Lamentations 1
1
Lament over Jerusalem
א Aleph
1How#1:1 The stanzas in Lm 1–4 form an acrostic. she sits alone,#Lm 3:28
the city#Lm 1:17 once crowded with people!
She who was great among the nations
has become like a widow.#Ex 22:22; Dt 10:18; 24:19–21; Is 1:17; 47:8–9
The princess among the provinces
has been put to forced labor.
ב Beth
2She weeps bitterly during the night,#Ps 6:6
with tears on her cheeks.
There is no one to offer her comfort,
not one from all her lovers.#1:2 = Jerusalem’s political allies#Jr 3:1; 22:20–22
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.
ג Gimel
3Judah has gone into exile
following#1:3 Or because of affliction and harsh slavery;
she lives among the nations
but finds no place to rest.#Dt 28:65; Ps 116:7
All her pursuers have overtaken her
in narrow places.
ד Daleth
4The roads to Zion#2Sm 5:7; Ps 20:2; Jr 51:35 mourn,
for no one comes to the appointed festivals.#Dt 16:16; 2Ch 8:13; Ps 84:5; Is 1:11–17
All her gates are deserted;
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she herself is bitter.
ה He
5Her adversaries have become her masters;#Dt 28:13,44
her enemies are at ease,#Jb 3:26; 12:6; Jr 12:1
for the Lord has made her suffer
because of her many transgressions.
Her children have gone away
as captives before the adversary.
ו Waw
6All the splendor#Ezk 27:10 has vanished
from Daughter Zion.#Lm 2:1,4,8; 4:22
Her leaders are like stags
that find no pasture;
they stumble away exhausted
before the hunter.#Jr 39:4–7
ז Zayin
7During the days of her affliction and homelessness#Is 58:7; Lm 3:19
Jerusalem remembers all her precious belongings
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the adversary’s hand,
she had no one to help.
The adversaries looked at her,
laughing over her downfall.
ח Cheth
8Jerusalem has sinned grievously;
therefore, she has become an object of scorn.#1:8 Or become impure
All who honored her now despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness.
She herself groans and turns away.
ט Teth
9Her uncleanness stains her skirts.#Jr 13:22,26; Nah 3:5
She never considered her end.
Her downfall was astonishing;#Dt 28:43
there was no one to comfort her.
Lord, look on my affliction,
for the enemy boasts.
י Yod
10The adversary has seized
all her precious belongings.
She has even seen the nations
enter her sanctuary —
those you had forbidden
to enter your assembly.#Dt 23:3; Neh 13:1–3; Ezk 44:9
כ Kaph
11All her people groan
while they search for bread.#Jr 38:9; 52:6
They have traded their precious belongings for food
in order to stay alive.#Lm 1:19; 2:20; 4:10
Lord, look and see
how I have become despised.
ל Lamed
12Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by?#Ps 89:41; Jr 22:8
Look and see!
Is there any pain like mine,
which was dealt out to me,
which the Lord made me suffer
on the day of his burning anger?#Am 5:18
מ Mem
13He sent fire from on high#Gn 19:24; Hs 8:14; Am 1:4–2:5 into my bones;
he made it descend.#1:13 DSS, LXX; MT reads bones, and it prevailed against them#1Kg 18:38; 2Kg 1:10,12; Jb 30:30; Jr 20:9
He spread a net for my feet#Ps 35:7; Is 51:20; Ezk 12:13; Hs 7:12
and turned me back.
He made me desolate,
sick all day long.
נ Nun
14My transgressions have been formed into a yoke,#1:14 Some Hb mss, LXX read He kept watch over my transgressions#1:14 Or The yoke of my transgressions is bound; Hb obscure#Gn 27:40; Lv 26:13; Dt 28:48; 2Ch 10:3–11; Is 9:4; Jr 27:2,6–11
fastened together by his hand;
they have been placed on my neck,
and the Lord has broken my strength.
He has handed me over
to those I cannot withstand.
ס Samek
15The Lord has rejected#Ps 119:118
all the mighty men within me.
He has summoned an army#1:15 Or has announced an appointed time against me
to crush my young warriors.
The Lord has trampled Virgin Daughter Judah#Lm 2:2,5
like grapes in a winepress.#Is 63:1–6; Jl 3:12–15; Rv 14:17–20; 19:15
ע Ayin
16I weep because of these things;
my eyes flow#1:16 Lit my eye, my eye flows with tears.#Jr 9:1,18; Lm 2:11,18; 3:48–49
For there is no one nearby to comfort me,#Is 40:1
no one to keep me alive.
My children are desolate
because the enemy has prevailed.
פ Pe
17Zion stretches out her hands;
there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his adversaries.
Jerusalem has become
something impure#Lv 15:19–20; Ezk 7:19–20; 18:6 among them.
צ Tsade
18The Lord is just,
for I have rebelled against his command.#Neh 9:33
Listen, all you people;
look at my pain.
