Lamentations 1
1 [ALEPH-BET] How she has sat alone, The city abounding with people! She has been as a widow, The mighty among nations! Princes among provinces, She has become tributary!
How desolate sits the city of Jerusalem, once filled with people! She has become like a widow, she who was once great among the nations. The queen of all the world has become a slave-laborer.
2 She weeps severely in the night, And her tear [is] on her cheeks, There is no comforter for her out of all her lovers, All her friends dealt treacherously by her, They have been to her for enemies.
She cries bitterly through the night, tears rolling down her cheeks. Despite all her many lovers, no one comes to comfort her. Betrayed by all her friends, they are now her enemies.
3 Removed has Judah because of affliction, And because of the abundance of her service; She has dwelt among nations, She has not found rest, All her pursuers have overtaken her between the straits.
Judah has been dragged off into captivity, suffering miserably under brutal slavery; she lives among the nations but has no place of her own where she can rest. Those chasing her have brought her down and she cannot escape.
4 The ways of Zion are mourning, Without any coming at the appointed time, All her gates are desolate, her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted—and she has bitterness.
Even the roads to Zion are in mourning because no one travels on them to go to the religious festivals. All her gates are empty. Her priests groan in sadness. Her girls are suffering. She herself is in bitter distress.
5 Her adversaries have become chief, Her enemies have been at ease, For YHWH has afflicted her, For the abundance of her transgressions, Her infants have gone captive before the adversary.
Those who hated her now control her; her enemies enjoy life, because the Lord has made her suffer due to all her sins of rebellion. Her children have been taken away as prisoners of the enemy.
6 And all her honor goes out from the daughter of Zion, Her princes have been as harts—They have not found pasture, And they go powerless before a pursuer.
All the glory has left the Daughter of Zion. Her leaders are like deer that can't find any grass to eat. They don't even have the strength to run away when the hunter comes after them!
7 Jerusalem has remembered [In] the days of her affliction and her mournings, all her desirable things that were from the days of old, In the falling of her people into the hand of an adversary, And she has no helper; Adversaries have seen her, They have laughed at her cessation.
As she wanders around in her misery, Jerusalem thinks back to all the wonderful things she once had in the old days. When her enemies conquered her people, she didn't receive any help. Her enemies gloated over her, and laughed at her downfall.
8 A sin has Jerusalem sinned, Therefore she has become impure, All who honored her have esteemed her lightly, For they have seen her nakedness, Indeed, she herself has sighed and turns backward.
Jerusalem sinned terribly which is why she is now treated as someone unclean. Everyone who used to honor her now despise her, because they've seen her naked and ashamed. She herself groans as she turns away.
9 Her uncleanness [is] in her skirts, She has not remembered her latter end, And she comes down wonderfully, There is no comforter for her. See, O YHWH, my affliction, For an enemy has exerted himself.
Her uncleanness contaminates her skirts. She didn't think about what would happen. Her fall was a shock, and no one was there to comfort her. “Please, Lord, see how much I'm suffering, because the enemy has won!” she says.
10 His hand has spread out an adversary On all her desirable things, For she has seen—Nations have entered her sanctuary, Concerning which You commanded, “They do not come into the assembly to you.”
The invader has stolen all her treasures. She even had to watch as heathen nations went into her sanctuary, people you had forbidden to enter.
11 All her people are sighing—seeking bread, They have given their desirable things For food to refresh the body; See, O YHWH, and behold attentively, For I have been lightly esteemed.
All her people groan, looking for bread. They have spent what they value the most to buy food so they can stay alive. “Please, Lord, look and see what's happening to me,” she says. “It's as if I'm worthless!
12 [Is it] nothing to you, all you passing by the way? Look attentively, and see, If there is any pain like my pain, That He is rolling to me? Whom YHWH has afflicted In the day of the fierceness of His anger.
Don't you care anything about it, all you people passing by? Take a look and see! Is there any suffering as bad as mine, punished by the Lord when he became angry?
13 From above He has sent fire into my bone, And it subdues it, He has spread a net for my feet, He has turned me backward, He has made me desolate—all the day sick.
He sent down fire from heaven that destroyed my bones. He spread out a net to catch my feet, tripping me over. He abandoned me, leaving me sick all day long.
14 Bound has been the yoke of my transgressions by His hand, They are wrapped together, They have gone up on my neck, He has caused my power to stumble, The Lord has given me into hands, I am not able to rise.
He took my rebellious sins and twisted them together into a yoke that he tied to my neck. He took away all my strength, and handed me over defenseless to my enemies.
15 The Lord has trodden down all my mighty ones in my midst, He proclaimed an appointed time against me, To destroy my young men, The Lord has trodden a winepress, To the virgin daughter of Judah.
The Lord brushed aside all my strong soldiers defending me. He called up an army to attack me, to crush my young men. The Lord has trampled down the virgin Daughter of Judah like grapes in a winepress.
16 For these I am weeping, My eye, my eye, is running down with waters, For a comforter has been far from me, Refreshing my soul, My sons have been desolate, For mighty has been an enemy.
This is why I'm weeping, tears flowing from my eyes, because there's is no one here to comfort me, no one to make me feel better. There's nothing left for my children because the enemy has conquered us.”
17 Zion has spread forth her hands, There is no comforter for her, YHWH has charged concerning Jacob, His neighbors [are] his adversaries, Jerusalem has become impure among them.
Zion holds out her hands in distress, but there's no one to comfort her. The Lord issued orders against Jacob, and his neighbors became his enemies. Jerusalem is to them something disgusting.
18 YHWH is righteous, For I have provoked His mouth. Now hear, all you peoples, and see my pain, My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.
“The Lord has done what's right, because I rebelled against his instructions. Listen, everyone everywhere; look at what I'm suffering. My young women and young men have been taken off into captivity.
19 I called for my lovers, they have deceived me, My priests and my elderly have expired in the city; When they have sought food for themselves, Then they give back their soul.
I called out for help to my lovers, but they betrayed me. My priests and elders starved to death in the city as they tried to find food to keep themselves alive.
20 See, O YHWH, for distress [is] to me, My bowels have been troubled, My heart has been turned in my midst, For I have greatly provoked, From outside the sword has bereaved, In the house [it is] as death.
Can't you see, Lord, how upset I am? inside I am in turmoil; my heart is breaking because I've been so rebellious. Outside, the sword kills those I love; inside, it's like I'm living in the house of death.
21 They have heard that I have sighed, There is no comforter for me, All my enemies have heard of my calamity, They have rejoiced that You have done [it], You have brought in the day You have called, And they are like to me.
People hear me groaning, but no one comes to comfort me. All my enemies have heard about the bad things that have happened to me, and they're delighted that it was you who did it. Please bring about the day of judgment that you promised so they can end up like me.
22 All their evil comes in before You, And one is doing to them as You have done to me, For all my transgressions, For many [are] my sighs, and my heart [is] sick!
May you see all the evil things they've done! Treat them the same way as you've treated me as a result of all my rebellious sins, for I'm groaning all the time, and I'm sick at heart.”
