1How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud! He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger. (1Ch 28:2; Isa 14:15; La 3:44; Mt 11:23)2The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers. (Ps 35:25; Ps 56:2; Ps 74:7; Ps 89:40; Isa 43:28; La 2:16; La 2:17; La 2:21; La 3:43; Eze 9:5; Eze 9:10; Eze 36:3)3He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of Israel; he has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy; he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all around. (1Sa 2:1; Ps 74:11; Ps 79:5; Ps 89:46; Jer 12:13)4He has bent his bow like an enemy, with his right hand set like a foe; and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he has poured out his fury like fire. (Jer 30:14; La 3:12)5The Lord has become like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel; he has swallowed up all its palaces; he has laid in ruins its strongholds, and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. (2Ki 25:9; Ps 35:25; Ps 56:2; Isa 29:2; La 2:4; La 2:16; Eze 36:3)6He has laid waste his booth like a garden, laid in ruins his meeting place; the Lord has made Zion forget festival and Sabbath, and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest. (Isa 1:13; La 1:4; Zep 3:18)7The Lord has scorned his altar, disowned his sanctuary; he has delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord as on the day of festival. (De 32:30; Ps 74:4; Ps 89:38; Eze 24:21)8The Lord determined to lay in ruins the wall of the daughter of Zion; he stretched out the measuring line; he did not restrain his hand from destroying; he caused rampart and wall to lament; they languished together. (2Ki 21:13; Jer 5:10; Jer 14:2; La 2:18)9Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her bars; her king and princes are among the nations; the law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from the Lord. (Ps 74:9; Jer 51:30; Ho 3:4; Na 3:13)10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; the young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. (Jos 7:6; Isa 3:26; Jer 4:8; Jer 48:37; La 1:1; La 3:28; Eze 3:15; Eze 7:18; Am 8:10)11My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city. (Job 16:13; Ps 6:7; Isa 51:20; Jer 44:7; La 1:20; La 2:18; La 2:19; La 3:48; La 4:4; La 5:17)12They cry to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” as they faint like a wounded man in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers’ bosom. (La 1:11; La 2:11)13What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is vast as the sea; who can heal you? (2Sa 5:20; La 1:12; Eze 26:3)14Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading. (Isa 58:1; Jer 5:31; Jer 23:33; Jer 30:3)15All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” (2Ch 29:8; Ps 48:2; Eze 16:14)16All your enemies rail against you; they hiss, they gnash their teeth, they cry: “We have swallowed her! Ah, this is the day we longed for; now we have it; we see it!” (Job 16:9; Ps 35:21; La 2:2; La 3:46)17The Lord has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago; he has thrown down without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes. (Le 26:14; De 28:15; Ps 38:16; Ps 89:42; Jer 46:26; La 1:7; La 2:2; La 2:3; La 2:21)18Their heart cried to the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite! (Ps 17:8; Ps 32:4; Ps 42:3; Ps 77:2; La 2:8; La 2:11)19“Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night 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.” (1Sa 7:6; Ps 62:8; Ps 119:147; La 2:11; 1Ti 2:8)20Look, O Lord, and see! With whom have you dealt thus? Should women eat the fruit of their womb, the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? (Jer 19:9; La 1:22; La 2:22; La 4:10; La 4:13)21In the dust of the streets lie the young and the old; my young women and my young men have fallen by the sword; you have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without pity. (2Ch 36:17; La 2:2; La 2:17; La 3:43)22You summoned as if to a festival day my terrors on every side, and on the day of the anger of the Lord no one escaped or survived; those whom I held and raised my enemy destroyed. (Jer 6:25; Jer 42:17; Jer 44:14; La 2:6; La 2:20)
Lamentations 2
New International Version
1[1] How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion with the cloud of his anger[2]! He has hurled down the splendour of Israel from heaven to earth; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.2Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob; in his wrath he has torn down the strongholds of Daughter Judah. He has brought her kingdom and its princes down to the ground in dishonour.3In fierce anger he has cut off every horn[3] of Israel. He has withdrawn his right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it.4Like an enemy he has strung his bow; his right hand is ready. Like a foe he has slain all who were pleasing to the eye; he has poured out his wrath like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion.5The Lord is like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for Daughter Judah.6He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden; he has destroyed his place of meeting. The Lord has made Zion forget her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths; in his fierce anger he has spurned both king and priest.7The Lord has rejected his altar and abandoned his sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hands of the enemy; they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord as on the day of an appointed festival.8The Lord determined to tear down the wall around Daughter Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withhold his hand from destroying. He made ramparts and walls lament; together they wasted away.9Her gates have sunk into the ground; their bars he has broken and destroyed. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the Lord.10The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.11My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.12They say to their mothers, ‘Where is bread and wine?’ as they faint like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their lives ebb away in their mothers’ arms.13What can I say for you? With what can I compare you, Daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, Virgin Daughter Zion? Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?14The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading.15All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem: ‘Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?’16All your enemies open their mouths wide against you; they scoff and gnash their teeth and say, ‘We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for; we have lived to see it.’17The Lord has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn[5] of your foes.18The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. You walls of Daughter Zion, let your tears flow like a river day and night; give yourself no relief, your eyes no rest.19Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at every street corner.20‘Look, Lord, and consider: whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?21‘Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets; my young men and young women have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered them without pity.22‘As you summon to a feast day, so you summoned against me terrors on every side. In the day of the Lord’s anger no-one escaped or survived; those I cared for and reared my enemy has destroyed.’
