10 The elders of Daughter Zion
    sit on the ground in silence;(A)
they have sprinkled dust(B) on their heads(C)
    and put on sackcloth.(D)
The young women of Jerusalem
    have bowed their heads to the ground.(E)

11 My eyes fail from weeping,(F)
    I am in torment within(G);
my heart(H) is poured out(I) on the ground
    because my people are destroyed,(J)
because children and infants faint(K)
    in the streets of the city.

12 They say to their mothers,
    “Where is bread and wine?”(L)
as they faint like the wounded
    in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away(M)
    in their mothers’ arms.(N)

13 What can I say for you?(O)
    With what can I compare you,
    Daughter(P) Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
    that I may comfort you,
    Virgin Daughter Zion?(Q)
Your wound is as deep as the sea.(R)
    Who can heal you?

14 The visions of your prophets
    were false(S) and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
    to ward off your captivity.(T)
The prophecies they gave you
    were false and misleading.(U)

15 All who pass your way
    clap their hands at you;(V)
they scoff(W) and shake their heads(X)
    at Daughter Jerusalem:(Y)
“Is this the city that was called
    the perfection of beauty,(Z)
    the joy of the whole earth?”(AA)

16 All your enemies open their mouths
    wide against you;(AB)
they scoff and gnash their teeth(AC)
    and say, “We have swallowed her up.(AD)
This is the day we have waited for;
    we have lived to see it.”(AE)

17 The Lord has done what he planned;
    he has fulfilled(AF) his word,
    which he decreed long ago.(AG)
He has overthrown you without pity,(AH)
    he has let the enemy gloat over you,(AI)
    he has exalted the horn[a] of your foes.(AJ)

18 The hearts of the people
    cry out to the Lord.(AK)
You walls of Daughter Zion,(AL)
    let your tears(AM) flow like a river
    day and night;(AN)
give yourself no relief,
    your eyes no rest.(AO)

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.

Idol Feasts and the Lord’s Supper

14 Therefore, my dear friends,(A) flee from idolatry.(B) 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break(C) a participation in the body of Christ?(D) 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body,(E) for we all share the one loaf.

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Idol Feasts and the Lord’s Supper

14 Therefore, my dear friends,(A) flee from idolatry.(B) 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break(C) a participation in the body of Christ?(D) 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body,(E) for we all share the one loaf.

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12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit,(A) try to excel in those that build up(B) the church.

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.(C) 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays,(D) but my mind is unfruitful. 15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit,(E) but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing(F) with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer,[a] say “Amen”(G) to your thanksgiving,(H) since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.(I)

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.(J)

20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children.(K) In regard to evil be infants,(L) but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law(M) it is written:

“With other tongues
    and through the lips of foreigners
I will speak to this people,
    but even then they will not listen to me,(N)
says the Lord.”[b]

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy,(O) however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?(P) 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets(Q) of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”(R)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 14:16 The Greek word for inquirer is a technical term for someone not fully initiated into a religion; also in verses 23 and 24.
  2. 1 Corinthians 14:21 Isaiah 28:11,12

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