Category: Lamentations

Lament over Jerusalem

1 Howshe sits alone,

the cityonce crowded with people!

She who was great among the nations

has become like a widow.

The princess among the provinces

has been put to forced labor.

2 She weeps aloud during the night,

with tears on her cheeks.

There is no one to offer her comfort,

not one from all her lovers.

All her friends have betrayed her;

they have become her enemies.

3 Judah has gone into exile

followingaffliction and harsh slavery;

she lives among the nations

but finds no place to rest.

All her pursuers have overtaken her

in narrow places.

4 The roads to Zionmourn,

for no one comes to the appointed festivals.

All her gates are deserted;

her priests groan,

her young women grieve,

and she herself is bitter.

5 Her adversaries have become her masters;

her enemies are at ease,

for theLordhas made her suffer

because of her many transgressions.

Her children have gone away

as captives before the adversary.

6 All her splendorhas vanished

from Daughter Zion.

Her leaders are like stags

that find no pasture;

they walk away exhausted

before the hunter.

7 During the days of her affliction and homelessness

Jerusalem remembers all her precious belongings

that were hers in days of old.

When her people fell into the adversary’s hand,

she had no one to help.

The adversaries looked at her,

laughing over her downfall.

8 Jerusalem has sinned grievously;

therefore, she has become an object of scorn.

All who honored her now despise her,

for they have seen her nakedness.

She herself groans and turns away.

9 Her uncleanness stains her skirts.

She never considered her end.

Her downfall was astonishing;

there was no one to comfort her.

Lord, look on my affliction,

for the enemy triumphs!

10 The adversary has seized

all her precious belongings.

She has even seen the nations

enter her sanctuary —

those You had forbidden

to enter Your assembly.

11 All her people groan

while they search for bread.

They have traded their precious belongings for food

in order to stay alive.

Lord, look and see

how I have become despised.

12 Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by?

Look and see!

Is there any pain like mine,

which was dealt out to me,

which theLordmade me suffer

on the day of His burning anger?

13 He sent fire from heaveninto my bones;

He made it descend.

He spread a net for my feet

and turned me back.

He made me desolate,

sick all day long.

14 My transgressions have been formed into a yoke,

fastened together by His hand;

they have been placed on my neck,

and the Lord has broken my strength.

He has handed me over

to those I cannot withstand.

15 The Lord has rejected

all the mighty men within me.

He has summoned an armyagainst me

to crush my young warriors.

The Lord has trampled Virgin Daughter Judah

like grapes in a winepress.

16 I weep because of these things;

my eyes flowwith tears.

For there is no one nearby to comfort me,

no one to keep me alive.

My children are desolate

because the enemy has prevailed.

17 Zion stretches out her hands;

there is no one to comfort her.

TheLordhas issued a decree against Jacob

that his neighbors should be his adversaries.

Jerusalem has become

something impureamong them.

18 TheLordis just,

for I have rebelled against His command.

Listen, all you people;

look at my pain.

My young men and women

have gone into captivity.

19 I called to my lovers,

but they betrayed me.

My priests and elders

perished in the city

while searching for food

to keep themselves alive.

20 Lord, see how I am in distress.

I am churning within;

my heart is broken,

for I have been very rebellious.

Outside, the sword takes the children;

inside, there is death.

21 People have heard me groaning,

but there is no one to comfort me.

All my enemies have heard of my misfortune;

they are glad that You have caused it.

Bring on the day You have announced,

so that they may become like me.

22 Let all their wickedness come before You,

and deal with them

as You have dealt with me

because of all my transgressions.

For my groans are many,

and I am sick at heart.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/LAM/1-9a68b9cf88436c09a81ad55e6cff0cf7.mp3?version_id=72—

Judgment on Jerusalem

1 How the Lord has overshadowed

Daughter Zion with His anger!

He has thrown down Israel’s glory

from heaven to earth.

He has abandoned His footstool

in the day of His anger.

2 Without compassionthe Lord has swallowed up

all the dwellings of Jacob.

