1Ak ja, den travle by er nu folketom. Den storslåede by sidder tilbage som en fattig enke. Dronningen blandt byer blev degraderet til tjenestepige.2Byen jamrer og græder natten lang. Ingen kommer for at trøste hende i sorgen. Alle de gamle venner har svigtet hende.3Det judæiske folk blev mishandlet og ført bort som slaver. De vansmægter nu i det fremmede uden at finde hvile. De kunne ikke undslippe, da fjenden oversvømmede byen.4Efter at templet blev ødelagt, er det forbi med højtid og fest. Vejene op til Jerusalem er øde, og byens gader tomme. Præsterne sørger, pigerne græder, hele byen er fortvivlet.5Fjenderne gik af med sejren og plyndrede byen. Det var Herrens straf for al folkets ulydighed. Alle byens indbyggere blev ført bort som slaver.6Glansen er fuldstændig gået af den før så herlige by. Byens ledere var udhungrede som hjorte, der forgæves leder efter føde. De var for udmattede til at undslippe deres forfølgere.7Hjemløs og fattig sidder Jerusalem og mindes de skatte, hun[1] har mistet. Ingen af hendes venner kom hende til hjælp mod fjendens angreb. Hun blev hånet og spottet af den overlegne fjende.8Ingen vil længere se op til Jerusalem, som de gjorde engang. Hun blev ydmyget og plyndret på grund af sine mange synder. Nu sidder hun og jamrer, afklædt og skamfuld.9Jerusalem var utro mod Herren uden at tænke på følgerne. Hun fik en frygtelig straf, og der er ingen, der trøster hende. „Se min elendighed!” råber hun til Herren. „Min fjende foragter mig!”10Katastrofen er ikke til at bære, for alt er tabt. Ikke alene blev alle byens værdier plyndret, men fremmede folkeslag brød ind i templet og vanhelligede det.11Lidelsen ramte alle, som boede i byen. Hungersnøden tvang dem til at sælge deres sidste ejendele for lidt mad. Byen råber i sin nød: „Ak, Herre, se dog, hvor foragtet jeg er!12Mon der findes en større smerte end min? Hvad mener I, der står og ser på min ulykke? Det er jo Herren selv, der har sendt sin straf.13Nettet blev kastet ud over mig, og han fangede mig i fælden. Dommen kom ned fra himlen som en fortærende ild. Ensom og forladt sidder jeg her i min stadige pine.14Om halsen på mig ligger en byrde, som tynger mig til jorden. Alle mine synder har han lagt som et åg på mine skuldre. Jeg kunne intet gøre mod de mægtige fjender, han sendte.15På slagmarken ligger mine døde, tapre krigere. Han sendte en mægtig hær mod mine unge soldater. Han trampede på os, som man tramper druer i vinpersen.16Resultatet er en stadig strøm af tårer. Der er ingen til at trøste og hjælpe mig. Alt er håbløst, for fjenden har besejret os totalt.”17Selv om byen beder om nåde, er der ingen trøst at hente. Det var Herren, der befalede nabofolkene at gå imod Israel. De ser nu på Jerusalem som det værste skidt.18„Trods mine lidelser,” siger Jerusalem, „ved jeg, at Herrens dom var retfærdig, for vi gjorde oprør imod alle hans befalinger. Forstå min smerte, alle I folkeslag: Mine indbyggere er ført bort som slaver.19Uanset mit råb om hjælp blev jeg svigtet af mine nærmeste venner. Mine præster og ledere bukkede under for hungersnøden, forgæves søgte de efter mad nok til at overleve.20Vær mig nådig, Herre, for jeg erkender min synd. De, der vovede sig ud på gaden, blev dræbt af sværdet, men de, der blev inde i husene, bukkede under for sulten.21Ynkelige suk er alt, hvad jeg kan ytre, og der kommer ingen for at trøste mig. Mine fjender fryder sig over den dom, du har afsagt over mig. Gid du snart vil fælde dom over dem, ligesom du dømte mig.22Åh, Herre, glem ikke al deres ondskab! Straf dem, som du har straffet mig! Mit hjerte er fuldt af sorg, og jeg sukker konstant.”
1How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. (Ez 4,20; Præd 2,8; Es 31,8; Jer 7,34; Jer 15,8; Klag 5,16)2She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies. (Salm 6,6; Præd 4,1; Jer 9,1; Jer 13,17; Jer 22,22; Jer 30,14; Klag 1,9; Klag 1,16; Klag 1,19; Klag 1,21; Ez 23,22)3Judah has gone into exile because of affliction[1] and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.[2] (5.Mos 28,64; Jer 45,3; Jer 52,27; Klag 2,9)4The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted,[3] and she herself suffers bitterly. (Jer 14,2; Klag 1,8; Klag 1,11; Klag 1,21; Klag 2,6)5Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. (5.Mos 28,13; 5.Mos 28,44; 2.Krøn 36,17; 2.Krøn 36,20; Jer 12,1; Jer 13,21; Jer 30,14; Jer 52,28; Klag 1,12; Klag 3,33; Dan 9,16)6From the daughter of Zion all her majesty has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer. (Jer 14,6)7Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things that were hers from days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her, her foes gloated over her; they mocked at her downfall. (Salm 119,51; Jer 46,26; Klag 1,10; Klag 2,17; Ob 1,12)8Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away. (Klag 1,4; Klag 1,21; Ez 16,37; Zak 13,1)9Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future;[4] therefore her fall is terrible; she has no comforter. “O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!” (5.Mos 32,29; Es 47,7; Jer 13,22; Jer 48,26; Klag 1,2)10The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter your congregation. (5.Mos 23,3; Neh 13,1; Salm 79,1; Jer 51,51; Klag 1,7)11All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. “Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.” (Jer 38,9; Jer 52,6; Klag 1,8; Klag 1,10; Klag 1,19; Klag 2,12; Klag 4,4)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. (Job 21,29; Salm 80,12; Jer 12,13; Klag 1,5; Dan 9,12)13“From on high he sent fire; into my bones[5] he made it descend; he spread a net for my feet; he turned me back; he has left me stunned, faint all the day long. (Salm 9,15; Salm 102,3; Jer 8,18; Klag 3,11; Ez 12,13; Ez 17,20)14“My transgressions were bound[6] into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand. (5.Mos 28,48)15“The Lord rejected all my mighty men in my midst; he summoned an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord has trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah. (Es 63,2)16“For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed.” (Jer 13,17; Klag 1,2; Klag 1,11; Klag 1,21)17Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her; the Lord has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them. (Es 1,15; Jer 4,31; Klag 1,16)18“The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering; my young women and my young men have gone into captivity. (5.Mos 28,41; 1.Sam 12,14; Jer 12,1)19“I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength. (Klag 1,2; Klag 1,11)20“Look, O Lord, for I am in distress; 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. (5.Mos 32,25; Job 30,27; Es 16,11; Jer 15,2; Klag 2,11; Ez 7,15)21“They heard[7] my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought[8] the day you announced; now let them be as I am. (Jer 50,11; Klag 1,2; Klag 1,4; Klag 1,8; Klag 1,11; Klag 1,16; Klag 4,21)22“Let all their evildoing 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.” (Salm 109,14; Jer 8,18; Klag 1,12; Klag 1,21; Klag 2,20)