Lamentations 2
2
The Lord Was Like an Enemy
The Prophet Speaks:
1The Lord was angry!
So he disgraced#2.1 disgraced: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Zion
though it was Israel's pride
and his own place of rest.
In his anger he threw Zion down
from heaven to earth.
2The Lord had no mercy!
He destroyed the homes
of Jacob's descendants.
In his anger he tore down
every walled city in Judah;
he toppled the nation
together with its leaders,
leaving them in shame.
3The Lord was so furiously angry
that he wiped out
the whole army#2.3 army: The Hebrew text has “horn,” which refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Palestine. of Israel
by not supporting them
when the enemy attacked.
He was like a raging fire
that swallowed up
the descendants of Jacob.
4He attacked like an enemy
with a bow and arrows,
killing our loved ones.
He has burned to the ground
the homes on Mount Zion.#2.4 the homes on Mount Zion: Or “the temple on Mount Zion.”
5The Lord was like an enemy!
He left Israel in ruins
with its palaces
and fortresses destroyed,
and with everyone in Judah
moaning and weeping.
6He shattered his temple
like a hut in a garden;#2.6 He … garden: Or “He shattered the temple walls, as if they were the walls of a garden.”
he completely wiped out
his meeting place,
and did away with festivals
and Sabbaths
in the city of Zion.
In his fierce anger he rejected
our king and priests.
7The Lord abandoned his altar
and his temple;
he let Zion's enemies
capture her fortresses.
Noisy shouts were heard
from the temple,
as if it were a time
of celebration.
8The Lord had decided
to tear down the walls of Zion
stone by stone.
So he started destroying
and did not stop
until walls and fortresses
mourned and trembled.
9Zion's gates have fallen
facedown on the ground;
the bars that locked the gates
are smashed to pieces.
Her king and royal family
are prisoners
in foreign lands.
Her priests don't teach,
and her prophets don't have
a message from the Lord.
10Zion's leaders are silent.
They just sit on the ground,
tossing dirt on their heads
and wearing sackcloth.
Her young women can do nothing
but stare at the ground.
11My eyes are red from crying,
my stomach is in knots,
and I feel sick all over.
My people are being wiped out,
and children lie helpless
in the streets of the city.
12A child begs its mother
for food and drink,
then blacks out
like a wounded soldier
lying in the street.
The child slowly dies
in its mother's arms.
13Zion, how can I comfort you?
How great is your pain?#2.13 How great … pain: Or “What are you really like?” or “What can I say about you?”
Lovely city of Jerusalem,
how can I heal your wounds,
gaping as wide as the sea?
14Your prophets deceived you
with false visions
and lying messages—
they should have warned you
to leave your sins
and be saved from disaster.
15Those who pass by
shake their heads and sneer
as they make fun and shout,
“What a lovely city you were,
the happiest on earth,
but look at you now!”
16Zion, your enemies curse you
and snarl like wild animals,
while shouting,
“This is the day
we've waited for!
At last, we've got you!”
17The Lord has done everything
that he had planned
and threatened long ago.
He destroyed you without mercy
and let your enemies boast
about their powerful forces.#2.17 powerful forces: The Hebrew text has “horn,” which refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Palestine.
18Zion, deep in your heart
you cried out to the Lord.
Now let your tears overflow
your walls day and night.
Don't ever lose hope
or let your tears stop.
19Get up and pray for help
all through the night.
Pour out your feelings
to the Lord,
as you would pour water
out of a jug.
Beg him to save your people,
who are starving to death
at every street crossing.
Jerusalem Speaks:
20Think about it, Lord!
Have you ever been this cruel
to anyone before?
Is it right for mothers
to eat their children,
or for priests and prophets
to be killed in your temple?
21My people, both young and old,
lie dead in the streets.
Because you were angry,
my young men and women
were brutally slaughtered.
22When you were angry, Lord,
you invited my enemies
like guests for a party.
No one survived that day;
enemies killed my children,
my own little ones.
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Lamentations 2: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Lamentations 2
2
God’s anger toward Jerusalem
1Oh, no!
