Lamentations 1
1
1 ALEPH. O how a city once filled with people now sits alone! The Governess of the Gentiles has become like a widow. The Prince of the provinces has been placed under tribute.
2 BETH. Weeping, she has wept through the night, and her tears are on her cheeks. There is no one to be a comfort to her and to all her beloved. All her friends have spurned her, and they have become her enemies.
3 GHIMEL. Judah has migrated because of affliction and great servitude. She has lived among the nations and not found rest. All of her persecutors have apprehended her, amid torments.
4 DALETH. The pathways of Zion mourn, because there are none who approach for the solemnity. All her gates are destroyed. Her priests groan. Her virgins are filthy. And she is overwhelmed with bitterness.
5 HE. Her enemies have been made her leaders; her adversaries have been enriched. For the Lord has spoken against her, because of the multitude of her iniquities. Her little ones have been led into captivity before the face of the tribulator.
6 VAU. And all her elegance has departed, from the daughter of Zion. Her leaders have become like rams that cannot find pasture, and they have gone away without strength before the face of the pursuer.
7 ZAIN. Jerusalem has remembered the days of her affliction and the betrayal of all her desirable ones, whom she held from the days of antiquity, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and there was no one to be a helper. The enemies have looked upon her and mocked her Sabbaths.
8 HETH. Jerusalem has sinned a grievous sin. Because of this, she has become unstable. All who glorified her have spurned her, because they have looked upon her disgrace. Then she groaned and turned away again.
9 TETH. Her filth is on her feet, and her end has not been remembered. She has been vehemently put down, having no consolation. O Lord, look upon my affliction, for the adversary has been lifted up.
10 JOD. The enemy has sent his hand against all her desirable ones. For she has watched the Gentiles enter her sanctuary, even though you instructed that they should not enter into your church.
11 CAPH. All her people are groaning and seeking bread. They have given up whatever was precious in exchange for food, so as to remain alive. See, O Lord, and consider, for I have become vile.
12 LAMED. O all you who pass by the way, attend, and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. For he has made me a vintage, just as the Lord has spoken in the day of his furious anger.
13 MEM. From on high, he has sent fire into my bones, and he has educated me. He has spread a net for my feet; he has turned me back. He has placed me in desolation, consumed by grief, all day long.
14 NUN. Vigilant is the yoke of my iniquities. They have been folded together in his hand and imposed on my neck. My virtue has been weakened. The Lord has given me into a hand, out of which I am not able to rise.
15 SAMECH. The Lord has taken away all of my great ones from my midst. He has called forth time against me, so as to crush my elect ones. The Lord has trampled the winepress, which was for the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 AIN. For this I weep, and my eyes bring forth water. For the consoler has been far away from me, changing my soul. My sons have become lost, because the enemy has prevailed.
17 PHE. Zion has reached out her hands; there is no one to console her. The Lord has given orders against Jacob; his enemies are all around him. Jerusalem among them is like a woman made unclean by menstruation.
18 SADE. The Lord is just, for it is I who has provoked his mouth to wrath. I beg all people to listen and to see my sorrow. My virgins and my youths have gone into captivity.
19 COPH. I called for my friends, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders have been consumed in the city. For they were seeking their food, so as to revive their life.
20 RES. See, O Lord, that I am in tribulation. My bowels have been disturbed, my heart has been subverted within me, for I am filled with bitterness. Outside, the sword puts to death, and at home there is a similar death.
21 SIN. They have heard that I groan and that there is no one to console me. All my enemies have heard of my misfortune; they have rejoiced that you caused it. You have brought in a day of consolation, and so they shall become like me.
22 THAU. Let all their evil enter before you. And make vintage of them, just as you made vintage of me, because of all my iniquities. For my sighs are many, and my heart is grieving.
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Lamentations 1
1
The Sorrows of Jerusalem
1How lonely lies Jerusalem, once so full of people!
Once honoured by the world, she is now like a widow;
The noblest of cities has fallen into slavery.
2All night long she cries; tears run down her cheeks.
Of all her former friends, not one is left to comfort her.
Her allies have betrayed her and all are now against her.
3Judah's people are helpless slaves, forced away from home.#1.3 are helpless… home; or fled from home, from the misery of slavery.
They live in other lands, with no place to call their own —
Surrounded by enemies, with no way to escape.
4No one comes to the Temple now to worship on the holy days.
The young women who sang there suffer, and the priests can only groan.
The city gates stand empty, and Zion is in agony.
5Her enemies succeeded; they hold her in their power.
The LORD has made her suffer for all her many sins;
Her children have been captured and taken away.
6The splendour of Jerusalem is a thing of the past.
Her leaders are like deer that are weak from hunger,
Whose strength is almost gone as they flee from the hunters.
7A lonely ruin now, Jerusalem recalls her ancient splendour.
When she fell to the enemy, there was no one to help her;
Her conquerors laughed at her downfall.
8Her honour is gone; she is naked and held in contempt.
She groans and hides her face in shame.
Jerusalem made herself filthy with terrible sin.
9Her uncleanness was easily seen, but she showed no concern for her fate.
Her downfall was terrible; no one can comfort her.
Her enemies have won, and she cries to the LORD for mercy.
10Her enemies robbed her of all her treasures.
She saw them enter the Temple itself,
Where the LORD had forbidden Gentiles to go.
11Her people groan as they look for something to eat;
They exchange their treasures for food to keep themselves alive.
“Look at me, LORD,” the city cries; “see me in my misery.”
12“Look at me!” she cries to everyone who passes by.#1.12 Look… by; or May this not happen to you that pass by; or Does this mean nothing to you that pass by?
“No one has ever had pain like mine,
Pain that the LORD brought on me in the time of his anger.
13“He sent fire from above, a fire that burnt inside me.
He set a trap for me and brought me to the ground.
Then he abandoned me and left me in constant pain.
14“He took note of all my sins and tied them all together;
He hung them round my neck, and I grew weak beneath the weight.
The Lord gave me to my foes, and I was helpless against them.
15“The Lord jeered at all my strongest soldiers;
He sent an army to destroy my young men.
He crushed my people like grapes in a winepress.
16“That is why my eyes are overflowing with tears.
No one can comfort me; no one can give me courage.
The enemy has conquered me; my people have nothing left.
17“I stretch out my hands, but no one will help me.
The LORD has called enemies against me from every side;
They treat me like some filthy thing.
18“But the LORD is just, for I have disobeyed him.
Listen to me, people everywhere; look at me in my pain.
My young men and women have been taken away captive.
19“I called to my allies, but they refused to help me.
The priests and the leaders died in the city streets,
Looking for food to keep themselves alive.
20“Look, O LORD, at my agony, at the anguish of my soul!
My heart is broken in sorrow for my sins.
There is murder in the streets; even indoors there is death.
21“Listen#1.21 One ancient translation Listen; Hebrew They listened. to my groans; there is no one to comfort me.
My enemies are glad that you brought disaster on me.
Bring#1.21 One ancient translation Bring; Hebrew You brought. the day you promised; make my enemies suffer as I do.
22“Condemn them for all their wickedness;
Punish them as you punished me for my sins.
I groan in misery, and I am sick at heart.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.