In His wrath He has demolished

the fortified citiesof Daughter Judah.

He brought them to the ground

and defiled the kingdom and its leaders.

3 He has cut off every hornof Israel

in His burning anger

and withdrawn His right hand

in the presence of the enemy.

He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire

that consumes everything.

4 He has bent His bow like an enemy;

His right hand is positioned like an adversary.

He has killed everyone who was loved,

pouring out His wrath like fire

on the tent of Daughter Zion.

5 The Lord is like an enemy;

He has swallowed up Israel.

He swallowed up all its palaces

and destroyed its fortified cities.

He has multiplied mourning and lamentation

within Daughter Judah.

6 He has done violence to His temple

as if it were a garden booth,

destroying His place of meeting.

TheLordhas abolished

appointed festivals and Sabbaths in Zion.

He has despised king and priest

in His fierce anger.

7 The Lord has rejected His altar,

repudiated His sanctuary;

He has handed the walls of her palaces

over to the enemy.

They have raised a shout in the house of theLord

as on the day of an appointed festival.

8 TheLorddetermined to destroy

the wall of Daughter Zion.

He stretched out a measuring line

and did not restrain Himself from destroying.

He made the ramparts and walls grieve;

together they waste away.

9 Zion’s gates have fallen to the ground;

He has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.

Her king and her leaders live among the nations,

instructionis no more,

and even her prophets receive

no vision from theLord.

10 The elders of Daughter 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.

11 My eyes are worn out from weeping;

I am churning within.

My heart is poured out in grief

because of the destruction of my dear people,

because children and infants faint

in the streets of the city.

12 They cry out to their mothers:

Where is the grain and wine?

as they faint like the wounded

in the streets of the city,

as their lives fade away

in the arms of their mothers.

13 What can I say on your behalf?

What can I compare you to, Daughter Jerusalem?

What can I liken you to,

so that I may console you, Virgin Daughter Zion?

For your ruin is as vast as the sea.

Who can heal you?

14 Your prophets saw visions for you

that were empty and deceptive;

they did not reveal your guilt

and so restore your fortunes.

They saw oracles for you

that were empty and misleading.

15 All who pass by

scornfully clap their handsat you.

They mockand shake their heads

at Daughter Jerusalem:

Is this the city that was called

the perfection of beauty,

the joy of the whole earth?

16 All your enemies

open their mouths against you.

They hiss and gnash their teeth,

saying, “We have swallowed her up.

This is the day we have waited for!

We have lived to see it.”

17 TheLordhas done what He planned;

He has accomplished His decree,

which He ordained in days of old.

He has demolished without compassion,

letting the enemy gloat over you

and exalting the horn of your adversaries.

18 The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord.

Wall of Daughter Zion,

let your tears run down like a river

day and night.

Give yourself no relief

and youreyes no rest.

19 Arise, cry out in the night

from the first watch of the night.

Pour out your heart like water

before the Lord’s presence.

Lift up your hands to Him

for the lives of your children

who are fainting from hunger

on the corner of every street.

20 Lord, look and consider

who You have done this to.

Should women eat their own children,

the infants they have nurtured?

Should priests and prophets

be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?

21 Both young and old

are lying on the ground in the streets.

My young men and women

have fallen by the sword.

You have killed them in the day of Your anger,

slaughtering without compassion.

22 You summoned my attackerson every side,

as if for an appointed festival day;

on the day of theLord’s anger

no one escaped or survived.

My enemy has destroyed

those I nurturedand reared.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/LAM/2-6a175bf4ea942f09333476183d8b3476.mp3?version_id=72—

Hope through God’s Mercy

1 I am the man who has seen affliction

under the rod of God’s wrath.

2 He has driven me away and forced me to walk

in darkness instead of light.

3 Yes, He repeatedly turns His hand

against me all day long.

4 He has worn away my flesh and skin;

He has shattered my bones.

5 He has laid siege against me,

encircling me with bitterness and hardship.

6 He has made me dwell in darkness

like those who have been dead for ages.