My young women and young men
have gone into captivity.#Dt 28:41; 2Ch 29:9; Ezr 9:7; Jr 48:46
ק Qoph
19I called to my lovers,#Lm 1:2
but they betrayed me.
My priests and elders
perished in the city
while searching for food
to keep themselves alive.#Lm 1:11
ר Resh
20 Lord, see how I am in distress.
I am churning within;#Jb 30:27
my heart is broken,#1:20 Lit is turned within me
for I have been very rebellious.
Outside, the sword takes the children;
inside, there is death.#Dt 32:25; Ezk 7:15
שׁ Shin
21People have heard me groaning,#Lm 1:4,8
but there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my misfortune;
they are glad that you have caused it.#Lm 2:15–17
Bring on the day you have announced,
so that they may become like me.#Is 62:8–63:6; Ezk 38–39; Jl 3:1–3; Mc 7:8–13; Zch 14:1–9
ת Taw
22Let all their wickedness come before you,
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions.#Lm 4:21–22
For my groans are many,
and I am sick at heart.
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Lamentations 1
1
The Desolate City
1How desolate the city sits
that was full of people!
She has become like a widow,
once great among the nations!
Like a woman of nobility in the provinces,
she has become a forced laborer.
2She weeps bitterly in the night,
her tears are on her cheeks;
she has no comforter
among all her lovers.
All her friends have been unfaithful to her;
they have become her enemies.
3Judah has gone into exile with misery
and under hard servitude;
she lives among the nations,
she has not found a resting place;
all her pursuers have overtaken her
amidst her distress.
4The roads of Zion are mourning
because no one comes to the festival.
All her gates are desolate,
her priests groan;
her young women are worried,
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5Her foes have become her master,#Literally “head”
her enemies are at ease;
Yahweh has made her suffer
because of the greatness of her transgressions.
Her children have gone away,
captive before the foe.
6All her majesty has gone away
from the daughter of Zion;
her princes have become like young stags
that have not found pasture;
they have gone away without strength,
before the pursuer.
7Jerusalem remembers
the days of her misery and wanderings,
all her treasures
that were from the days of long ago.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
there was no one helping her;
the enemies saw her, they mocked
at her destruction.
8Jerusalem sinned grievously,
thus she became an objection of derision;
all those who honored her despise her
because they have seen her nakedness.
She herself groans
and turns away.
9Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she did not remember her future,
she has descended beyond understanding,
there is no comforter for her.
See, O Yahweh, my persecution!
My enemy has been made great!
10The enemy has stretched out his hand
over all her treasures;
for she has seen the nations,
they entered her sanctuary,
those whom you commanded not to enter
in your assembly.
11All her people groan,
they are searching for bread.
They give their treasures for food,
to bring back life.
See, O Yahweh, and look,
how I am despised.
12Is it nothing to you, all who pass by?#Literally “all who cross a road”
Look and see
if there is sorrow like my sorrow,#Or “pain like my pain”
which was dealt to me,
which Yahweh inflicted
on the day of his wrath.#Literally “on the day of the blaze of his nose”
13From heaven he sent fire,
into my bones he let it descend.
He spread out a net for my feet;
he turned me back,
he gave me devastation,
fainting all day.
14My rebellion was bound as a yoke,
with his hand it was fastened together;
it was put on my neck
and caused my strength to fail.
The Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15The Lord has rejected
all my mighty ones in my midst.
He called an assembly against me,
to crush my young men;
like in a wine press,
the Lord has trodden on
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16For these things, I am weeping,
my eyes flow with tears;#Literally “my eye my eye is going down with water”
because a comforter is far from me,
one to restore my life.
My sons are desolate
because the enemy has prevailed.
17Zion stretches out her hands;
there is no one to comfort her.
Yahweh has commanded against Jacob,
that those surrounding him#NRSV translates “his neighbors” should be his enemies;
Jerusalem has become
a defilement among them.
18Yahweh is righteous;
I have rebelled against his word.#Literally “his mouth”
Please hear, all the nations,
And see my pain;
My young women#Or “virgins” and young men
went into captivity.
19I have called to my lovers,
they themselves deceived me;
my priests and elders perished in the city
when they sought food for themselves
to revive their life.#Or “their soul”
20See, O Yahweh, that I am in distress;#Literally “there is distress for me”
my stomach#Literally “inner parts” is in torment,
my heart has turned inside me
because I have certainly rebelled.
From outside a sword brings bereavement,
inside the house it is like death.
21They hear that I was groaning;
there is no comforter for me.
All my enemies have heard my misery,
they are pleased that you have done it.
Bring that day that you have proclaimed,#Or “you have called”
And let them be like me.
22Let all their evil come before you;
and deal with them
just as you have dealt with me
because of all my crimes;
for my groaning is much and my heart is faint.
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