Lamentations 1
1
Lonely Jerusalem
The Prophet Speaks:
1 #
Ba 4.12. Jerusalem, once so crowded,
lies deserted and lonely.
This city that was known
all over the world
is now like a widow.
This queen of the nations
has been made a slave.
2Each night, bitter tears
flood her cheeks.
None of her former lovers
are there to offer comfort;
her friends#1.2 lovers … friends: Israel's former allies. have betrayed her
and are now her enemies.
3The people of Judah are slaves,
suffering in a foreign land,
with no rest from sorrow.
Their enemies captured them
and were terribly cruel.#1.3 Their … cruel: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
4The roads to Zion mourn
because no one travels there
to celebrate the festivals.
The city gates are deserted;
priests are weeping.
Young women are raped;#1.4 raped: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Zion is in sorrow!
5Enemies now rule the city
and live as they please.
The Lord has punished Jerusalem
because of her awful sins;
he has let her people
be dragged away.
6Zion's glory has disappeared.
Her leaders are like deer
that cannot find pasture;
they are hunted down
till their strength is gone.
7Her people recall the good life
that once was theirs;
now they suffer
and are scattered.
No one was there to protect them
from their enemies who sneered
when their city was taken.
8Jerusalem's horrible sins
have made the city a joke.
Those who once admired her
now hate her instead—
she has been disgraced;
she groans and turns away.
9Her sins had made her filthy,
but she wasn't worried
about what could happen.
And when Jerusalem fell,
it was so tragic.
No one gave her comfort
when she cried out,
“Help! I'm in trouble, Lord!
The enemy has won.”
10Zion's treasures were stolen.
Jerusalem saw foreigners
enter her place of worship,
though the Lord
had forbidden them
to belong to his people.#1.10 to … people: Or “to enter his temple.”
11Everyone in the city groans
while searching for food;
they trade their valuables
for barely enough scraps
to stay alive.
Jerusalem Speaks:
Jerusalem shouts to the Lord,
“Please look and see
how miserable I am!”
12No passerby even cares.#1.12 No … cares: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Why doesn't someone notice
my terrible sufferings?
You were fiercely angry, Lord,
and you punished me
worst of all.
13From heaven you sent a fire
that burned in my bones;
you set a trap for my feet
and made me turn back.
All day long you leave me
in shock from constant pain.
14You have tied my sins
around my neck,#1.14 You … neck: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and they weigh so heavily
that my strength is gone.
You have put me in the power
of enemies too strong for me.
15You, Lord, have turned back
my warriors and crushed
my young heroes.
Judah was a woman untouched,
but you let her be trampled
like grapes in a wine pit.
16Because of this, I mourn,
and tears flood my eyes.
No one is here to comfort
or to encourage me;
we have lost the war—
my people are suffering.
The Prophet Speaks:
17Zion reaches out her hands,
but no one offers comfort.
The Lord has turned
the neighboring nations
against Jacob's descendants.
Jerusalem is merely a filthy rag
to her neighbors.
Jerusalem Speaks:
18The Lord was right,
but I refused to obey him.
Now I ask all of you to look
at my sufferings—
even my young people
have been dragged away.
19I called out to my lovers,
but they betrayed me.
My priests and my leaders died
while searching the city
for scraps of food.
20Won't you look and see
how upset I am, our Lord?
My stomach is in knots,
and my heart is broken
because I betrayed you.
In the streets and at home,
my people are slaughtered.
21Everyone heard my groaning,
but no one offered comfort.
My enemies know of the trouble
that you have brought on me,
and it makes them glad.
Hurry and punish them,
as you have promised.
22Don't let their evil deeds
escape your sight.
Punish them as much
as you have punished me
because of my sins.
I never stop groaning—
I've lost all hope!
Currently Selected:
Lamentations 1: CEVDCI
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Lamentations 1
1
Jerusalem in Affliction
1How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
#Is. 47:7–9How like a widow is she,
Who was great among the nations!
The #1 Kin. 4:21; Ezra 4:20; Jer. 31:7princess among the provinces
Has become a slave!
2She #Jer. 13:17weeps bitterly in the #Job 7:3night,
Her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers
She has none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
3#Jer. 52:27Judah has gone into captivity,
Under affliction and hard servitude;
#Lam. 2:9She dwells among the nations,
She finds no #Deut. 28:65rest;
All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.
