Lamentations 2:1-19
New American Standard Bible
God’s Anger over Israel
2 How the Lord has [a](A)covered the daughter of Zion
With a cloud in His anger!
He has (B)hurled
The (C)glory of Israel from heaven to earth,
And has not remembered His (D)footstool
In the day of His anger.
2 The Lord has [b](E)destroyed; He has not spared
All the settlements of Jacob.
In His wrath He has (F)overthrown
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah,
He has (G)hurled them down to the ground;
He has (H)profaned the kingdom and its leaders.
3 In fierce anger He has cut off
[c]All the (I)strength of Israel;
He has (J)pulled back His right hand
From the enemy.
And He has (K)burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
Consuming on all sides.
4 He has bent His (L)bow like an enemy;
His right hand is positioned like an adversary,
And He has killed everything that was (M)pleasant to the eye.
In the tent of the daughter of Zion
He has (N)poured out His wrath like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an (O)enemy.
He has (P)engulfed Israel;
He has engulfed all its (Q)palaces,
He has destroyed its strongholds
And (R)caused great mourning and grieving in the daughter of Judah.
6 And He has treated His [d]tabernacle violently, like a despised garden;
He has (S)destroyed His appointed [e]meeting place.
The Lord has (T)caused
The appointed feast and Sabbath in Zion to be forgotten,
And He has (U)despised king and priest
In the indignation of His anger.
7 The Lord has (V)rejected His altar,
He has [f]repudiated His sanctuary;
He (W)has handed over
The walls of her palaces to the enemy.
They have made a (X)noise in the house of the Lord
As on the day of an appointed feast.
8 The Lord determined to destroy
The wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has (Y)stretched out a line,
He has not restrained His hand from [g]destroying,
And He has (Z)caused rampart and wall to mourn;
They have languished together.
9 Her (AA)gates have sunk into the ground,
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her leaders are among the nations;
The (AB)Law is gone.
Her prophets, too, find
(AC)No vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
(AD)Sit on the ground and [h](AE)are silent.
They have thrown (AF)dust on their heads;
They have put on (AG)sackcloth.
The (AH)virgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 My (AI)eyes fail because of tears,
My [i](AJ)spirit is greatly troubled;
My [j](AK)heart is poured out on the earth
(AL)Because of the [k]destruction of the daughter of my people,
When (AM)little ones and infants languish
In the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
“(AN)Where is grain and wine?”
As they faint like a wounded person
In the streets of the city,
As their (AO)lives are poured out
[l]In their mothers’ arms.
13 How shall I admonish you?
What (AP)shall I compare to you,
Daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I liken to you as I comfort you,
(AQ)Virgin daughter of Zion?
For your collapse is as vast as the sea;
Who can (AR)heal you?
14 Your (AS)prophets have seen for you
Worthless and deceptive visions;
And they have not (AT)exposed your wrongdoing
So as to restore you from captivity,
But they have (AU)seen for you worthless and misleading pronouncements.
15 All who pass along the way
(AV)Clap their hands in ridicule at you;
They (AW)[m]hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city of which they said,
‘(AX)Perfect in beauty,
(AY)A joy to all the earth’?”
16 All (AZ)your enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They [n]hiss and (BA)gnash their teeth.
They say, “We have (BB)engulfed her!
This certainly is the (BC)day which we awaited;
We have reached it, we have seen it!”
17 The Lord has (BD)done what He determined;
He has accomplished His word
Which He commanded from days of old.
He has torn down (BE)without sparing,
And He has helped the enemy to (BF)rejoice over you;
He has (BG)exalted the [o]might of your adversaries.
18 Their (BH)heart cried out to the Lord:
“You (BI)wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let your (BJ)tears stream down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief,
Let [p]your eyes have no rest.
19 Arise, whimper in the (BK)night
At the beginning of the night watches;
(BL)Pour out your heart like water
Before the presence of the Lord;
Raise your hands to Him
For the (BM)life of your little ones
Who (BN)languish because of hunger
At the head of every street.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 2:1 Or scorned...Zion in His anger
- Lamentations 2:2 Lit engulfed
- Lamentations 2:3 Lit Every horn
- Lamentations 2:6 Or booth
- Lamentations 2:6 Or feast
- Lamentations 2:7 I.e., scornfully rejected
- Lamentations 2:8 Lit engulfing
- Lamentations 2:10 Another reading is wail
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit inward parts are in ferment
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit liver
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit breaking
- Lamentations 2:12 Lit on...breast
- Lamentations 2:15 Or whistle
- Lamentations 2:16 Or whistle
- Lamentations 2:17 Lit horn
- Lamentations 2:18 Lit the daughter of your eye
Lamentations 2:1-19
International Standard Version
The Condition of Israel
2 How the Lord in his wrath
shamed[a] cherished[b] Zion!
He cast down from heaven to earth
the glory of Israel,
He did not remember his footstool[c]
in the time of his anger.