In anger, my Lord put Daughter Zion under a cloud;#2.1 Heb uncertain
he threw Israel’s glory from heaven down to earth.
On that day of wrath, he didn’t consider his own footstool.
2Showing no compassion, my Lord devoured each of Jacob’s meadows;
in his wrath he tore down the walled cities of Daughter Judah.
The kingdom and its officials, he forced to the ground, shamed.
3In his burning rage, he cut off each of Israel’s horns;
right in front of the enemy, he withdrew his strong hand;
he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire that ate up everything nearby.
4He bent his bow as an enemy would; his strong hand was poised like an adversary.
He killed every precious thing in sight;
he poured out his wrath like fire on Daughter Zion’s tent.
5My Lord has become like an enemy. He devoured Israel;
he devoured all her palaces; he made ruins of her city walls.
In Daughter Judah he multiplied mourning along with more mourning!
6He wrecked his own booth like a garden; he destroyed his place for festivals.
The LORD made Zion forget both festival and sabbath;
in his fierce rage, he scorned both monarch and priest.
7My Lord rejected his altar, he abandoned his sanctuary;
he handed Zion’s palace walls over to enemies.
They shouted in the LORD’s own house as if it were a festival day.
8The LORD planned to destroy Daughter Zion’s wall.
He stretched out a measuring line, didn’t stop himself from devouring.
He made barricades and walls wither—together they wasted away.
9Zion’s gates sank into the ground; he broke and shattered her bars;
her king and her officials are now among the nations. There is no Instruction!#2.9 Heb Torah
Even her prophets couldn’t find a vision from the LORD.
10Daughter Zion’s elders sit on the ground and mourn.
They throw dust on their heads; they put on mourning clothes.
Jerusalem’s young women bow their heads all the way to the ground.
11My eyes are worn out from weeping; my stomach is churning.
My insides are poured on the ground because the daughter of my people is shattered,
because children and babies are fainting in the city streets.
12They say to their mothers, “Where are grain and wine?”
while fainting like the wounded in the city streets,
while their lives are draining away at their own mothers’ breasts.
13What can I testify about you, Daughter Jerusalem?#2.13 Or How can I warn you? or To what could I liken you?; Heb uncertain To what could I compare you?
With what could I equate you? How can I comfort you, young woman Daughter Zion?
Your hurt is as vast as the sea. Who can heal you?
14Your prophets gave you worthless and empty visions.
They didn’t reveal your sin so as to prevent your captivity.
Instead, they showed you worthless and incorrect prophecies.
15All who pass by on the road clap their hands about you;
they whistle, shaking their heads at Daughter Jerusalem:
“Could this be the city called Perfect Beauty, the Joy of All the Earth?”
16All your enemies open wide their mouths against you;
they whistle, grinding their teeth. They say, “We have devoured!
This is definitely the day we’ve been waiting for. We’ve seen it come to pass.”
17The LORD did what he had planned. He accomplished the word
that he had commanded long ago. He ripped down, showing no compassion.
He made the enemy rejoice over you; he raised up your adversaries’ horn.
18Cry out to my Lord from the heart,#2.18 Correction; or their heart cried out to my Lord you wall of Daughter Zion;
make your#2.18 Heb lacks your. tears run down like a flood all day and night.
Don’t relax at all; don’t rest your eyes a moment.
19Get up and cry out at nighttime, at the start of the night shift; pour out your heart before my Lord like water.
Lift your hands up to him for the life of your children—
the ones who are fainting from hunger on every street corner.
20 LORD, look and see to whom you have done this!
Should women eat their own offspring, their own beautiful babies?
Should priest and prophet be killed in my Lord’s own sanctuary?
21Young and old alike lie on the ground in the streets;
my young women and young men fall dead by the sword.
On the day of your anger, you killed; you slaughtered, showing no compassion.
22You invited—as if to a festival!—terrors#2.22 Correction; or my attackers from every side.
On the day of the LORD’s anger, no one escaped, not one survived.
The children that I nurtured, that I raised myself, my enemy finished them off.
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