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
The Prophet Speaks Out: the LORD Destroyed Zion
1 # 2:1 Chapter 2 is a poem in Hebrew alphabetical order. “Look how the Lord has covered the people of Zion
with the cloud of his anger!
He has thrown down Israel’s beauty from heaven to earth.
He didn’t ⌞even⌟ remember his footstool on the day of his anger.
2The Lord swallowed up all of Jacob’s pastures without any pity.
He tore down the fortified cities of Judah in his fury.
He brought the kingdom ⌞of Judah⌟ and its leaders
down to the ground in dishonor.
3In his burning anger he cut off all of Israel’s strength.
He withdrew his right hand when they faced their enemy.
He burned like a raging fire in ⌞the land of⌟ Jacob,
destroying everything around him.
4Like an enemy he bent his bow.
Like an opponent his right hand held the arrow steady.
He killed all the beautiful people.
He poured out his fury like fire on the tent of Zion’s people.
5The Lord became an enemy.
He swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all of its palaces.
He destroyed its strongholds.
He made the people of Judah mourn and moan.
6He stripped his own booth as if it were a garden
and destroyed his own festivals.
The Lord wiped out the memory of festivals and days of rest—holy days—in Zion.
He expelled kings and priests because of his fierce anger.
7The Lord rejected his altar and disowned his holy place.
He handed the walls of Zion’s palaces over to its enemies.
The enemies made noise in the Lord’s temple
as though it were a festival day.
8The Lord planned to destroy the wall of Zion’s people.
He marked it off with a line.
He didn’t take his hand away until he had swallowed it up.
He made the towers and walls mourn.
They are completely dejected.
The Prophet Describes Jerusalem’s Destruction
9“⌞Zion’s⌟ gates have sunk into the ground.
⌞The Lord⌟ destroyed and shattered the bars across its ⌞gates⌟.
Its king and influential people are ⌞scattered⌟ among the nations.
There is no longer any instruction ⌞from Moses’ Teachings⌟.
Its prophets can find no visions from the Lord.
10The respected leaders of Zion’s people sit silently on the ground.
They throw dirt on their heads and put on sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
11My eyes are worn out with tears.
My stomach is churning.
My heart is poured out on the ground
because of the destruction of my people.
Little children and infants faint in the city streets.
12They’re asking their mothers for some bread and wine
as they faint like wounded people in the city streets.
Their lives dwindle away in their mothers’ arms.
The Prophet Speaks Out: the LORD Destroyed You
13“What example can I give you?
What parallel can I show you, people of Jerusalem?
What comparison can I make that will comfort you, beloved people of Zion?
Your wounds are as deep as the sea.
Who can heal you?
14Your prophets saw misleading visions about you.
They painted a good picture of you.
They didn’t expose your guilt in order to make things better again.
They gave you false prophecies that misled you.
15Everyone who walks along the road shakes a fist at you.
They hiss and shake their heads at Jerusalem’s people:
‘Is this the city they used to call absolutely beautiful,
the joy of the whole world?’
16All your enemies gawk at you.
They hiss and grit their teeth.
They say, ‘We’ve swallowed it up.
Yes, this is the day we’ve been waiting for.
At last we have seen it!’
17The Lord has accomplished what he had planned to do.
He carried out the threat he announced long ago.
He tore you down without any pity, ⌞Jerusalem⌟.
He made your enemies gloat over you.
He raised the weapons of your opponents.
18The hearts of Jerusalem’s people
cried out to the Lord, the wall of Zion’s people.
Let your tears run down like a river day and night.
Don’t let them stop.
Don’t let your eyes rest.
19Get up! Cry out at night, every hour on the hour.
Pour your heart out like water in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him ⌞in prayer⌟
for the life of your little children
who faint from hunger at every street corner.”
Zion Speaks Out: the LORD Destroyed Me
20“O Lord, look and consider:
Have you ever treated anyone like this?
Should women eat their own children,
the children they have nursed?
Should priests and prophets be killed in the Lord’s holy place?
21Young and old lie on the ground in the streets.
My young women and men are cut down by swords.
You killed them on the day of your anger.
You slaughtered them without any pity.
22You have invited those who terrorize me on every side,
as though they were invited to a festival.
No one escaped or survived on the day of the Lord’s anger.
My enemy has murdered the children I nursed and raised.”
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