2 The Lord swallowed up without pity
all of Jacob’s habitations.
In his wrath he tore down
the strongholds of fair Judah.[d]
He cast to the ground in dishonor
both her kingdom and its rulers.
3 In his fierce wrath he cut off
all the strength[e] of Israel.
He withdrew his protection[f]
as the enemy approached.[g]
He burned Jacob like a blazing fire
consumes everything around it.
4 He bent his bow against us[h] as would an enemy,
his right hand cocked as would an adversary.
He has killed everyone in whom we took pride;
in the tent of cherished[i] Zion he poured out
his anger like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an enemy—
he has devoured Israel.
He has devoured all of her palaces,
destroying her fortresses.
He filled cherished Judah[j]
with mourning and lament.
6 He plowed under his Temple[k] like a garden,
spoiling his tent.
The Lord abolished in Zion
both festivals and Sabbaths.
In his fierce wrath he despised
both king and priest.
7 The Lord rejected his altar,
disavowing his sanctuary.
He gave up her palace walls
to the control of the enemy.
They shouted in the Lord’s Temple,
as though they were attending a day of celebration.
8 The Lord planned to destroy
the walls of cherished[l] Zion.
He measured them with his line.
He did not withhold his hand from destruction.
He made both ramparts and defensive walls mourn;
they languish together.
9 Jerusalem’s[m] gates collapsed to the ground;
he destroyed and broke the bars of her gates.[n]
Both king and prince have gone into captivity.[o]
There is no instruction,[p]
and the prophets receive
no vision from the Lord.
10 The leaders of cherished[q] Zion
sit silently on the ground;
they throw dust on their heads
and dress in mourning clothes.
The young women of Jerusalem
bow their heads in sorrow.[r]
11 My eyes are worn out from crying,
my insides are churning,
My emotions pour out in grief[s]
because my people are destroyed—
Children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They ask their mothers,
“Is there anything to eat or drink?”[t]
They faint in the streets of the city
like wounded men.
Their life ebbs away
while they lie on their mother’s bosom.
13 What can be said about you?
To what should you be compared, fair[u] Jerusalem?
To what may I liken you,
so I may comfort you, fair one[v] of Zion?
Indeed, your wound is as deep as the sea—
who can heal you?
14 Your prophets look on your behalf;
they see false and deceptive visions.
They did not expose your sins
in order to restore what had been captured.[w]
Instead, they crafted oracles for you
that are false and misleading.
15 Everyone who passes by on the road
shake their fists[x] at you.
They hiss and shake their heads
at cherished[y] Jerusalem:
“Is this the city men used to call ‘The Perfection of Beauty,’
and ‘The Joy of the Entire Earth’”?
16 All of your enemies
insult you with gaping mouths.
They hiss and grind their teeth while saying,
“We have devoured her completely.
Yes, this is the day that we anticipated!
We found it at last;[z] we have seen it!”
17 The Lord did what he planned.
He carried out his threat.
Just as he commanded long ago,
he has torn down without pity;
He let the enemy boast about you
and has exalted the power[aa] of your enemies.
18 Cry out from your heart to the Lord,
wall of fair[ab] Zion!
Let your tears run down like a river
day and night.
Allow yourself no rest,
and don’t stop crying.
19 Get up and cry aloud in the night,
at the beginning of every hour.[ac]
Pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord!
Lift up your hands toward him
for the lives of your children,
who are fainting away
at every street corner.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 2:1 Or enveloped
- Lamentations 2:1 Lit. the daughter of
- Lamentations 2:1 I.e. the Temple
- Lamentations 2:2 Lit. of the daughter of Judah
- Lamentations 2:3 Lit. every horn
- Lamentations 2:3 Lit. his right hand
- Lamentations 2:3 Lit. in front of the enemy
- Lamentations 2:4 The Heb. lacks against us
- Lamentations 2:4 Lit. of the daughter of
- Lamentations 2:5 Lit. the daughters of Judah
- Lamentations 2:6 Lit. tent
- Lamentations 2:8 Lit. of the daughter of
- Lamentations 2:9 Lit. Her
- Lamentations 2:9 The Heb. lacks gates
- Lamentations 2:9 Lit. into the nations
- Lamentations 2:9 Or Law; or The priests do not give their guidance
- Lamentations 2:10 Lit. of the daughter of
- Lamentations 2:10 Lit. heads to the ground
- Lamentations 2:11 Lit. my liver empties upon the ground
- Lamentations 2:12 Lit. any grain and wine
- Lamentations 2:13 Lit. daughter of
- Lamentations 2:13 Lit. virgin daughter
- Lamentations 2:14 Lit. restore your captivity
- Lamentations 2:15 Or road clap their hands
- Lamentations 2:15 Lit. at the daughter
- Lamentations 2:16 The Heb. lacks at last
- Lamentations 2:17 Lit. horn
- Lamentations 2:18 Lit. of the daughter of
- Lamentations 2:19 Lit. of the night watches
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