7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;

He has weighed me down with chains.

8 Even when I cry out and plead for help,

He rejects my prayer.

9 He has walled in my ways with cut stones;

He has made my paths crooked.

10 He isa bear waiting in ambush,

a lion in hiding.

11 He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces;

He left me desolate.

12 He strung His bow

and set me as the target for His arrow.

13 He pierced my kidneys

with His arrows.

14 I am a laughingstockto all my people,

mocked by their songsall day long.

15 He filled me with bitterness,

satiated me with wormwood.

16 He ground my teeth on gravel

and made me cowerin the dust.

17 My soul has been deprivedof peace;

I have forgotten what happiness is.

18 Then I thought: My futureis lost,

as well as my hope from theLord.

19 Remembermy affliction and my homelessness,

the wormwood and the poison.

20 I continually remember them

and have become depressed.

21 Yet I call this to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of theLord’s faithful love

we do not perish,

for His mercies never end.

23 They are new every morning;

great is Your faithfulness!

24 I say: TheLordis my portion,

therefore I will put my hope in Him.

25 TheLordis good to those who waitfor Him,

to the person who seeks Him.

26 It is good to wait quietly

for deliverance from theLord.

27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke

while he is still young.

28 Let him sit alone and be silent,

for God has disciplined him.

29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—

perhaps there is still hope.

30 Let him offer his cheek

to the one who would strike him;

let him be filled with shame.

31 For the Lord

will not reject us forever.

32 Even if He causes suffering,

He will show compassion

according to His abundant, faithful love.

33 For He does not enjoy bringing affliction

or suffering on mankind.

34 Crushing all the prisoners of the land

beneath one’s feet,

35 denying justice to a man

in the presence of the Most High,

36 or suppressing a person’s lawsuit—

the Lord does not approve of these things.

37 Who is there who speaks and it happens,

unless the Lord has ordained it?

38 Do not both adversity and good

come from the mouth of the Most High?

39 Why should any living person complain,

any man, because of the punishment for his sins?

40 Let us search out and examine our ways,

and turn back to theLord.

41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands

to God in heaven:

42 We have sinned and rebelled;

You have not forgiven.

43 You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us;

You have killed without compassion.

44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud

so that no prayer can pass through.

45 You have made us disgusting filth

among the peoples.

46 All our enemies

open their mouths against us.

47 We have experienced panic and pitfall,

devastation and destruction.

48 My eyes flow with streams of tears

because of the destruction of my dear people.

49 My eyes overflow unceasingly,

without end,

50 until theLordlooks down

from heaven and sees.

51 My eyes bring me grief

because of the fate of all the women in my city.

52 For no apparent reason, my enemies

hunted me like a bird.

53 They dropped me alive intoa pit

and threw stones at me.

54 Water flooded over my head,

and I thought: I’m going to die!

55 I called on Your name, Yahweh,

from the depths of the Pit.

56 You hear my plea:

Do not ignore my cry for relief.

57 You come near when I call on You;

You say: “Do not be afraid.”

58 You defend my cause, Lord;

You redeem my life.

59 Lord, You see the wrong done to me;

judge my case.

60 You see all their malice,

all their plots against me.

61 Lord, You hear their insults,

all their plots against me.

62 The slanderand murmuring of my opponents

attack me all day long.

63 When they sit and when they rise, look,

I am mocked by their songs.

64 You will pay them back what they deserve,Lord,

according to the work of their hands.

65 You will give them a heart filled with anguish.

May Your curse be on them!

66 You will pursue them in anger and destroy them

under Your heavens.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/LAM/3-2dfea10e761bea18dc120d099e5e6e63.mp3?version_id=72—

Terrors of the Besieged City

1 How the gold has become tarnished,

the fine gold become dull!

The stones of the templelie scattered

at the corner of every street.

2 Zion’s precious people —

once worth their weight in pure gold—

how they are regarded as clay jars,

the work of a potter’s hands!

