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Under the Wrath of the Lord[a]

How the Lord, in his anger, has covered the daughter of Zion with a dark cloud!

    He threw down the beauty of Israel from heaven to earth.
    He did not remember his footstool[b] in the day of his anger.
The Lord swallowed up and did not spare the pastures[c] of Jacob.
    In his fury he tore down the fortifications of the daughter of Judah.
    He brought them down to the ground. He brought dishonor to the kingdom and its officials.
He completely chopped off the horn[d] of Israel in burning anger.
    He withdrew his right hand in the presence of the enemy.
    He burned in Jacob like a flaming fire, which consumed all around.
He bent his bow like an enemy. His right hand was ready like a foe,
    and he killed everyone who was precious in his eyes.
    On the tent of the daughter of Zion, he poured out his wrath like fire.
The Lord was like an enemy. He swallowed up Israel.
    He swallowed up all her citadels. He left her fortresses in ruins.
    He increased mourning and lamenting for the daughter of Judah.
He dealt violently with his shelter like a shed in a garden.[e] He ruined his meeting place.
    The Lord has caused the appointed assembly and the Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion.
    In his indignation and anger he showed contempt for king and priest.
The Lord rejected his altar. He abandoned his holy place.
    He delivered her walls and palaces into the hand of the enemy.
    They gave a shout in the House of the Lord,
    like that on the day of an appointed assembly.
The Lord had in mind to ruin the wall of the daughter of Zion.
    He stretched out a measuring line. He did not restrain his hand from swallowing her up.
    He made its rampart and wall mourn. Together they became weak.
Her gates have sunk down to the ground. He destroyed and shattered her bars.
    Her king and her officials are exiled among the nations. There is no law.
    Even her prophets have not received a vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and are silent.
    They throw dust on their heads and put on sackcloth.
    The virgins of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes are worn out with tears. I am troubled in my heart.
    I am emotionally drained[f] over the breaking of the daughter of my people,
    while children and infants grow weak in the public squares of the city.
12 They ask their mothers, “Where are the grain and wine?”
    while they faint in the public squares of the city, like someone wounded,
    while they take their last breath in their mothers’ laps.
13 What testimony can I give on your behalf?
    What can I compare to you, daughter of Jerusalem?
    What can I place next to you, so that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion?
    Your wound is as wide as the sea. Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets saw visions for you, but they were empty and worthless.
    They did not reveal your guilt, in order to turn away your captivity.
    They saw oracles for you that were empty and misleading.
15 All who passed by clapped their hands over you.
    They hissed and shook their head over the daughter of Jerusalem:
    “Is this the city that was said to be the perfection of beauty,
    the joy of the whole earth?”
16 All your enemies opened their mouth against you.
    They hissed and gnashed their teeth. They said, “We swallowed her up.
    Yes, this is the day we were waiting for. We found it. We saw it.”
17 The Lord has done what he planned. He carried out his word,
    which he commanded long ago. He tore down and did not spare.
    He let the enemy rejoice over you. He raised up the horn of your foes.
18 Their heart cried out to the Lord.
    O wall of the daughter of Zion,
    let your tears flow like a torrent, day and night.
    Do not let yourself become numb. Do not let your eye stop crying.
19 Get up! Shout out during the night, as the night watches begin!
    Pour out your heart like water before the Lord’s face.
    Lift up your hands to him to pray for the life of your children,
    who are faint with hunger at every street corner.
20 Look, Lord, and see! With whom have you dealt so harshly?
    Should women eat the children they produced,
    the children they played with on their knee?
    Should priest and prophet be killed in the Lord’s holy place?
21 In the streets young and old lie dead on the ground.
    My virgins and my best young men have fallen by the sword.
    You killed them on the day of your anger. You slaughtered and did not spare.
22 As you do on a day of assembly, you summoned from every side the things I dread.
    On the day of the Lord’s anger, there was no one who escaped or survived.
    The enemy destroyed the children I played with on my knee and raised.[g]

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 2:1 This chapter is an alphabetic acrostic. The 22 successive verses begin with the 22 successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
  2. Lamentations 2:1 That is, the Ark of the Covenant
  3. Lamentations 2:2 Or dwelling places
  4. Lamentations 2:3 The horn is a symbol of power and often refers to the king.
  5. Lamentations 2:6 Literally like a garden
  6. Lamentations 2:11 The Hebrew reads my liver is poured out to the ground.
  7. Lamentations 2:22 The verse is difficult.

[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)

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.

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)

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.

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)

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)

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)

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)

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.”

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 2:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
  2. Lamentations 2:1 Or How the Lord in his anger / has treated Daughter Zion with contempt
  3. Lamentations 2:3 Or off / all the strength; or every king
  4. Lamentations 2:3 Horn here symbolizes strength.
  5. Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.