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 could My Lord, in his anger, enshroud in gloom, the daughter of Zion? have cast from the heavens to the earth, the beauty of Israel? and not have remembered 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.
My Lord hath swallowed up—without pity—all the pastures of Jacob, hath laid waste—in his indignation—the strongholds of the daughter of Judah, hath brought them down to the ground, —hath profaned the kingdom, and the princes thereof.
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.
He hath broken off—in the glow of his anger—the whole horn of Israel, hath turned back his right hand, from the face of the foe, —and hath kindled against Jacob, a very fire of flame, devouring round about.
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 hath trodden his bow like a foe, his right hand erect as an adversary, and hath slain all them who delighted the eye, —In the home of the daughter of Zion, hath he poured out, as fire, his indignation.
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.
My Lord hath become like a foe, hath swallowed up Israel, hath swallowed up all her castles, ruined his strongholds, —and hath caused to abound, in the daughter of Judah, lamentation and mourning.
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.
Thus hath he destroyed, like a garden, his pavilion, hath laid waste his place of assembly, —Yahweh, hath caused to be forgotten, in Zion, the appointed assembly and the sabbath, and hath spurned, in the indignation of his anger, the king and the 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.
My Lord hath rejected his altar, hath abhorred his sanctuary, hath delivered, into the hand of the foe, the walls of her castles, —A voice, have they uttered in the house of Yahweh, as on the day of an appointed assembly.
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.
Yahweh hath devised to lay in ruins, the wall of the daughter of Zion, he hath stretched out a line, he hath not turned back his hand from swallowing up, —Thus hath he caused to mourn—rampart and wall, together, have they languished!
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 in the earth, He hath destroyed and broken in pieces, her bars, —Her king and her princes, are among the nations, There is no instruction, Even her prophets, have found no vision, from Yahweh.
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.
Seated on the ground, in silence, are the elders of the daughter of Zion, They have lifted up dust on their head, have girded themselves with sackcloth, —Bowed down to the ground is the head, of the virgins of Jerusalem.
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.
Blinded with tears are mine eyes, In ferment is my body, Poured out to the earth is my grief, for the sore hurt of the daughter of my people, —when child and suckling are swooning, in the broadways 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.
To their mothers, they keep saying, Where are corn and wine? Swooning off, like one thrust through, in the broadways of the city, pouring out their life into the bosom 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?
How shall I solemnly admonish thee? What shall I liken to thee, thou daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare with thee, that I may comfort thee, thou virgin, daughter of Zion? for, great as the sea, is thy grievous injury, Who can heal thee?
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.
Thy prophets, have had visions for thee, false and foolish, and have not unveiled thine iniquity, to turn back thy captivity, —Yea they have had visions for thee, oracles of falsehood, and enticements!
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 passing by, have clapped, over thee, their hands, have hissed and wagged their head over the daughter of Jerusalem, —[saying], Is, this, the city, of which men used to say—The perfection of beauty! A joy to the whole 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 thy foes, have opened wide, over thee their mouth, They have hissed, and gnashed their teeth, They have said—We have swallowed [her] up! Surely, this, is the day for which we have waited, We have found! We have seen!
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.
Yahweh hath done what he thought, hath carried out his word, wherewith he gave charge in the days of old, hath thrown down, and not spared, —Thus hath he let the enemy rejoice over thee, hath raised high the horn of thine adversaries.
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!
Their heart, hath made outcry, unto My Lord, —O wall of the daughter of Zion—Let tears run down as a torrent day and night, Do not give thyself relief, Let not the weeping of thine eye cease!
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, At the beginning of the watches, pour out, like waters, thy heart, right before the face of My Lord, —Lift up, above thee, the palms of thy hands, for the life of thy children, who are swooning for hunger, at the top of all the streets!
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?
See, O Yahweh, and do consider, to whom thou hast acted thus severely, —Will women, devour, their own fruit—the children they have dandled? Shall priest and prophet, be slain in the sanctuary of My 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.
Youth and elder, have lain down on the ground in the streets, My virgins and my young men, have fallen by the sword, —Thou hast slain, in the day of thine anger, Thou hast slaughtered, hast not spared!
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.
Wilt thou proclaim, like the day of an appointed meeting—My terrors round about? when there was not—in the day of the anger of Yahweh—fugitive or survivor, —Those whom I dandled and reared, my foe hath destroyed.
