Lamentations 2-4

New International Version

2 ^[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)

² 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.

³ 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He has withdrawn his right hand^(I)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)

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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)

⁶ 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)

⁷ 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)

⁸ 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)

⁹ 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.”

3 ^[f]I am the man who has seen affliction^(CM)
    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.^(CN)
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
    in darkness^(CO) rather than light;
³ indeed, he has turned his hand against me^(CP)
    again and again, all day long.

⁴ He has made my skin and my flesh grow old^(CQ)
    and has broken my bones.^(CR)
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
    with bitterness^(CS) and hardship.^(CT)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
    like those long dead.^(CU)

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape;^(CV)
    he has weighed me down with chains.^(CW)
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,^(CX)
    he shuts out my prayer.^(CY)
9 He has barred^(CZ) my way with blocks of stone;
    he has made my paths crooked.^(DA)

¹⁰ Like a bear lying in wait,
    like a lion^(DB) in hiding,^(DC)
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled^(DD) me
    and left me without help.
¹² He drew his bow^(DE)
    and made me the target^(DF) for his arrows.^(DG)

¹³ He pierced^(DH) my heart
    with arrows from his quiver.^(DI)
14 I became the laughingstock^(DJ) of all my people;^(DK)
    they mock me in song^(DL) all day long.
¹⁵ He has filled me with bitter herbs
    and given me gall to drink.^(DM)

¹⁶ He has broken my teeth with gravel;^(DN)
    he has trampled me in the dust.^(DO)
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.”^(DP)

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
    the bitterness^(DQ) and the gall.^(DR)
20 I well remember them,
    and my soul is downcast^(DS) within me.^(DT)
21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

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

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

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence,^(EC)
    for the Lord has laid it on him.
²⁹ Let him bury his face in the dust^(ED)—
    there may yet be hope.^(EE)
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,^(EF)
    and let him be filled with disgrace.^(EG)

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

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

³⁷ Who can speak and have it happen
    if the Lord has not decreed it?^(EM)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that both calamities and good things come?^(EN)
39 Why should the living complain
    when punished for their sins?^(EO)

⁴⁰ Let us examine our ways and test them,^(EP)
    and let us return to the Lord.^(EQ)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
    to God in heaven,^(ER) and say:
⁴² “We have sinned and rebelled^(ES)
    and you have not forgiven.^(ET)

⁴³ “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued^(EU) us;
    you have slain without pity.^(EV)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud^(EW)
    so that no prayer^(EX) can get through.^(EY)
45 You have made us scum^(EZ) and refuse
    among the nations.

⁴⁶ “All our enemies have opened their mouths
    wide^(FA) against us.^(FB)
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,^(FC)
    ruin and destruction.^(FD)”
⁴⁸ Streams of tears^(FE) flow from my eyes^(FF)
    because my people are destroyed.^(FG)

⁴⁹ My eyes will flow unceasingly,
    without relief,^(FH)
50 until the Lord looks down
    from heaven and sees.^(FI)
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.^(FJ)
53 They tried to end my life in a pit^(FK)
    and threw stones at me;
⁵⁴ the waters closed over my head,^(FL)
    and I thought I was about to perish.^(FM)

⁵⁵ I called on your name, Lord,
    from the depths^(FN) of the pit.^(FO)
56 You heard my plea:^(FP) “Do not close your ears
    to my cry for relief.”
⁵⁷ You came near^(FQ) when I called you,
    and you said, “Do not fear.”^(FR)

⁵⁸ You, Lord, took up my case;^(FS)
    you redeemed my life.^(FT)
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.^(FU)
    Uphold my cause!^(FV)
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
    all their plots against me.^(FW)

⁶¹ Lord, you have heard their insults,^(FX)
    all their plots against me—
⁶² what my enemies whisper and mutter
    against me all day long.^(FY)
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
    they mock me in their songs.^(FZ)

⁶⁴ Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
    for what their hands have done.^(GA)
65 Put a veil over their hearts,^(GB)
    and may your curse be on them!
⁶⁶ Pursue^(GC) them in anger and destroy them
    from under the heavens of the Lord.

4 ^[g]How the gold has lost its luster,
    the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
    at every street corner.^(GD)

² How the precious children of Zion,^(GE)
    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.^(GF)

⁴ Because of thirst^(GG) the infant’s tongue
    sticks to the roof of its mouth;^(GH)
the children beg for bread,
    but no one gives it to them.^(GI)

⁵ Those who once ate delicacies
    are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple^(GJ)
    now lie on ash heaps.^(GK)

⁶ The punishment of my people
    is greater than that of Sodom,^(GL)
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^(GM) than soot;
    they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;^(GN)
    it has become as dry as a stick.

⁹ Those killed by the sword are better off
    than those who die of famine;^(GO)
racked with hunger, they waste away
    for lack of food from the field.^(GP)

¹⁰ With their own hands compassionate women
    have cooked their own children,^(GQ)
who became their food
    when my people were destroyed.

¹¹ The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;^(GR)
    he has poured out^(GS) his fierce anger.^(GT)
He kindled a fire^(GU) in Zion
    that consumed her foundations.^(GV)

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.^(GW)

¹³ But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
    and the iniquities of her priests,^(GX)
who shed within her
    the blood^(GY) of the righteous.

¹⁴ Now they grope through the streets
    as if they were blind.^(GZ)
They are so defiled with blood^(HA)
    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^(HB) about,
    people among the nations say,
    “They can stay here no longer.”^(HC)

¹⁶ The Lord himself has scattered them;
    he no longer watches over them.^(HD)
The priests are shown no honor,
    the elders^(HE) no favor.^(HF)

¹⁷ Moreover, our eyes failed,
    looking in vain^(HG) for help;^(HH)
from our towers we watched
    for a nation^(HI) 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.^(HJ)

¹⁹ Our pursuers were swifter
    than eagles^(HK) in the sky;
they chased us^(HL) over the mountains
    and lay in wait for us in the desert.^(HM)

²⁰ The Lord’s anointed,^(HN) our very life breath,
    was caught in their traps.^(HO)
We thought that under his shadow^(HP)
    we would live among the nations.

²¹ Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
    you who live in the land of Uz.^(HQ)
But to you also the cup^(HR) will be passed;
    you will be drunk and stripped naked.^(HS)

²² Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion;^(HT)
    he will not prolong your exile.
But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom,
    and expose your wickedness.^(HU)