Lamentations 2
2
The Lord is Angry
1How, in his anger,#Literally “in his nose”
the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion in a cloud!
He has thrown down from heavens to earth
the splendor of Israel,
and he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.#Literally “his nose”
2The Lord has devoured; he has not shown mercy
to all the dwellings of Jacob;
he has broken down in his wrath
the fortifications of the daughter of Judah;
he has leveled to the ground, he has dishonored
the kingdom and its commanders.#Or “her commanders”
3He has cut down in fierce anger#Literally “in a fierce nose”
all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn his right hand
from the faces of the enemy,
and he has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire,
it has consumed all around.
4He has bent his bow like an enemy;
he has set his right hand
like a foe, and he has slain
all the treasures of the eye;#NRSV translates “all in whom we took pride”
in the tent of the daughter of Zion,
he has poured out his anger like fire.
5The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has destroyed Israel;
he has destroyed all its citadel fortresses;#Or “her citadel fortresses”
he has ruined all its fortifications
and multiplied lamentation and mourning
in the daughter of Judah.
6He has broken down his dwelling#Literally “his booth”; or “his tabernacle” place like the garden;
he has ruined his appointed feasts;
Yahweh has made them forget in Zion
festival#Literally “appointed time” and Sabbath,
and he has despised in his anger
king and priest.
7The Lord has rejected his altar;
he has rejected his sanctuary;
he has delivered into the hands of the enemy
the walls of its citadel fortresses.#Or “her citadel fortress”
They have cried out in the house of Yahweh
like a day of an appointed feast.
8Yahweh has planned to destroy
the wall of the daughter of Zion.
He measured with a line; he has not restrained
his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to mourn;
together they have languished away.
9Her gates have sunk into the earth;
he has ruined and broken her bars,
her kings and its princes are among the nations;
there is no more law.#Hebrew torah
Also, her prophets have not found
a revelation from Yahweh.
10They sit on the ground,
the elders of the daughter of Zion are silent.
They cast dust on their head,
they have put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their head down to the ground.
11My eyes have spent all their tears;#Literally “finished with the weeping”
my stomach#Literally “my inward parts” is in torment,
my heart#Literally “my liver” is poured out on the earth
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because child and babe faint
in the public squares of a city.
12To their mothers they say,
“Where is the bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
in the public squares of a city,
as their life is being poured out
onto the bosom of their mothers.
13What can I say for you? What can I compare to you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you so that I can comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your destruction is as vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14Your prophets had a vision for you,
false and worthless;
they have not exposed your sin,
to restore your fortune;
they have seen oracles for you,
false and misleading.
15They clap hands over you,
all who pass along the way;
they hiss and they shake their head,
at the daughter of Jerusalem.
Is this the city of which it is said,
“A perfection of beauty, a joy for all the earth?”
16They have opened their mouths against you,
all your enemies.
They hiss and gnash a tooth,
and they say, “We have destroyed her!
Surely this is the day we have hoped for;
we have found it, we have seen it!”
17Yahweh has done what he has planned;
he has fulfilled his promise
that he ordained from the days of old;
he has demolished and not shown mercy;
he has made an enemy rejoice over you,
he has exalted the might#Literally “horn” of your foes.
18Their heart cried to the Lord,
“O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears stream down like a river;
day and night,
do not give yourself relief,
do not give your eyes rest.
19“Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches;
pour out your heart like water,
before the face of the Lord.
Lift to him your hands,
for the life of your children,
who faint in starvation,
at the head of all streets.”
20See, Yahweh, and take note!
With whom have you dealt thus?
Should women eat their young
children of tender care?
Should priest and prophet be slain
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21They lie in the soil of the streets,
young and old;
my young women#Or “my virgins” and young men,
they have fallen by the sword;
you have slain on the day of your anger,#Literally “your nose”
you have slaughtered and not shown mercy.
22You have summoned my horror from all around,
as if for a feast day;
no one on the day of Yahweh’s anger
is a fugitive and a survivor;
whoever I have cared for and reared,
my enemy has destroyed.
Currently Selected:
Lamentations 2: LEB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
2010 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
Lamentations 2
2
The LORD's Punishment of Jerusalem
1The Lord in his anger has covered Zion with darkness.
Its heavenly splendour he has turned into ruins.
On the day of his anger he abandoned even his Temple.
2The Lord destroyed without mercy every village in Judah
And tore down the forts that defended the land.
He brought disgrace on the kingdom and its rulers.
3In his fury he shattered the strength of Israel;
He refused to help us when the enemy came.
He raged against us like fire, destroying everything.
4He aimed his arrows at us like an enemy;
He killed all those who were our joy and delight.
Here in Jerusalem we felt his burning anger.
5Like an enemy, the Lord has destroyed Israel;
He has left her forts and palaces in ruins.
He has brought on the people of Judah unending sorrow.
6He smashed to pieces the Temple where we worshipped him;
He has put an end to holy days and Sabbaths.
King and priest alike have felt the force of his anger.
7The Lord rejected his altar and deserted his holy Temple;
He allowed the enemy to tear down its walls.
They shouted in victory where once we had worshipped in joy.
8The LORD was determined that the walls of Zion should fall;
He measured them off to make sure of total destruction.
The towers and walls now lie in ruins together.
9The gates lie buried in rubble, their bars smashed to pieces.
The king and the noblemen now are in exile.
The Law is no longer taught, and the prophets have no visions from the LORD.
10Jerusalem's old men sit on the ground in silence,
With dust on their heads and sackcloth on their bodies.
Young women bow their heads to the ground.
11My eyes are worn out with weeping; my soul is in anguish.
I am exhausted with grief at the destruction of my people.
Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city.
12Hungry and thirsty, they cry to their mothers;
They fall in the streets as though they were wounded,
And slowly die in their mothers' arms.
13O Jerusalem, beloved Jerusalem, what can I say?
How can I comfort you? No one has ever suffered like this.
Your disaster is boundless as the ocean; there is no possible hope.
14Your prophets had nothing to tell you but lies;
Their preaching deceived you by never exposing your sin.
They made you think you did not need to repent.
15People passing by the city look at you in scorn.
They shake their heads and laugh at the ruins of Jerusalem.
“Is this that lovely city? Is this the pride of the world?”
16All your enemies mock you and glare at you with hate.
They curl their lips and sneer, “We have destroyed it!
This is the day we have waited for!”
17The LORD has finally done what he threatened to do:
He has destroyed us without mercy, as he warned us long ago.
He gave our enemies victory, gave them joy at our downfall.
18O Jerusalem, let your very walls cry out to the Lord!#2.18 Probable text O Jerusalem… Lord; Hebrew Their hearts cried out to the Lord, O wall of Jerusalem.
Let your tears flow like rivers night and day;
Wear yourself out with weeping and grief!
19All through the night get up again and again to cry out to the Lord;
Pour out your heart and beg him for mercy on your children —
Children starving to death on every street corner!
20Look, O LORD! Why are you punishing us like this?
Women are eating the bodies of the children they loved!
Priests and prophets are being killed in the Temple itself!
21Young and old alike lie dead in the streets,
Young men and women, killed by enemy swords.
You slaughtered them without mercy on the day of your anger.
22You invited my enemies to hold a carnival of terror all round me,
And no one could escape on that day of your anger.
They murdered my children, whom I had reared and loved.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
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.