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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Lamentations 1
1
The Desolation of Jerusalem#In this poem the poet first takes on the persona of an observer describing Jerusalem’s abject state after the destruction wrought by the Babylonian army (vv. 1–11a); but the detached tone gives way to a more impassioned appeal when the city itself—personified as the grieving widow and mother Zion—abruptly intrudes upon this description (vv. 9c, 11c–16, 18–22) to demand that God look squarely at her misery.
1How solitary sits the city,
once filled with people.
She who was great among the nations
is now like a widow.
Once a princess among the provinces,
now a toiling slave.
2She weeps incessantly in the night,
her cheeks damp with tears.
She has no one to comfort her
from all her lovers;#Lovers: language of love was typically used to describe the relationship between treaty partners, thus here it connotes Judah’s allies (see v. 19).
Her friends have all betrayed her,
and become her enemies.#Jer 30:14; Ez 16:37.
3Judah has gone into exile,
after oppression and harsh labor;
She dwells among the nations,
yet finds no rest:#Dt 28:65; Jer 45:3.
All her pursuers overtake her
in the narrow straits.
4The roads to Zion mourn,
empty of pilgrims to her feasts.
All her gateways are desolate,
her priests groan,
Her young women grieve;
her lot is bitter.#Is 33:8–9; Jer 14:2.
5Her foes have come out on top,
her enemies are secure;
Because the Lord has afflicted her
for her many rebellions.
Her children have gone away,
captive before the foe.
6From daughter Zion has gone
all her glory:
Her princes have become like rams
that find no pasture.
They have gone off exhausted
before their pursuers.
7Jerusalem remembers
in days of wretched homelessness,
All the precious things she once had
in days gone by.
But when her people fell into the hands of the foe,
and she had no help,
Her foes looked on and laughed
at her collapse.
8Jerusalem has sinned grievously,
therefore she has become a mockery;
Those who honored her now demean her,
for they saw her nakedness;
She herself groans out loud,
and turns away.#Is 47:2–3; Jer 13:22, 26; Na 3:5.
9Her uncleanness is on her skirt;
she has no thought of her future.
Her downfall is astonishing,
with no one to comfort her.
“Look, O Lord, at my misery;
how the enemy triumphs!”#Zion breaks in on the poet’s description in v. 9c, albeit briefly, to demand that the Lord face squarely her misery. She takes up the lament in a more sustained fashion in v. 11c.
10The foe stretched out his hands
to all her precious things;
She has seen the nations
enter her sanctuary,
Those you forbade to come
into your assembly.#Dt 23:3–6; Ps 74:4–8; Is 56:6; 66:20–21; Jer 51:51.
11All her people groan,
searching for bread;
They give their precious things for food,
to retain the breath of life.
“Look, O Lord, and pay attention
to how I have been demeaned!
12Come, all who pass by the way,
pay attention and see:
Is there any pain like my pain,
which has been ruthlessly inflicted upon me,
With which the Lord has tormented me
on the day of his blazing wrath?
13From on high he hurled fire down
into my very bones;
He spread out a net for my feet,
and turned me back.
He has left me desolate,
in misery all day long.#Ez 12:13.
14The yoke of my rebellions is bound together,
fastened by his hand.
His yoke is upon my neck;
he has made my strength fail.
The Lord has delivered me into the grip
of those I cannot resist.
15All my valiant warriors
my Lord has cast away;
He proclaimed a feast against me
to crush my young men;
My Lord has trodden in the wine press
virgin daughter Judah.
16For these things I weep—My eyes! My eyes!
They stream with tears!
How far from me is anyone to comfort,
anyone to restore my life.
My children are desolate;
the enemy has prevailed.”#Ps 69:21; Eccl 4:1; Jer 13:17; 14:17; Na 3:7.
17Zion stretches out her hands,
with no one to comfort her;
The Lord has ordered against Jacob
his foes all around;
Jerusalem has become in their midst
a thing unclean.
18“The Lord is in the right;
I had defied his command.
Listen, all you peoples,
and see my pain:
My young women and young men
have gone into captivity.#Dt 28:41.
19I cried out to my lovers,
but they failed me.#Jer 30:14.
My priests and my elders
perished in the city;
How desperately they searched for food,
to save their lives!
20Look, O Lord, at the anguish I suffer!
My stomach churns,
And my heart recoils within me:
How bitter I am!
Outside the sword bereaves—
indoors, there is death.#Lam 2:11.
21Hear how I am groaning;
there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies hear of my misery and rejoice
over what you have done.
Bring on the day you proclaimed,
and let them become like me!
22Let all their evil come before you
and deal with them
As you have so ruthlessly dealt with me
for all my rebellions.
My groans are many,
my heart is sick.”#Lam 3:64.
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