Lamentations 1
1
The Prophet Speaks Out: No One Offers Comfort
1 # 1:1 Chapter 1 is a poem in Hebrew alphabetical order. “Look how deserted Jerusalem is!
Once the city was crowded with people.
Once it was important among the nations.
Now it is a widow.
Once it was a princess among the provinces.
Now it does forced labor.
2Jerusalem cries bitterly at night with tears running down its cheeks.
Out of all those who love the city, no one offers it comfort.
All of Jerusalem’s friends have betrayed it and become its enemies.
3“Judah has been exiled after ⌞much⌟ suffering and harsh treatment.
Its ⌞people⌟ live among the nations; they find no rest.
Those who chased them caught up with them
in places where there was no way out.
4“The roads to Zion are deserted.#1:4 Or “are in mourning.”
No one comes to the annual festivals.
No one passes through any of its gates.#1:4 Or “All its gates are in despair.”
Its priests are groaning.
Its young women are made to suffer.
Zion is bitter.
5Its opponents are now in control.
Its enemies have no worries.
The Lord made Zion suffer for its many rebellious acts.
Its children go ahead of their opponents into captivity.
6All splendor has abandoned the people of Zion.
Its influential people were like deer that couldn’t find any pasture.
They ran without any strength ahead of the hunters.
7“Now, during its suffering and oppression,
Jerusalem remembers all the treasures it had from ancient times,
when its people fell into the power of their enemies
with no one to help them.
Their opponents looked on, and they laughed at Jerusalem’s downfall.
8Jerusalem has sinned so much that it has become a filthy thing.
Everyone who used to honor it now despises it.
They’ve seen it naked.
Jerusalem groans and turns away.
9Jerusalem’s own filth ⌞covers⌟ its clothes.
It gave no thought to its future.
Its downfall was shocking.
No one offers it comfort.
‘O Lord, look at my suffering,
because my enemies have triumphed.’
10The enemies laid their hands on all of the city’s treasures.
Jerusalem has seen the nations enter the holy place.
‘O Lord, they are the same people
you have forbidden to enter your congregation.’
11All the people are groaning as they beg for bread.
They trade their treasures for food to keep themselves alive.
‘O Lord, look and see how despised I am!’ ”
Zion Speaks Out: No One Offers Comfort
12“Doesn’t this affect all of you who pass by?
Look and see if there’s any pain
like the pain that the Lord has caused me,
like the pain that he has made me suffer on the day of his fierce anger.
13He sent fire from above.
He made it go deep into my bones.
He spread a net for my feet.
He made me turn back.
He has left me devastated.
He has made me sick all day long.
14My rebellious acts are a heavy burden for me.
They were tied together by God’s own hands.
They were tied around my neck.
He has weakened me ⌞with them⌟.
The Lord has handed me over to people I cannot oppose.
15The Lord has treated all the warriors inside my ⌞walls⌟ with contempt.
He called an army to defeat my young men.
The Lord trampled the people of Judah in a winepress.
16I’m crying because of ⌞all⌟ these things.
My eyes—my eyes flow with tears.
No one can give me the comfort I need to keep me alive.
Everyone is too far away from me.
My children are devastated because my enemies have won.”
17Zion holds out its hands.
No one offers it comfort.
The Lord has given this order about Jacob:
His own neighbors will become his opponents.
Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
18“The Lord is right in what he did,
because I rebelled against his word.
Please listen, all you people, and look at my pain.
My young women and young men have gone into captivity.
19I called for those who love me, but they betrayed me.
My priests and leaders breathed their last breath in the city,
looking for food to keep themselves alive.
20“O Lord, see the distress I’m in!
My stomach is churning.
My heart is pounding because I’ve been very bitter.
In the streets swords kill my children.
Inside the houses it’s like death.
21“All my enemies have heard that I am groaning.
No one offers me comfort.
All my enemies have heard about my disaster.
They are happy that you did it.
You have allowed the day to come, the one that you had announced.
