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!
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Lamentations 1: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Lamentations 1
1
Song of Jerusalem’s Groaning
1How lonely sits the city, once so full of people! She who was once great among the nations has become like a widow. The princess among the provinces has become a forced laborer.
2Bitterly she weeps in the night, her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers, there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her. They have become her enemies!
3Judah is gone into exile under affliction and great servitude. She dwells among the nations. She finds no resting place. All her pursuers have overtaken her in the midst of her distress.
4The roads to Zion mourn for no one comes to her moadim. All her gates are desolate. Her kohanim groan, her maidens grieve— she is in bitter anguish.
5Her foes have become her masters. Her enemies are at ease. For Adonai has afflicted her, because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the adversary.
6All her splendor has departed, from the daughter of Zion. Her princes are like stags that find no pasture. They have fled without strength before the pursuer.
7In the days of her affliction and her wandering, Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers from the days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands, there was no one to help her. Her enemies saw her and mocked at her destruction.
8Jerusalem has greatly sinned— therefore, she has become niddah . All who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness. She herself groans, and turns away.
9Her uncleanness was in her skirts. She did not consider her future. Her demise was astonishing, there was no one to comfort her. “Adonai, see my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!”
10The enemy has stretched his hand over all her treasures. She even saw nations enter her sanctuary— those You had commanded not to enter Your congregation.
11All her people groan, as they seek bread. They traded their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. “Look, Adonai, and see! For I have become despised!”
12“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by on the road? Look and see! Is any suffering like my suffering that was brought on me, that Adonai has inflicted in the day of His fierce anger?
13From on high He sent fire into my bones and it overcame them. He spread out a net for my feet; He turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.
14My transgressions are bound into a yoke, woven together by His hand. They have come upon my neck and He has sapped my strength. The Lord delivered me over to those I cannot withstand.
15The Lord has rejected all the mighty ones in my midst. He has summoned an assembly against me to crush my young men. In a winepress the Lord has trampled the virgin daughter of Judah.
16Over these things I weep. My eyes overflow with water. For far from me is a comforter, who might refresh my soul. My children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.”
17Zion spreads out her hands— there is no one to comfort her. Adonai has decreed against Jacob. Those surrounding him have become his foes; Jerusalem has become niddah in their eyes.
18“Adonai is righteous, for I have rebelled against His word. Hear now, all peoples— look at my suffering! My maidens and my young men have gone into captivity.
19I called to my lovers— they deceived me! My kohanim and my elders perished in the city when they sought food to keep themselves alive.
20Look, Adonai, for I am in distress! My stomach churns, my heart pounds within me, for I have been very rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves, in the house it is like death.
21They have heard me groaning. There is no one to comfort me. All my enemies heard of my distress, They rejoice that You have done it. May You bring about the day that You proclaimed, so they may become like me!
22Let all their evil come before You. Deal with them as you dealt with me, because of all my transgressions. For my groans are many and my heart is faint!”
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