Lamentations
Chapter One
1 ¶ How lonely sits
the city That was full of people! How like a widow is she, Who was great among
the nations! The princess among the provinces Has become a slave!
2 She weeps bitterly in the night, Her tears are 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.
3 Judah has gone into captivity, Under affliction and hard servitude; She dwells
among the nations, She finds no rest; All her persecutors overtake her in dire
straits.
4 The roads to Zion mourn Because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates
are desolate; Her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted, And she is in bitterness.
5 Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD
has afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children
have gone into captivity before the enemy.
6 And from the daughter of Zion All her splendor has departed. Her princes have
become like deer That find no pasture, That flee without strength Before the
pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant
things That she had in the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of
the enemy, With no one to help her, The adversaries saw her And mocked at her
downfall.
8 Jerusalem has sinned gravely, Therefore she has become vile. All who honored
her despise her Because they have seen her nakedness; Yes, she sighs and turns
away.
9 Her uncleanness is in her skirts; She did not consider her destiny; Therefore
her collapse was awesome; She had no comforter. "O LORD, behold my affliction,
For the enemy is exalted!"
10 The adversary has spread his hand Over all her pleasant things; For she has
seen the nations enter her sanctuary, Those whom You commanded Not to enter
Your assembly.
11 All her people sigh, They seek bread; They have given their valuables for
food to restore life. "See, O LORD, and consider, For I am scorned."
12 ¶ "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see If
there is any sorrow like my sorrow, Which has been brought on me, Which the
LORD has inflicted In the day of His fierce anger.
13 "From above He has sent fire into my bones, And it overpowered them;
He has spread a net for my feet And turned me back; He has made me desolate
And faint all the day.
14 "The yoke of my transgressions was bound; They were woven together by
His hands, And thrust upon my neck. He made my strength fail; The Lord delivered
me into the hands of those whom I am not able to withstand.
15 "The Lord has trampled underfoot all my mighty men in my midst; He has
called an assembly against me To crush my young men; The Lord trampled as in
a winepress The virgin daughter of Judah.
16 "For these things I weep; My eye, my eye overflows with water; Because
the comforter, who should restore my life, Is far from me. My children are desolate
Because the enemy prevailed."
17 Zion spreads out her hands, But no one comforts her; The LORD has commanded
concerning Jacob That those around him become his adversaries; Jerusalem has
become an unclean thing among them.
18 "The LORD is righteous, For I rebelled against His commandment. Hear
now, all peoples, And behold my sorrow; My virgins and my young men Have gone
into captivity.
19 "I called for my lovers, But they deceived me; My priests and my elders
Breathed their last in the city, While they sought food To restore their life.
20 "See, O LORD, that I am in distress; My soul is troubled; My heart is
overturned within me, For I have been very rebellious. Outside the sword bereaves,
At home it is like death.
21 "They have heard that I sigh, But no one comforts me. All my enemies
have heard of my trouble; They are glad that You have done it. Bring on the
day You have announced, That they may become like me.
22 "Let all their wickedness come before You, And do to them as You have
done to me For all my transgressions; For my sighs are many, And my heart is
faint."
Go to Chapter Two
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