1The city of Jerusalem is so empty! She used to be full of people. But now she’s like a woman whose husband has died. She used to be great among the nations. She was like a queen among the kingdoms. But now she is a slave.2Jerusalem weeps bitterly at night. Tears run down her cheeks. None of her friends comforts her. All those who were going to help her have turned against her. They have become her enemies.3After Judah’s people had suffered greatly, they were taken away as prisoners. Now they live among the nations. They can’t find any place to rest. All those who were chasing them have caught up with them. And they can’t get away.4The roads to Zion are empty. No one travels to her appointed feasts. All the public places near her gates are deserted. Her priests groan. Her young women are sad. And Zion herself weeps bitterly.5Her enemies have become her masters. They have an easy life. The LORD has brought suffering to Jerusalem because her people have committed so many sins. Her children have been taken away as prisoners. Her enemies have forced her people to leave their homes.6The city of Zion used to be full of glory. But now her glory has faded away. Her princes are like deer. They can’t find anything to eat. They are almost too weak to get away from those who hunt them down.7Jerusalem’s people are suffering and wandering. They remember all the treasures they used to have. But they fell into the hands of their enemies. And no one was there to help them. Their enemies looked at them. They laughed because Jerusalem had been destroyed.8Her people have committed many sins. They have become impure. All those who honoured Jerusalem now look down on her. They all look at her as if she were a naked woman. The city groans and turns away in shame.9Her skirts are dirty. She didn’t think about how things might turn out. Her fall from power amazed everyone. And no one was there to comfort her. She said, ‘LORD, please pay attention to how much I’m suffering. My enemies have won the battle over me.’10Jerusalem’s enemies took away all her treasures. Her people saw outsiders enter her temple. The LORD had commanded them not to do that.11All Jerusalem’s people groan as they search for bread. They trade their treasures for food just to stay alive. Jerusalem says, ‘LORD, look at me. Think about my condition. Everyone looks down on me.’12Jerusalem also says, ‘All you who are passing by, don’t you care about what has happened to me? Just look at my condition. Has anyone suffered the way I have? The LORD has brought all this on me. He has made me suffer. His anger has burned against me.13‘He sent down fire from heaven. It went deep down into my bones. He spread a net to catch me by the feet. He stopped me right where I was. He made me empty. I am ill all the time.14‘My sins have been made into a heavy yoke. They were woven together by his hands. They have been placed on my neck. The Lord has taken away my strength. He has handed me over to my enemies. I can’t win the battle over them.15‘The Lord has refused to accept any of my soldiers. He has sent for an army to crush my young men. I am like grapes in the Lord’s winepress. He has trampled on me, even though I am his very own.16‘That’s why I am weeping. Tears are flowing from my eyes. No one is near to comfort me. No one can heal my spirit. My children don’t have anything. My enemies are much too strong for me.’17Zion reaches out her hands. But no one is there to comfort her people. The LORD has ordered that the neighbours of Jacob’s people would become their enemies. Jerusalem has become impure among them.18Jerusalem says, ‘The LORD always does what is right. But I refused to obey his commands. Listen, all you nations. Pay attention to how much I’m suffering. My young men and women have been taken away as prisoners.19‘I called out to those who were going to help me. But they turned against me. My priests and elders died in the city. They were searching for food just to stay alive.20‘LORD, see how upset I am! I am suffering deep down inside. My heart is troubled. Again and again I have refused to obey you. Outside the city, people are being killed by swords. Inside, there is nothing but death.21‘People have heard me groan. But no one is here to comfort me. My enemies have heard about all my troubles. What you have done makes them happy. So please judge them, just as you said you would. Let them become like me.22‘Please pay attention to all their sinful ways. Punish them as you have punished me. You judged me because I had committed so many sins. I groan all the time. And my heart is weak.’
Lamentations 1
English Standard Version
How Lonely Sits the City
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. (Ezr 4:20; Ec 2:8; Isa 31:8; Jer 7:34; Jer 15:8; La 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. (Ps 6:6; Ec 4:1; Jer 9:1; Jer 13:17; Jer 22:22; Jer 30:14; La 1:9; La 1:16; La 1:19; La 1:21; Eze 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] (De 28:64; Jer 45:3; Jer 52:27; La 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; La 1:8; La 1:11; La 1:21; La 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. (De 28:13; De 28:44; 2Ch 36:17; 2Ch 36:20; Jer 12:1; Jer 13:21; Jer 30:14; Jer 52:28; La 1:12; La 3:33; Da 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. (Ps 119:51; Jer 46:26; La 1:10; La 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. (La 1:4; La 1:21; Eze 16:37; Zec 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!” (De 32:29; Isa 47:7; Jer 13:22; Jer 48:26; La 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. (De 23:3; Ne 13:1; Ps 79:1; Jer 51:51; La 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; La 1:8; La 1:10; La 1:19; La 2:12; La 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; Ps 80:12; Jer 12:13; La 1:5; Da 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. (Ps 9:15; Ps 102:3; Jer 8:18; La 3:11; Eze 12:13; Eze 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. (De 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. (Isa 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; La 1:2; La 1:11; La 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. (Isa 1:15; Jer 4:31; La 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. (De 28:41; 1Sa 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. (La 1:2; La 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. (De 32:25; Job 30:27; Isa 16:11; Jer 15:2; La 2:11; Eze 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; La 1:2; La 1:4; La 1:8; La 1:11; La 1:16; La 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.” (Ps 109:14; Jer 8:18; La 1:12; La 1:21; La 2:20)