LAMENTATIONS
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How lonely sits the city that once was full of
people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal. 2 She weeps
bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no
one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have
become her enemies. 3 Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard
servitude; she lives now among the nations, and finds no resting place; her
pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. 4 The roads to
Zion mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate, her
priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter. 5 Her foes have
become the masters, her enemies prosper, because the LORD has made her suffer
for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives
before the foe. 6 From daughter Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes
have become like stags that find no pasture; they fled without strength before
the pursuer. 7 Jerusalem remembers, in the days of her affliction and wandering,
all the precious things that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into
the hand of the foe, and there was no one to help her, the foe looked on mocking
over her downfall. 8 Jerusalem sinned grievously, so she has become a mockery;
all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself
groans, and turns her face away. 9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took
no thought of her future; her downfall was appalling, with none to comfort her.
"O LORD, look at my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!" 10 Enemies have
stretched out their hands over all her precious things; she has even seen the
nations invade her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter your congregation.
11 All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for
food to revive their strength. Look, O LORD, and see how worthless I have
become. 12 Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is
any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the LORD inflicted
on the day of his fierce anger. 13 From on high he sent fire; it went deep into
my bones; he spread a net for my feet; he turned me back; he has left me
stunned, faint all day long. 14 My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his
hand they were fastened together; they weigh on my neck, sapping my strength;
the Lord handed me over to those whom I cannot withstand. 15 The LORD has
rejected all my warriors in the midst of me; he proclaimed a time against me to
crush my young men; the Lord has trodden as in a wine press the virgin daughter
Judah. 16 For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is
far from me, one to revive my courage; my children are desolate, for the enemy
has prevailed. 17 Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort
her; the LORD has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should become his
foes; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them. 18 The LORD is in the
right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and
behold my suffering; my young women and young men have gone into captivity. 19 I
called to my lovers but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the
city while seeking food to revive their strength. 20 See, O LORD, how distressed
I am; my stomach churns, my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very
rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death. 21
They heard how I was groaning, with no one to comfort me. All my enemies heard
of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. Bring on the day you have
announced, and let them be as I am. 22 Let all their evil doing come before you;
and deal with them as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions;
for my groans are many and my heart is faint.
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How the Lord in his anger has humiliated daughter Zion! He
has thrown down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel; he has not
remembered his footstool in the day of his anger. 2 The Lord has destroyed
without mercy all the dwellings of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the
strongholds of daughter Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the
kingdom and its rulers. 3 He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of
Israel; he has withdrawn his right hand from them in the face of the enemy; he
has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all around. 4 He has bent his
bow like an enemy, with his right hand set like a foe; he has killed all in whom
we took pride in the tent of daughter Zion; he has poured out his fury like
fire. 5 The Lord has become like an enemy; he has destroyed Israel; He has
destroyed all its palaces, laid in ruins its strongholds, and multiplied in
daughter Judah mourning and lamentation. 6 He has broken down his booth like a
garden, he has destroyed his tabernacle; the LORD has abolished in Zion festival
and sabbath, and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest. 7 The
Lord has scorned his altar, disowned his sanctuary; he has delivered into the
hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; a clamor was raised in the house of
the LORD as on a day of festival. 8 The LORD determined to lay in ruins the wall
of daughter Zion; he stretched the line; he did not withhold his hand from
destroying; he caused rampart and wall to lament; they languish together. 9 Her
gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her bars; her king and
princes are among the nations; guidance is no more, and her prophets obtain no
vision from the LORD. 10 The elders of daughter Zion sit on the ground in
silence; they have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; the young
girls of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. 11 My eyes are spent
with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out on the ground because of
the destruction of my people, because infants and babes faint in the streets of
the city. 12 They cry to their mothers, "Where is bread and wine?" as they faint
like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on
their mothers' bosom. 13 What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter
Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter
Zion? For vast as the sea is your ruin; who can heal you? 14 Your prophets have
seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to
restore your fortunes, but have seen oracles for you that are false and
misleading. 15 All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and
wag their heads at daughter Jerusalem; "Is this the city that was called the
perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?" 16 All your enemies open their
mouths against you; they hiss, they gnash their teeth, they cry: "We have
devoured her! Ah, this is the day we longed for; at last we have seen it!" 17
The LORD has done what he purposed, he has carried out his threat; as he
ordained long ago, he has demolished without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice
over you, and exalted the might of your foes. 18 Cry aloud to the Lord! O wall
of daughter Zion! Let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give
yourself no rest, your eyes no respite! 19 Arise, cry out in the night, at the
beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of
the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for
hunger at the head of every street. 20 Look, O LORD, and consider! To whom have
you done this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have borne?
Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? 21 The young
and the old are lying on the ground in the streets; my young women and my young
men have fallen by the sword; in the day of your anger you have killed them,
slaughtering without mercy. 22 You invited my enemies from all around as if for
a day of festival; and on the day of the anger of the LORD no one escaped or
survived; those whom I bore and reared my enemy has destroyed.
