued(HR) us;
you have slain without pity.(HS)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud(HT)
so that no prayer(HU) can get through.(HV)
45 You have made us scum(HW) and refuse
among the nations.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide(HX) against us.(HY)
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,(HZ)
ruin and destruction.(IA)”
48 Streams of tears(IB) flow from my eyes(IC)
because my people are destroyed.(ID)
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,(IE)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.(IF)
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.(IG)
53 They tried to end my life in a pit(IH)
and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,(II)
and I thought I was about to perish.(IJ)
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths(IK) of the pit.(IL)
56 You heard my plea:(IM) “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near(IN) when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”(IO)
58 You, Lord, took up my case;(IP)
you redeemed my life.(IQ)
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.(IR)
Uphold my cause!(IS)
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.(IT)
61 Lord, you have heard their insults,(IU)
all their plots against me—
62 what my enemies whisper and mutter
against me all day long.(IV)
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
they mock me in their songs.(IW)
64 Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
for what their hands have done.(IX)
65 Put a veil over their hearts,(IY)
and may your curse be on them!
66 Pursue(IZ) them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the Lord.
4 [j]How the gold has lost its luster,
the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
at every street corner.(JA)
2 How the precious children of Zion,(JB)
once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
like ostriches in the desert.(JC)
4 Because of thirst(JD) the infant’s tongue
sticks to the roof of its mouth;(JE)
the children beg for bread,
but no one gives it to them.(JF)
5 Those who once ate delicacies
are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple(JG)
now lie on ash heaps.(JH)
6 The punishment of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,(JI)
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand turned to help her.
7 Their princes were brighter than snow
and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.
8 But now they are blacker(JJ) than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;(JK)
it has become as dry as a stick.
9 Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of famine;(JL)
racked with hunger, they waste away
for lack of food from the field.(JM)
10 With their own hands compassionate women
have cooked their own children,(JN)
who became their food
when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;(JO)
he has poured out(JP) his fierce anger.(JQ)
He kindled a fire(JR) in Zion
that consumed her foundations.(JS)
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the peoples of the world,
that enemies and foes could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.(JT)
13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,(JU)
who shed within her
the blood(JV) of the righteous.
14 Now they grope through the streets
as if they were blind.(JW)
They are so defiled with blood(JX)
that no one dares to touch their garments.
15 “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.
“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
When they flee and wander(JY) about,
people among the nations say,
“They can stay here no longer.”(JZ)
16 The Lord himself has scattered them;
he no longer watches over them.(KA)
The priests are shown no honor,
the elders(KB) no favor.(KC)
17 Moreover, our eyes failed,
looking in vain(KD) for help;(KE)
from our towers we watched
for a nation(KF) that could not save us.
18 People stalked us at every step,
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.(KG)
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles(KH) in the sky;
they chased us(KI) over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert.(KJ)
20 The Lord’s anointed,(KK) our very life breath,
was caught in their traps.(KL)
We thought that under his shadow(KM)
we would live among the nations.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
- Lamentations 1:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint He kept watch over my sins
- Lamentations 1:15 Or has set a time for me / when he will
- Lamentations 2:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
- Lamentations 2:1 Or How the Lord in his anger / has treated Daughter Zion with contempt
- Lamentations 2:3 Or off / all the strength; or every king
- Lamentations 2:3 Horn here symbolizes strength.
- Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.
- 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.
- Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.