Lamentations 2
1א Alas!The Sovereign out of wrathHas shamed Fair Zion,Has cast down from heaven to earthThe majesty of Israel.God’s Footstool was not rememberedOn this day of wrath.
2ב The Sovereign has laid waste without pityAll the habitations of Jacob—Has razed in angerFair Judah’s strongholds,Bringing low in dishonorThe kingdom and its leaders.
3ג In blazing anger [God] has cut downAll the might of Israel—Withdrawing vital support In the presence of the foe,And ravaging Jacob like flaming fire,Consuming on all sides.
4ד [God] bent the bow like an enemy,Poised the right hand like a foe,And slew all who delighted the eye.God’s wrath was poured out like fireIn the Tent of Fair Zion.
5ה The Sovereign has acted like a foe—Laying waste Israel,Laying waste all her citadels,Destroying her strongholds,Increasing within Fair JudahMourning and moaning.
6ו God’s Booth has been stripped like a garden,And the Tabernacle, destroyed; GOD has ended in ZionFestival and sabbath;And in raging anger has spurnedKing and priest.
7ז The Sovereign has rejected the altar,Disdained the Sanctuary,Handing over to the foeThe walls of its citadels;They raised a shout in the House of GOD As on a festival day.
8ח GOD resolved to destroyThe wall of Fair Zion—Measuring it with a line, refraining notFrom bringing destruction.Wall and rampart have been made to mourn,Together they languish.
9ט Her gates have sunk into the ground,Her bars have been smashed to bits;Her king and her leaders are in exile, Instruction, here priestly instruction; cf. Jer. 18.18; Hag. 2.11; Mal. 2.6. is no more;Her prophets, too, receiveNo vision from GOD.
10י Silent sit on the groundThe elders of Fair Zion;They have strewn dust on their headsAnd girded themselves with sackcloth;The maidens of Jerusalem have bowedTheir heads to the ground.
11כ My eyes are spent with tears,My heart is in tumult,My being melts away Over the ruin of my poor people, As babes and sucklings languishIn the squares of the city.
12ל They keep asking their mothers,“Where is bread and wine?”As they languish like battle-woundedIn the squares of the town,As their life runs outIn their mothers’ bosoms.
13מ What can I take as witness or likenTo you, O Fair Jerusalem?What can I match with you to console you,O Fair Maiden Zion?For your ruin is vast as the sea:Who can heal you?
14נ Your seers prophesied to youDelusion and folly.They did not expose your iniquitySo as to restore your fortunes,But prophesied to you oraclesOf delusion and deception.
15ס All who pass your wayClap their hands at you;They hiss and wag their head At Fair Jerusalem:“Is this the city that was calledPerfect in Beauty,Joy of All the Earth?”
16פ All your enemiesJeer at you;They hiss and gnash their teeth,And cry: “We’ve ruined her!Ah, this is the day we hoped for;We have lived to see it!”
17ע GOD has done what was purposed,Carrying out the decreeThat had been ordained long ago,And tearing down without pity.[God] has let the foe rejoice over you,Has exalted the might of your enemies.
18צ Their heart cried out to the Sovereign.O wall of Fair Zion,Shed tears like a torrentDay and night!Give yourself no respite,Your eyes no rest.
19ק Arise, cry out in the nightAt the beginning of the watches,Pour out your heart like waterIn the presence of the Sovereign!Lift up your hands to [God]For the life of your infants,Who faint for hungerAt every street corner.
20ר “See, O ETERNAL One, and behold,To whom You have done this!Alas, women eat their own fruit,Their newborn babes!Alas, priest and prophet are slainIn the Sanctuary of the Sovereign!
21ש Prostrate in the streets lieBoth young and old.My maidens and youthsAre fallen by the sword;You slew them on Your day of wrath,You slaughtered without pity.
22ת You summoned, as on a festival,My neighbors from round about.On the day of GOD’s wrath,None survived or escaped;Those whom I bore and rearedMy foe has consumed.”