Lamentations 2

1 How doth the Lord cloud in His anger the daughter of Zion, He hath cast from heaven [to] earth the beauty of Israel, And hath not remembered His footstool in the day of His anger.

How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! he hath cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and hath not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.

2 Swallowed up hath the Lord, He hath not pitied any of the pleasant places of Jacob, He hath broken down in His wrath The fortresses of the daughter of Judah, He hath caused to come to the earth, He polluted the kingdom and its princes.

The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied; he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath profaned the kingdom and the princes thereof.

3 He hath cut off in the heat of anger every horn of Israel, He hath turned backward His right hand From the face of the enemy, And He burneth against Jacob as a flaming fire, It hath devoured round about.

He hath cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel; he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy: and he hath burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.

4 He hath trodden His bow as an enemy, Stood hath His right hand as an adversary, And He slayeth all the desirable ones of the eye, In the tent of the daughter of Zion, He hath poured out as fire His fury.

He hath bent his bow like an enemy, he hath stood with his right hand as an adversary, and hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye: in the tent of the daughter of Zion he hath poured out his fury like fire.

5 The Lord hath been as an enemy, He hath swallowed up Israel, He hath swallowed up all her palaces, He hath destroyed His fortresses, And He multiplieth in the daughter of Judah Mourning and moaning.

The Lord is become as an enemy, he hath swallowed up Israel; he hath swallowed up all her palaces, he hath destroyed his strong holds: and he hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.

6 And He shaketh as a garden His tabernacle, He hath destroyed His appointed place, Jehovah hath forgotten in Zion the appointed time and sabbath, And despiseth, in the indignation of His anger, king and priest.

And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden; he hath destroyed his place of assembly: the LORD hath caused solemn assembly and sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

7 The Lord hath cast off His altar, He hath rejected His sanctuary, He hath shut up into the hand of the enemy The walls of her palaces, A noise they have made in the house of Jehovah Like a day of appointment.

The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces: they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn assembly.

8 Devised hath Jehovah to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion, He hath stretched out a line, He hath not turned His hand from destroying, And He causeth bulwark and wall to mourn, Together — they have been weak.

The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; he hath stretched out the line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: but he hath made the rampart and wall to lament; they languish together.

9 Sunk into the earth have her gates, He hath destroyed and broken her bars, Her king and her princes [are] among the nations, There is no law, also her prophets Have not found vision from Jehovah.

Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not; yea, her prophets find no vision from the LORD.

10 Sit on the earth — keep silent do the elders of the daughter of Zion, They have caused dust to go up on their head, They have girded on sackcloth, Put down to the earth their head have the virgins of Jerusalem.

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, they keep silence; they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

11 Consumed by tears have been my eyes, Troubled have been my bowels, Poured out to the earth hath been my liver, For the breach of the daughter of my people; In infant and suckling being feeble, In the broad places of the city,

Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the young children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.

12 To their mothers they say, 'Where [are] corn and wine?' In their becoming feeble as a pierced one In the broad places of the city, In their soul pouring itself out into the bosom of their mothers.

They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul is poured out into their mothers’ bosom.

13 What do I testify [to] thee, what do I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What do I equal to thee, and I comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? For great as a sea [is] thy breach, Who doth give healing to thee?

What shall I testify unto thee? what shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?

14 Thy prophets have seen for thee a false and insipid thing, And have not revealed concerning thine iniquity, To turn back thy captivity, And they see for thee false burdens and causes of expulsion.

Thy prophets have seen visions for thee of vanity and foolishness; and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to bring again thy captivity: but have seen for thee burdens of vanity and causes of banishment.

15 Clapped hands at thee have all passing by the way, They have hissed — and they shake the head At the daughter of Jerusalem: 'Is this the city of which they said: The perfection of beauty, a joy to all the land?'

All that pass by clap their hands at thee; 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?

16 Opened against thee their mouth have all thine enemies, They have hissed, yea, they gnash the teeth, They have said: 'We have swallowed [her] up, Surely this [is] the day that we looked for, We have found — we have seen.'

All thine enemies have opened their mouth wide against thee; 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.

17 Jehovah hath done that which He devised, He hath fulfilled His saying That He commanded from the days of old, He hath broken down and hath not pitied, And causeth an enemy to rejoice over thee, He lifted up the horn of thine adversaries.

The LORD hath done that which he devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old; he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries.

18 Cried hath their heart unto the Lord; O wall of the daughter of Zion, Cause to go down as a stream tears daily and nightly, Give not rest to thyself, Let not the daughter of thine eye stand still.

Their heart cried unto the Lord: O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; give thyself no respite; let not the apple of thine eye cease.

19 Arise, cry aloud in the night, At the beginning of the watches. Pour out as water thy heart, Over against the face of the Lord, Lift up unto Him thy hands, for the soul of thine infants, Who are feeble with hunger at the head of all out-places.

Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the top of every street.

20 See, O Jehovah, and look attentively, To whom Thou hast acted thus, Do women eat their fruit, infants of a handbreadth? Slain in the sanctuary of the Lord are priest and prophet?

See, O LORD, and behold, to whom thou hast done thus! shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

21 Lain on the earth [in] out-places have young and old, My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword, Thou hast slain in a day of Thine anger, Thou hast slaughtered — Thou hast not pitied.

The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets; my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword: thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast slaughtered, [and] not pitied.

22 Thou dost call as [at] a day of appointment, My fears from round about, And there hath not been in the day of the anger of Jehovah, An escaped and remaining one, They whom I stretched out and nourished, My enemy hath consumed!

Thou hast called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side, and there was none that escaped or remained in the day of the LORD’S anger: those that I have dandled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.