24 They will be weak from hunger,
ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague;
I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs,
as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.

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24 I will send wasting famine(A) against them,
    consuming pestilence(B) and deadly plague;(C)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,(D)
    the venom of vipers(E) that glide in the dust.(F)

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In the days of Shamgar(A) son of Anath,
in the days of Jael,(B)
the main ways were deserted
because travelers kept to the side roads.

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“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,(A)
    in the days of Jael,(B) the highways(C) were abandoned;
    travelers took to winding paths.(D)

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The highways are deserted;
travel has ceased.
An agreement has been broken,(A)
cities[a] despised,
and human life disregarded.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 33:8 DSS read witnesses

The highways are deserted,
    no travelers(A) are on the roads.(B)
The treaty is broken,(C)
    its witnesses[a] are despised,
    no one is respected.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 33:8 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text / the cities

Lament over Jerusalem

א Alef

How[a] she sits alone,(A)
the city(B) once crowded with people!
She who was great among the nations
has become like a widow.(C)
The princess among the provinces
has been put to forced labor.

ב Bet

She weeps aloud during the night,(D)
with tears on her cheeks.
There is no one to offer her comfort,
not one from all her lovers.[b](E)
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.

ג Gimel

Judah has gone into exile
following[c] affliction and harsh slavery;
she lives among the nations
but finds no place to rest.(F)
All her pursuers have overtaken her
in narrow places.

ד Dalet

The roads to Zion(G) mourn,
for no one comes to the appointed festivals.(H)
All her gates are deserted;
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she herself is bitter.

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:1 The stanzas in Lm 1–4 form an acrostic.
  2. Lamentations 1:2 = Jerusalem’s political allies
  3. Lamentations 1:3 Or because of

[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)

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

15 “If I allow dangerous animals(A) to pass through the land and depopulate it so that it becomes desolate, with no one passing through it for fear of the animals,

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15 “Or if I send wild beasts(A) through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts,(B)

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14 “I scattered them with a windstorm over all the nations that had not known them, and the land was left desolate behind them, with no one coming or going. They turned a pleasant land into a desolation.”

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14 ‘I scattered(A) them with a whirlwind(B) among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it.(C) This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.(D)’”

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