Lamentations 2

1 How the Lord has spread a cloud of his anger over the Daughter of Zion! He has thrown down Israel's glory from heaven to earth. He has deserted his Temple from the time he became angry.

How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of His anger! He has cast the glory of Israel from heaven to earth. He has abandoned His footstool in the day of His anger.

2 The Lord has destroyed without mercy all the places where the descendants of Jacob lived. In his anger he has torn down the fortresses of the Daughter of Judah. He has demolished and degraded the kingdom and its leaders.

Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob. In His wrath He has demolished the fortified cities of the Daughter of Judah. He brought to the ground and defiled her kingdom and its princes.

3 In his fury he has destroyed all of Israel's power, refusing to help as the enemy attacked. He was like a fire blazing in the land of Jacob, burning everything up.

In fierce anger He has cut off every horn of Israel and withdrawn His right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it.

4 He has fired arrows from his bow as if he were their enemy; he has used his power against them like an attacker. He has killed all the beloved children; he has poured out his anger like fire on the tent of the Daughter of Zion.

He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned. Like a foe He has killed all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire on the tent of the Daughter of Zion.

5 The Lord has become like an enemy, completely destroying Israel and its palaces, demolishing its fortresses, making the Daughter of Judah cry and mourn more and more.

The 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 the Daughter of Judah.

6 He has torn down his Temple as if was a garden shed; he has destroyed his meeting place. The Lord has made Zion forget about her religious festivals and Sabbaths. In his fury he has disowned both king and priest.

He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has despised both king and priest.

7 The Lord has discarded his altar; he has abandoned his Temple. He has handed it over to the enemy. They were shouting triumphantly in the Lord's Temple just as worshipers did on festival days.

The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.

8 The Lord was determined to destroy the defensive walls of the Daughter of Zion. He measured out what he would destroy, and didn't hesitate to do it. He made the battlements and walls weep; they both disintegrated.

The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together they waste away.

9 Her gates have collapsed to the ground; he has destroyed their bars, breaking them apart. Her king and her princes have been exiled to other countries. No one follows the Law anymore, and even her prophets no longer receive visions from the Lord.

Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.

10 The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust over their heads and put on clothes made of sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed down, their heads to the ground.

The 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.

11 My eyes are worn out from crying; inside I am in turmoil. I'm sick and exhausted over the destruction of Jerusalem, the daughter of my people, because children and infants are fainting in the city streets.

My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

12 They cry out to their mothers, “We need food and drink!” fainting in the city streets as if they're wounded, their lives fading away in their mothers' arms.

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 tell you? What shall I compare you to, Daughter of Jerusalem? What can I say you're like in order to comfort you, virgin Daughter of Zion? For your wound gapes as wide as the sea—who could ever heal you?

What can I say for you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may console you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? For your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can ever heal you?

14 The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they didn't point out your guilt to prevent you being taken into captivity. Instead they presented to you visions that were false and deceptive.

The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.

15 Everyone who passes by mock you, clapping their hands, hissing and shaking their heads in scorn at the Daughter of Jerusalem. “Is this really the city that people called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” they ask.

All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”

16 All your enemies open their mouths at you, hissing and gnashing their teeth, “We've swallowed her up! This is the day we've been waiting for. Now it's here and we've seen it happen!”

All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”

17 The Lord has achieved what he decided; he has done what he warned he would. Just as he determined to do long ago, he has destroyed you, showing no mercy. He has allowed the enemy gloat over your defeat, and he has given power to those who attack you.

The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and exalted the horn of your foes.

18 The people cry out to the Lord from the bottom of their hearts. Daughter of Zion, let your walls stream down with tears like a river all day and night. Don't stop, go on crying!

The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. O wall of the Daughter of Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief, and your eyes no rest.

19 Get up and cry out as the night begins. Pour out your sad thoughts like water before the Lord. Hold up your hands to him in prayer for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger at every street corner.

Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. 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 are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street.

20 Lord, please think about it! Who have you ever treated this way? Should women have to eat their children, the little ones they love? Should priests and prophets be killed in the Lord's Temple?

Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?

21 The dead, young and old, lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and young women, have been killed by the sword. You killed them when you were angry; you have slaughtered them without mercy.

Both young and old lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger; You have slaughtered them without compassion.

22 You invited enemies to attack me from every direction like you were inviting them to a religious festival. At the time when the Lord was angry nobody escaped, nobody survived. My enemy has destroyed the children I looked after and loved.

You summoned my attackers on every side, as for the day of an appointed feast. In the day of the LORD’s anger no one escaped or survived; my enemy has destroyed those I nurtured and reared.