Let my enemies be like me now.
22Recall all of their wickedness.
Then deal with them as you have dealt with me
because of all my rebellious acts.
I groan so much and feel so sick at heart.”
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Lamentations 1: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Lamentations 1
1
The Desolate City
1How desolate the city sits
that was full of people!
She has become like a widow,
once great among the nations!
Like a woman of nobility in the provinces,
she has become a forced laborer.
2She weeps bitterly in the night,
her tears are on her cheeks;
she has no comforter
among all her lovers.
All her friends have been unfaithful to her;
they have become her enemies.
3Judah has gone into exile with misery
and under hard servitude;
she lives among the nations,
she has not found a resting place;
all her pursuers have overtaken her
amidst her distress.
4The roads of Zion are mourning
because no one comes to the festival.
All her gates are desolate,
her priests groan;
her young women are worried,
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5Her foes have become her master,#Literally “head”
her enemies are at ease;
Yahweh has made her suffer
because of the greatness of her transgressions.
Her children have gone away,
captive before the foe.
6All her majesty has gone away
from the daughter of Zion;
her princes have become like young stags
that have not found pasture;
they have gone away without strength,
before the pursuer.
7Jerusalem remembers
the days of her misery and wanderings,
all her treasures
that were from the days of long ago.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
there was no one helping her;
the enemies saw her, they mocked
at her destruction.
8Jerusalem sinned grievously,
thus she became an objection of derision;
all those who honored her despise her
because they have seen her nakedness.
She herself groans
and turns away.
9Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she did not remember her future,
she has descended beyond understanding,
there is no comforter for her.
See, O Yahweh, my persecution!
My enemy has been made great!
10The enemy has stretched out his hand
over all her treasures;
for she has seen the nations,
they entered her sanctuary,
those whom you commanded not to enter
in your assembly.
11All her people groan,
they are searching for bread.
They give their treasures for food,
to bring back life.
See, O Yahweh, and look,
how I am despised.
12Is it nothing to you, all who pass by?#Literally “all who cross a road”
Look and see
if there is sorrow like my sorrow,#Or “pain like my pain”
which was dealt to me,
which Yahweh inflicted
on the day of his wrath.#Literally “on the day of the blaze of his nose”
13From heaven he sent fire,
into my bones he let it descend.
He spread out a net for my feet;
he turned me back,
he gave me devastation,
fainting all day.
14My rebellion was bound as a yoke,
with his hand it was fastened together;
it was put on my neck
and caused my strength to fail.
The Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15The Lord has rejected
all my mighty ones in my midst.
He called an assembly against me,
to crush my young men;
like in a wine press,
the Lord has trodden on
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16For these things, I am weeping,
my eyes flow with tears;#Literally “my eye my eye is going down with water”
because a comforter is far from me,
one to restore my life.
My sons are desolate
because the enemy has prevailed.
17Zion stretches out her hands;
there is no one to comfort her.
Yahweh has commanded against Jacob,
that those surrounding him#NRSV translates “his neighbors” should be his enemies;
Jerusalem has become
a defilement among them.
18Yahweh is righteous;
I have rebelled against his word.#Literally “his mouth”
Please hear, all the nations,
And see my pain;
My young women#Or “virgins” and young men
went into captivity.
19I have called to my lovers,
they themselves deceived me;
my priests and elders perished in the city
when they sought food for themselves
to revive their life.#Or “their soul”
20See, O Yahweh, that I am in distress;#Literally “there is distress for me”
my stomach#Literally “inner parts” is in torment,
my heart has turned inside me
because I have certainly rebelled.
From outside a sword brings bereavement,
inside the house it is like death.
21They hear that I was groaning;
there is no comforter for me.
All my enemies have heard my misery,
they are pleased that you have done it.
Bring that day that you have proclaimed,#Or “you have called”
And let them be like me.
22Let all their evil come before you;
and deal with them
just as you have dealt with me
because of all my crimes;
for my groaning is much and my heart is faint.
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