4The roads to Zion mourn
Because no one comes to the set feasts.
All her gates are #Is. 27:10desolate;
Her priests sigh,
Her virgins are afflicted,
And she is in bitterness.
5Her adversaries #Deut. 28:43have become the master,
Her enemies prosper;
For the Lord has afflicted her
#Jer. 30:14, 15; Dan. 9:7, 16Because of the multitude of her transgressions.
Her #Jer. 52:28children have gone into captivity before the enemy.
6And from the daughter of Zion
All her splendor has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
That find no pasture,
That flee without strength
Before the pursuer.
7In the days of her affliction and roaming,
Jerusalem #Ps. 137:1remembers all her pleasant things
That she had in the days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
With no one to help her,
The adversaries saw her
And mocked at her downfall.
8#(1 Kin. 8:46)Jerusalem has sinned gravely,
Therefore she has become vile.
All who honored her despise her
Because #Jer. 13:22; Ezek. 16:37; Hos. 2:10they have seen her nakedness;
Yes, she sighs and turns away.
9Her uncleanness is in her skirts;
She #Deut. 32:29; Is. 47:7; Jer. 5:31did not consider her destiny;
Therefore her collapse was awesome;
She had no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
For the enemy is exalted!”
10The adversary has spread his hand
Over all her pleasant things;
For she has seen #Ps. 74:4–8; Is. 64:10, 11; Jer. 51:51the nations enter her sanctuary,
Those whom You commanded
#Deut. 23:3; Neh. 13:1Not to enter Your assembly.
11All her people sigh,
#Jer. 38:9; 52:6They seek bread;
They have given their valuables for food to restore life.
“See, O Lord, and consider,
For I am scorned.”
12“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Behold and see
#Dan. 9:12If there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
Which has been brought on me,
Which the Lord has inflicted
In the day of His fierce anger.
13“From above He has sent fire into my bones,
And it overpowered them;
He has #Ezek. 12:13; 17:20spread a net for my feet
And turned me back;
He has made me desolate
And faint all the day.
14“The#Deut. 28:48 yoke of my transgressions was bound;
They were woven together by His hands,
And thrust upon my neck.
He made my strength fail;
The Lord delivered me into the hands of those whom I am not able to withstand.
15“The Lord has trampled underfoot all my mighty men in my midst;
He has called an assembly against me
To crush my young men;
#Is. 63:3; (Rev. 14:19)The Lord trampled as in a winepress
The virgin daughter of Judah.
16“For these things I weep;
My eye, #Ps. 69:20; Eccl. 4:1; Jer. 13:17; Lam. 2:18my eye overflows with water;
Because the comforter, who should restore my life,
Is far from me.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy prevailed.”
17#(Is. 1:15); Jer. 4:31Zion spreads out her hands,
But no one comforts her;
The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob
That those #2 Kin. 24:2–4; Jer. 12:9around him become his adversaries;
Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
18“The Lord is #Neh. 9:33; Ps. 119:75; Dan. 9:7, 14righteous,
For I #1 Sam. 12:14, 15; Jer. 4:17rebelled against His commandment.
Hear now, all peoples,
And behold my sorrow;
My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
19“I called for my lovers,
But they deceived me;
My priests and my elders
Breathed their last in the city,
While they sought food
To restore their life.
20“See, O Lord, that I am in distress;
My #Job 30:27; Is. 16:11; Jer. 4:19; Lam. 2:11; Hos. 11:8soul is troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very rebellious.
#Deut. 32:25; Ezek. 7:15Outside the sword bereaves,
At home it is like death.
21“They have heard that I sigh,
But no one comforts me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
They are #Ps. 35:15; Jer. 48:27; 50:11; Lam. 2:15; Obad. 12glad that You have done it.
Bring on #Is. 13; (Jer. 46)the day You have announced,
That they may become like me.
22“Let#Neh. 4:4, 5; Ps. 109:15; 137:7, 8; Jer. 30:16 all their wickedness come before You,
And do to them as You have done to me
For all my transgressions;
For my sighs are many,
And my heart is faint.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.