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Lamentations 1-5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Lamentations 1-5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Deserted City
1 How lonely sits the city
that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
has become subject to forced labor.(A)
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers,
she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.(B)
3 Judah has gone into exile with suffering
and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations;
she finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.(C)
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate;
her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,[a]
and her lot is bitter.(D)
5 Her foes have become the masters;
her enemies prosper
because the Lord has made her suffer
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.(E)
6 From daughter Zion has departed
all her majesty.
Her princes have become like stags
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.(F)
7 Jerusalem remembers[b] all the precious things
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy
and there was no one to help her,
the enemy looked on;
they mocked over her downfall.(G)
8 Jerusalem sinned grievously,
so she has become a filthy thing;
all who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans
and turns her face away.(H)
9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she took no thought of her future;
her downfall was appalling,
with none to comfort her.
Look, O Lord, at my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!(I)
10 Enemies have stretched out their hands
over all her precious things;
she has even seen the nations
invade her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade
to enter your congregation.(J)
11 All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
to revive their lives.
Look, O Lord, and see
how worthless I have become.(K)
12 Is it nothing to you,[c] all you who pass by?
Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the Lord inflicted
on the day of his fierce anger.(L)
13 From on high he sent fire;
it went deep into my bones;
he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
he has left me stunned,
faint all day long.(M)
14 My transgressions were bound[d] into a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they weigh on my neck,
sapping my strength;
the Lord handed me over
to those whom I cannot withstand.(N)
15 The Lord has rejected
all my warriors in the midst of me;
he proclaimed a time against me
to crush my young men;
the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter Judah.(O)
16 For these things I weep;
my eyes[e] flow with tears;
for a comforter is far from me,
one to revive my courage;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.(P)
17 Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is no one to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should become his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.(Q)
18 The Lord is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and behold my suffering;
my young women and young men
have gone into captivity.(R)
19 I called to my lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city
while seeking food
to revive their lives.(S)
20 Look, O Lord, at how distressed I am;
my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.(T)
21 They heard how I was groaning,
with no one to comfort me.
All my enemies heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
Bring on the day that you have announced,
and let them be as I am.(U)
22 Let all their evildoing come before you,
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for my groans are many,
and my heart is faint.(V)
God’s Warnings Fulfilled
2 How the Lord in his anger
has humiliated[f] daughter Zion!
He has thrown down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.(W)
2 The Lord has destroyed without mercy
all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has broken down
the strongholds of daughter Judah;
he has brought down to the ground in dishonor
the kingdom and its rulers.(X)
3 He has cut down in fierce anger
all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn his right hand from them
in the face of the enemy;
he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.(Y)
4 He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set like a foe;
he has killed all those
in whom we took pride
in the tent of daughter Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.(Z)
5 The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has destroyed Israel.
He has destroyed all its palaces,
laid in ruins its strongholds,
and multiplied in daughter Judah
mourning and lamentation.(AA)
6 He has broken down his booth like a garden;
he has destroyed his tabernacle;
the Lord has abolished in Zion
festival and Sabbath
and in his fierce indignation has spurned
king and priest.(AB)
7 The Lord has scorned his altar,
disowned his sanctuary;
he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
a clamor was raised in the house of the Lord
as on a day of festival.(AC)
8 The Lord determined to lay in ruins
the wall of daughter Zion;
he stretched the line;
he did not withhold his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to lament;
they languish together.(AD)
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
he has ruined and broken her bars;
her king and princes are among the nations;
guidance is no more,
and her prophets obtain
no vision from the Lord.(AE)
10 The elders of daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have thrown dust on their heads;
they put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.(AF)
11 My eyes are spent with weeping;
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out on the ground
because of the destruction of my people,[g]
because infants and babes faint
in the streets of the city.(AG)
12 They cry to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosoms.(AH)
13 What can I say for you, to what compare you,
O daughter Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter Zion?
For vast as the sea is your ruin;
who can heal you?(AI)
14 Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes
but have seen oracles for you
that are false and misleading.(AJ)
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
at daughter Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?”(AK)
16 All your enemies
open their mouths against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We have devoured her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
at last we have seen it!”(AL)
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out his threat;
as he ordained long ago,
he has demolished without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the might of your foes.(AM)
18 Cry aloud[h] to the Lord!
O wall of daughter Zion!