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I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God's
wrath; 2 he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; 3 against
me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long. 4 He has made my
flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones; 5 he has besieged and
enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; 6 he has made me sit in darkness
like the dead of long ago. 7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he
has put heavy chains on me; 8 though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my
prayer; 9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; 11 he led me off my way
and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; 12 he bent his bow and set me as
a mark for his arrow. 13 He shot into my vitals the arrows of his quiver; 14 I
have become the laughingstock of all my people, the object of their taunt-songs
all day long. 15 He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with
wormwood. 16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; 18 so I say,
"Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the LORD." 19 The thought
of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! 20 My soul
continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. 21 But this I call to
mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your
faithfulness. 24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope
in him." 25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks
him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth, 28 to sit alone in silence when
the Lord has imposed it, 29 to put one's mouth to the dust (there may yet be
hope), 30 to give one's cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults. 31 For
the Lord will not reject forever. 32 Although he causes grief, he will have
compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 33 for he does not
willingly afflict or grieve anyone. 34 When all the prisoners of the land are
crushed under foot, 35 when human rights are perverted in the presence of the
Most High, 36 when one's case is subverted --does the Lord not see it? 37 Who
can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it? 38 Is it not from
the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? 39 Why should any who draw
breath complain about the punishment of their sins? 40 Let us test and examine
our ways, and return to the LORD. 41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our
hands to God in heaven. 42 We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not
forgiven. 43 You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing
without pity; 44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can
pass through. 45 You have made us filth and rubbish among the peoples. 46 All
our enemies have opened their mouths against us; 47 panic and pitfall have come
upon us, devastation and destruction. 48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of my people. 49 My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite, 50 until the LORD from heaven looks down and sees. 51 My eyes
cause me grief at the fate of all the young women in my city. 52 Those who were
my enemies without cause have hunted me like a bird; 53 they flung me alive into
a pit and hurled stones on me; 54 water closed over my head; I said, "I am
lost." 55 I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; 56 you
heard my plea, "Do not close your ear to my cry for help, but give me relief!"
57 You came near when I called on you; you said, "Do not fear!" 58 You have
taken up my cause, O Lord, you have redeemed my life. 59 You have seen the wrong
done to me, O LORD; judge my cause. 60 You have seen all their malice, all their
plots against me. 61 You have heard their taunts, O LORD, all their plots
against me. 62 The whispers and murmurs of my assailants are against me all day
long. 63 Whether they sit or rise--see, I am the object of their taunt-songs. 64
Pay them back for their deeds, O LORD, according to the work of their hands! 65
Give them anguish of heart; your curse be on them! 66 Pursue them in anger and
destroy them from under the Lord's heavens.
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How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed!
The sacred stones lie scattered at the head of every street. 2 The precious
children of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold-- how they are reckoned as
earthen pots, the work of a potter's hands! 3 Even the jackals offer the breast
and nurse their young, but my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the
wilderness. 4 The tongue of the infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for
thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives them anything. 5 Those who
feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple
cling to ash heaps. 6 For the chastisement of my people has been greater than
the punishment of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, though no hand was
laid on it. 7 Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies
were more ruddy than coral, their hair like sapphire. 8 Now their visage is
blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has
shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood. 9 Happier were those
pierced by the sword than those pierced by hunger, whose life drains away,
deprived of the produce of the field. 10 The hands of compassionate women have
boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of my
people. 11 The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger,
and kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations. 12 The kings of the
earth did not believe, nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or
enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. 13 It was for the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in the
midst of her. 14 Blindly they wandered through the streets, so defiled with
blood that no one was able to touch their garments. 15 "Away! Unclean!" people
shouted at them; "Away! Away! Do not touch!" So they became fugitives and
wanderers; it was said among the nations, "They shall stay here no longer." 16
The LORD himself has scattered them, he will regard them no more; no honor was
shown to the priests, no favor to the elders. 17 Our eyes failed, ever watching
vainly for help; we were watching eagerly for a nation that could not save. 18
They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew
near; our days were numbered; for our end had come. 19 Our pursuers were swifter
than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains, they lay in
wait for us in the wilderness. 20 The Lord's anointed, the breath of our life,
was taken in their pits-- the one of whom we said, "Under his shadow we shall
live among the nations." 21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter Edom, you that live
in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk
and strip yourself bare. 22 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter Zion, is
accomplished, he will keep you in exile no longer; but your iniquity, O daughter
Edom, he will punish, he will uncover your sins.
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Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; look, and see our
disgrace! 2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to
aliens. 3 We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows. 4 We
must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. 5 With a yoke
on our necks we are hard driven; we are weary, we are given no rest. 6 We have
made a pact with Egypt and Assyria, to get enough bread. 7 Our ancestors sinned;
they are no more, and we bear their iniquities. 8 Slaves rule over us; there is
no one to deliver us from their hand. 9 We get our bread at the peril of our
lives, because of the sword in the wilderness. 10 Our skin is black as an oven
from the scorching heat of famine. 11 Women are raped in Zion, virgins in the
towns of Judah. 12 Princes are hung up by their hands; no respect is shown to
the elders. 13 Young men are compelled to grind, and boys stagger under loads of
wood. 14 The old men have left the city gate, the young men their music. 15 The
joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning. 16 The
crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned! 17 Because of
this our hearts are sick, because of these things our eyes have grown dim: 18
because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate; jackals prowl over it. 19 But you, O
LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. 20 Why have you
forgotten us completely? Why have you forsaken us these many days? 21 Restore us
to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored; renew our days as of old-- 22
unless you have utterly rejected us, and are angry with us beyond measure.
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