3 Even jackals offer their breasts

to nurse their young,

but my dear people have become cruel

like ostrichesin the wilderness.

4 The nursing infant’s tongue

clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.

Little children beg for bread,

but no one gives them any.

5 Those who used to eat delicacies

are destitute in the streets;

those who were reared in purple garments

huddle in garbage heaps.

6 The punishment of my dear people

is greater than that of Sodom,

which was overthrown in an instant

without a hand laid on it.

7 Her dignitaries were brighter than snow,

whiter than milk;

their bodieswere more ruddy than coral,

their appearance like sapphire.

8 Now they appear darker than soot;

they are not recognized in the streets.

Their skin has shriveled on their bones;

it has become dry like wood.

9 Those slain by the sword are better off

than those slain by hunger,

who waste away, pierced with pain

because the fields lack produce.

10 The hands of compassionate women

have cooked their own children;

they became their food

during the destruction of my dear people.

11 TheLordhas exhausted His wrath,

poured out His burning anger;

He has ignited a fire in Zion,

and it has consumed her foundations.

12 The kings of the earth

and all the world’s inhabitants did not believe

that an enemy or adversary

could enter Jerusalem’s gates.

13 Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets

and the guilt of her priests,

who shed the blood of the righteous

within her.

14 Blind, they stumbled in the streets,

defiled by this blood,

so that no one dared

to touch their garments.

15 “Stay away! Unclean! ” people shouted at them.

“Away, away! Don’t touch us! ”

So they wandered aimlessly.

It was said among the nations,

“They can stay here no longer.”

16 TheLordHimself has scattered them;

He regards them no more.

The priests are not respected;

the elders find no favor.

17 All the while our eyes were failing

as we looked in vain for assistance;

we watched from our towers

for a nationthat refused to help.

18 Our steps were closely followed

so that we could not walk in our streets.

Our end drew near;our time ran out.

Our end had come!

19 Those who chased us were swifter

than eagles in the sky;

they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains

and ambushed us in the wilderness.

20 TheLord’s anointed,the breath of our life,

was captured in their traps.

We had said about him,

“We will live under his protection among the nations.”

21 So rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,

you resident of the land of Uz!

Yet the cupwill pass to you as well;

you will get drunk and expose yourself.

22 Daughter Zion, your punishment is complete;

He will not lengthen your exile.

But He will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom,

and will expose your sins.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/LAM/4-98c29cfc0cf7943a09ddc13061e28c08.mp3?version_id=72—

Prayer for Restoration

1 Yahweh, remember what has happened to us.

Look, and see our disgrace!

2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

our houses to foreigners.

3 We have become orphans, fatherless;

our mothers are widows.

4 We must pay for the water we drink;

our wood comes at a price.

5 We are closely pursued;

we are tired, and no one offers us rest.

6 We made a treaty withEgypt

and with Assyria, to get enough food.

7 Our fathers sinned; they no longer exist,

but we bear their punishment.

8 Slaves rule over us;

no one rescues us from their hands.

9 We secure our food at the risk of our lives

because of the sword in the wilderness.

10 Our skin is as hotas an oven

from the ravages of hunger.

11 Women are raped in Zion,

girls in the cities of Judah.

12 Princes are hung up by their hands;

elders are shown no respect.

13 Young men labor at millstones;

boys stumble under loads of wood.

14 The elders have left the city gate,

the young men, their music.

15 Joy has left our hearts;

our dancing has turned to mourning.

16 The crown has fallen from our head.

Woe to us, for we have sinned.

17 Because of this, our heart is sick;

because of these, our eyes grow dim:

18 because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate

and has jackals prowling in it.

19 You,Lord, are enthroned forever;

Your throne endures from generation to generation.

20 Why have You forgotten us forever,

abandoned us for our entire lives?

21 Lord, restore us to Yourself, so we may return;

renew our days as in former times,

22 unless You have completely rejected us

and are intensely angry with us.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/LAM/5-770b2c681fd676f662ff20fc6d45564c.mp3?version_id=72—