Let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!(AN)
19 Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.(AO)
20 Look, O Lord, and consider!
To whom have you done this?
Should women eat their offspring,
the children they have borne?
Should priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?(AP)
21 The young and the old are lying
on the ground in the streets;
my young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
in the day of your anger you have killed them,
slaughtering without mercy.(AQ)
22 You invited my enemies from all around
as if for a day of festival;
and on the day of the anger of the Lord,
no one escaped or survived;
those whom I bore and reared,
my enemy has destroyed.(AR)
God’s Steadfast Love Endures
3 I am one who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s[i] wrath;(AS)
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 against me alone he turns his hand,
again and again, all day long.(AT)
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;(AU)
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me sit in darkness
like the dead of long ago.(AV)
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has put heavy chains on me;(AW)
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;(AX)
9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;(AY)
11 he led me off my way and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
12 he bent his bow and set me
as a mark for his arrow.(AZ)
13 He shot into my vitals
the arrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the laughingstock of all my people,
the object of their taunt songs all day long.(BA)
15 He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel;
he has made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “Gone is my glory
and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.”
19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!(BB)
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.(BC)
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,[j]
his mercies never come to an end;(BD)
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(BE)
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”(BF)
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.(BG)
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.(BH)
27 It is good for one to bear
the yoke in youth,(BI)
28 to sit alone in silence
when the Lord[k] has imposed it,(BJ)
29 to put one’s mouth to the dust
(there may yet be hope),
30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter
and be filled with insults.(BK)
31 For the Lord will not
reject forever.(BL)
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;(BM)
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve anyone.(BN)
34 When all the prisoners of the land
are crushed under foot,
35 when justice is perverted
in the presence of the Most High,(BO)
36 when one’s case is subverted—
does the Lord not see it?(BP)
37 Who can command and have it done,
if the Lord has not ordained it?(BQ)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that evil and good come?(BR)
39 Why should any who draw breath complain
about the punishment of their sins?(BS)
40 Let us test and examine our ways
and return to the Lord.(BT)
41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
to God in heaven.(BU)
42 We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.(BV)
43 You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
killing without pity;(BW)
44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us filth and rubbish
among the peoples.(BX)
46 All our enemies
have opened their mouths against us;(BY)
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction.(BZ)
48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of my people.[l]
49 My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,(CA)
50 until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.(CB)
51 My eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the young women in my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
have hunted me like a bird;(CC)
53 they flung me alive into a pit
and hurled stones on me;(CD)
54 water closed over my head;
I said, “I am lost.”(CE)
55 I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;(CF)
56 you heard my plea, “Do not close your ear
to my cry for help, but give me relief!”(CG)
57 You came near when I called on you;
you said, “Do not fear!”(CH)
58 You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
you have redeemed my life.(CI)
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their malice,
all their plots against me.(CJ)
61 You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all their plots against me.
62 The whispers and murmurs of my assailants
are against me all day long.
63 Whether they sit or rise—see,
I am the object of their taunt songs.
64 Pay them back for their deeds, O Lord,
according to the work of their hands!
65 Give them anguish of heart;
your curse be on them!
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the Lord’s heavens.(CK)
The Punishment of Zion
4 How the gold has grown dim;
how the pure gold is changed!
The sacred stones lie scattered
at the head of every street.
2 The precious children of Zion,
worth their weight in fine gold—
how they are reckoned as earthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!(CL)
3 Even the jackals offer the breast
and nurse their young,
but my people has become cruel,
like the ostriches in the wilderness.(CM)
4 The tongue of the infant sticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
the children beg for food,
but there is nothing for them.(CN)
5 Those who feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
those who were brought up in purple
cling to ash heaps.