Lamentations 2
King James Version
1How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!2The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.3He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.4He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.5The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.6And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.7The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.8The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.9Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more ; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.11Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.12They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers'bosom.13What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?14Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.15All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?16All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it .17The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.18Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.19Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.20Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?21The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.22Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD' anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
Lamentations 2
New International Reader’s Version
1See how the Lord covered the city of Zion with the cloud of his anger! He threw Israel’s glory down from heaven to earth. When he was angry, he turned his back on his own city.2Without pity the Lord swallowed up all the homes of Jacob’s people. When he was angry, he tore down the forts of the people of Judah. He brought down their kingdom and princes to the ground in dishonour.3When he was very angry, he took away Israel’s power. He pulled back his powerful right hand as the enemy approached. His burning anger blazed out in Jacob’s land. It burned everything near it.4Like an enemy the Lord got his bow ready to use. He had a sword in his right hand. Like an enemy he destroyed everything that used to be pleasing to him. His anger blazed out like fire. It burned the homes in the city of Zion.5The Lord was like an enemy. He swallowed up Israel. He swallowed up all of its palaces. He destroyed its forts. He filled the people of Judah with sorrow and sadness.6The LORD’s temple was like a garden. But he completely destroyed it. He destroyed the place where he used to meet with his people. He made Zion’s people forget their appointed feasts and Sabbath days. When he was very angry, he turned his back on king and priest alike.7The Lord deserted his altar. He left his temple. He gave the walls of Jerusalem’s palaces into the hands of her enemies. They shouted loudly in the house of the LORD. You would have thought it was the day of an appointed feast.8The LORD decided to tear down the walls around the city of Zion. He measured out what he wanted to destroy. Then he destroyed Jerusalem by his power. He made even her towers and walls sing songs of sadness. All of them fell down.9Her gates sank down into the ground. He broke the metal bars that locked her gates, and he destroyed them. Her king and princes were taken away to other nations. There is no law anymore. Jerusalem’s prophets no longer receive visions from the LORD.10The elders of the city of Zion sit silently on the ground. They have sprinkled dust on their heads. They’ve put on the clothes of sadness. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads towards the ground.11I’ve cried so much I can’t see very well. I’m suffering deep down inside. My heart is broken because my people are destroyed. Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city.12They say to their mothers, ‘Where can we find something to eat and drink?’ They faint like wounded soldiers in the streets of the city. Their lives are slipping away in their mothers’ arms.13City of Jerusalem, what can I say about you? What can I compare you to? People of Zion, what are you like? I want to comfort you. Your wound is as deep as the ocean. Who can heal you?14The visions of your prophets were lies. They weren’t worth anything. They didn’t show you the sins you had committed. So that’s why you were captured. The messages they gave you were lies. They led you astray.15All those who pass by clap their hands and make fun of you. They laugh at you and shake their heads at the city of Jerusalem. They say, ‘Could that be the city that was called perfect and beautiful? Is that the city that brought joy to everyone on earth?’16All your enemies open their mouths wide against you. They laugh at you and grind their teeth. They say, ‘We have swallowed up Jerusalem’s people. This is the day we’ve waited for. And we’ve lived to see it.’17The LORD has done what he planned to do. He has made what he said come true. He gave the command long ago. He has destroyed you without pity. He has let your enemies laugh at you. He has made them stronger than you are.18People in the city of Zion, cry out from your heart to the Lord. Let your tears flow like a river day and night. Don’t stop at all. Don’t give your eyes any rest.19Get up. Cry out as the night begins. Tell the Lord all your troubles. Lift up your hands to him. Pray that the lives of your children will be spared. At every street corner they faint because they are so hungry.20Jerusalem says, ‘LORD, look at me. Think about my condition. Have you ever treated anyone else like this? Should women have to eat their babies? Should they eat the children they’ve taken care of? Should priests and prophets be killed in your own temple?21‘Young people and old people alike lie dead in the dust of my streets. My young men and women have been killed by swords. You killed them when you were angry. You put them to death without pity.22‘You sent for terrors to come against me on every side. It was as if you were inviting people to enjoy a feast day. Because you were angry, no one escaped. No one was left alive. I took good care of my children and brought them up. But my enemies have destroyed them.’