Lamentations 2
1 How the LORD covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger. He has cast down from heaven to the earth the splendor of Israel, and hasn't remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
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.
2 The LORD has swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and has not pitied. He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought them down to the ground; he has humiliated the kingdom and its rulers.
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.
3 He has cut off in fierce anger all the strength of Israel. He has drawn back his right hand before the enemy. He has blazed in Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours all around.
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.
4 He has bent his bow like an enemy; his right hand he has positioned like an adversary. He killed all that were pleasant to the eye. In the tent of the daughter of Zion he has poured out his wrath like fire.
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.
5 The LORD has become as an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel; he has swallowed up all her palaces and has destroyed its strongholds. He has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
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.
6 He has done violence to his temple, as if it were a vineyard; he has destroyed his place of assembly. The LORD has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, and he has spurned in his fierce anger king and priest and prince.
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.
7 The LORD has rejected his altar, he has disowned his sanctuary, and has given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces. They have made a shout in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn assembly.
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.
8 The LORD has determined to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out the line, he has not withdrawn his hand from destroying. He has made the rampart and wall to lament; they languish together.
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.
9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
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.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have cast up dust on their heads; they have clothed themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
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.
11 My eyes are worn out from weeping, my stomach is churning. My heart is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the young children and the infants faint in the streets of the city.
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.
12 They tell their mothers, "Where is grain and wine?" When they faint as the wounded in the streets of the city, as their lives fade away in their mothers' bosom.
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.
13 What shall I testify of you? What shall I liken to you, daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare to you, that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is great like the sea. Who can heal you?
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?
14 Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions. They have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captivity, but have seen for you false and misleading oracles.
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.
15 All that pass by clap their hands at you, they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, "Is this the city that men called 'The perfection of beauty,' 'The joy of the whole earth'?"
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.
16 All your enemies have opened wide their mouth against you. They hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, "We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it."
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!”
17 The LORD has done that which he purposed, he has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old. He has thrown down, and has not pitied. He has caused the enemy to gloat over you and exalted the horn of your adversaries.
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.
18 Their heart cried to the LORD. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no respite; do not let your tears cease.
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!
19 Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches. Pour out your heart like water before the face of the LORD. Lift up your hands toward him for the life of your young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.
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.
20 Look, LORD, and see to whom you have done like this. Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands? Shall the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the LORD?
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?
21 The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets; my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered, without pity.
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.
22 You have called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side. There was none that escaped or remained in the day of the LORD's anger. Those that I have borne and brought up has my enemy destroyed.
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.