6 For the chastisement of my people has been greater
than the punishment of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment,
though no hand was laid on it.[m](CO)
7 Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
their form cut like sapphire.[n](CP)
8 Now their visage is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.(CQ)
9 Happier were those pierced by the sword
than those pierced by hunger,
whose life drains away, deprived
of the produce of the field.(CR)
10 The hands of compassionate women
have boiled their own children;
they became their food
in the destruction of my people.(CS)
11 The Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger
and kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.(CT)
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.(CU)
13 It was for the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed the blood of the righteous
in her midst.(CV)
14 Blindly they wandered through the streets,
so defiled with blood
that no one was able
to touch their garments.(CW)
15 “Away! Unclean!” people shouted at them;
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
it was said among the nations,
“They shall stay here no longer.”(CX)
16 The Lord himself has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
no honor was shown to the priests,
no favor to the elders.(CY)
17 Our eyes failed, ever watching
vainly for help;
we were watching eagerly
for a nation that could not save.(CZ)
18 They dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
our end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.(DA)
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.(DB)
20 The Lord’s anointed, the breath of our life,
was taken in their pits—
the one of whom we said, “Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”(DC)
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter Edom,
you that live in the land of Uz;
but to you also the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.(DD)
22 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;
but your iniquity, O daughter Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.(DE)
A Plea for Mercy
5 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
look, and see our disgrace!(DF)
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to aliens.(DG)
3 We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink;
the wood we get must be bought.
5 With a yoke[o] on our necks we are hard driven;
we are weary; we are given no rest.(DH)
6 We have made a pact with[p] Egypt and Assyria
to get enough bread.(DI)
7 Our ancestors sinned; they are no more,
and we bear their iniquities.(DJ)
8 Slaves rule over us;
there is no one to deliver us from their hand.(DK)
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin is black as an oven
from the scorching heat of famine.(DL)
11 Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the towns of Judah.(DM)
12 Princes are hung up by their hands;
no respect is shown to the elders.(DN)
13 Young men are compelled to grind,
and boys stagger under loads of wood.(DO)
14 The old men have left the city gate,
the young men their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased;
our dancing has been turned to mourning.(DP)
16 The crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts are sick;
because of these things our eyes have grown dim:(DQ)
18 because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate;
jackals prowl over it.
19 But you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures to all generations.(DR)
20 Why have you forgotten us completely?
Why have you forsaken us these many days?(DS)
21 Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored;
renew our days as of old—(DT)
22 unless you have utterly rejected us
and are angry with us beyond measure.(DU)
Footnotes
- 1.4 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 1.7 Q ms: MT adds in the days of her affliction and wandering
- 1.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 1.14 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 1.16 Heb my eye, my eye
- 2.1 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 2.11 Heb the daughter of my people
- 2.18 Cn: Heb Their heart cried
- 3.1 Heb his
- 3.22 Syr Tg: Heb Lord, we are not cut off
- 3.28 Heb he
- 3.48 Heb the daughter of my people
- 4.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 4.7 Or lapis lazuli
- 5.5 Symmachus: Heb lacks With a yoke
- 5.6 Heb have given the hand to
Lamentations 1-5
New International Version
Lamentations 1-5
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.
21 Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
you who live in the land of Uz.(KN)
But to you also the cup(KO) will be passed;
you will be drunk and stripped naked.(KP)
22 Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion;(KQ)
he will not prolong your exile.
But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom,
and expose your wickedness.(KR)
5 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
look, and see our disgrace.(KS)
2 Our inheritance(KT) has been turned over to strangers,(KU)
our homes(KV) to foreigners.(KW)
3 We have become fatherless,
our mothers are widows.(KX)
4 We must buy the water we drink;(KY)
our wood can be had only at a price.(KZ)
5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;
we are weary(LA) and find no rest.(LB)
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria(LC)
to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors(LD) sinned and are no more,
and we bear their punishment.(LE)
8 Slaves(LF) rule over us,
and there is no one to free us from their hands.(LG)
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven,
feverish from hunger.(LH)
11 Women have been violated(LI) in Zion,
and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands;
elders(LJ) are shown no respect.(LK)
13 Young men toil at the millstones;
boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The elders are gone from the city gate;
the young men have stopped their music.(LL)
15 Joy is gone from our hearts;
our dancing has turned to mourning.(LM)
16 The crown(LN) has fallen from our head.(LO)
Woe to us, for we have sinned!(LP)
17 Because of this our hearts(LQ) are faint,(LR)
because of these things our eyes(LS) grow dim(LT)
18 for Mount Zion,(LU) which lies desolate,(LV)
with jackals prowling over it.
19 You, Lord, reign forever;(LW)
your throne endures(LX) from generation to generation.
20 Why do you always forget us?(LY)
Why do you forsake(LZ) us so long?
21 Restore(MA) us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
renew our days as of old
22 unless you have utterly rejected us(MB)
and are angry with us beyond measure.(MC)
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.
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.