Lamentationes 2
1 [Aleph Quomodo obtexit caligine in furore suo Dominus filiam Sion; projecit de cælo in terram inclytam Israël, et non est recordatus scabelli pedum suorum in die furoris sui!
How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! He has cast the beauty of Israel down from heaven to the earth, and hasn’t remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
2 Beth Præcipitavit Dominus, nec pepercit omnia speciosa Jacob: destruxit in furore suo munitiones virginis Juda, et dejecit in terram; polluit regnum et principes ejus.
The Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob without pity. He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought them down to the ground. He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
3 Ghimel Confregit in ira furoris sui omne cornu Israël; avertit retrorsum dexteram suam a facie inimici, et succendit in Jacob quasi ignem flammæ devorantis in gyro.
He has cut off all the horn of Israel in fierce anger. He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy. He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours all around.
4 Daleth Tetendit arcum suum quasi inimicus, firmavit dexteram suam quasi hostis, et occidit omne quod pulchrum erat visu in tabernaculo filiæ Sion; effudit quasi ignem indignationem suam.
He has bent his bow like an enemy. He has stood with his right hand as an adversary. He has killed all that were pleasant to the eye. In the tent of the daughter of Zion, he has poured out his wrath like fire.
5 He Factus est Dominus velut inimicus, præcipitavit Israël: præcipitavit omnia mœnia ejus, dissipavit munitiones ejus, et replevit in filia Juda humiliatum et humiliatam.
The Lord has become as an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces. He has destroyed his strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah.
6 Vau Et dissipavit quasi hortum tentorium suum; demolitus est tabernaculum suum. Oblivioni tradidit Dominus in Sion festivitatem et sabbatum; et in opprobrium, et in indignationem furoris sui, regem et sacerdotem.
He has violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were a garden. He has destroyed his place of assembly. The LORD has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion. In the indignation of his anger, he has despised the king and the priest.
7 Zain Repulit Dominus altare suum; maledixit sanctificationi suæ: tradidit in manu inimici muros turrium ejus. Vocem dederunt in domo Domini sicut in die solemni.
The Lord has cast off his altar. He has abhorred his sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have made a noise in the LORD’s house, as in the day of a solemn assembly.
8 Heth Cogitavit Dominus dissipare murum filiæ Sion; tetendit funiculum suum, et non avertit manum suam a perditione: luxitque antemurale, et murus pariter dissipatus est.
The LORD has purposed 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 lament. They languish together.
9 Teth Defixæ sunt in terra portæ ejus, perdidit et contrivit vectes ejus; regem ejus et principes ejus in gentibus: non est lex, et prophetæ ejus non invenerunt visionem a Domino.
Her gates have sunk into the ground. He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not. Yes, her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
10 Jod Sederunt in terra, conticuerunt senes filiæ Sion; consperserunt cinere capita sua, accincti sunt ciliciis: abjecerunt in terram capita sua virgines Jerusalem.
The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground. They keep 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.
11 Caph Defecerunt præ lacrimis oculi mei, conturbata sunt viscera mea; effusum est in terra jecur meum super contritione filiæ populi mei, cum deficeret parvulus et lactens in plateis oppidi.
My eyes fail with tears. My heart is troubled. My bile is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the young children and the infants swoon in the streets of the city.
12 Lamed Matribus suis dixerunt: Ubi est triticum et vinum? cum deficerent quasi vulnerati in plateis civitatis, cum exhalarent animas suas in sinu matrum suarum.
They ask their mothers, “Where is grain 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 Mem Cui comparabo te, vel cui assimilabo te, filia Jerusalem? cui exæquabo te, et consolabor te, virgo, filia Sion? magna est enim velut mare contritio tua: quis medebitur tui?
What shall I testify to 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 breach is as big as the sea. Who can heal you?
14 Nun Prophetæ tui viderunt tibi falsa et stulta; nec aperiebant iniquitatem tuam, ut te ad pœnitentiam provocarent; viderunt autem tibi assumptiones falsas, et ejectiones.
Your prophets have seen false and foolish visions for you. They have not uncovered your iniquity, to reverse your captivity, but have seen for you false revelations and causes of banishment.
15 Samech Plauserunt super te manibus omnes transeuntes per viam; sibilaverunt et moverunt caput suum super filiam Jerusalem: Hæccine est urbs, dicentes, perfecti decoris, gaudium universæ terræ?
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’?”
16 Phe Aperuerunt super te os suum omnes inimici tui: sibilaverunt, et fremuerunt dentibus, et dixerunt: Devorabimus: en ista est dies quam exspectabamus; invenimus, vidimus.
All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found it. We have seen it.”
17 Ain Fecit Dominus quæ cogitavit; complevit sermonem suum, quem præceperat a diebus antiquis: destruxit, et non pepercit, et lætificavit super te inimicum, et exaltavit cornu hostium tuorum.
The LORD has done that which he planned. 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 rejoice over you. He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
18 Sade Clamavit cor eorum ad Dominum super muros filiæ Sion: Deduc quasi torrentem lacrimas per diem et noctem; non des requiem tibi, neque taceat pupilla oculi tui.
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 relief. Don’t let your eyes rest.
19 Coph Consurge, lauda in nocte, in principio vigiliarum; effunde sicut aquam cor tuum ante conspectum Domini: leva ad eum manus tuas pro anima parvulorum tuorum, qui defecerunt in fame in capite omnium compitorum.
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, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.
20 Res Vide, Domine, et considera quem vindemiaveris ita. Ergone comedent mulieres fructum suum, parvulos ad mensuram palmæ? si occiditur in sanctuario Domini sacerdos et propheta?
“Look, LORD, and see to whom you have done thus! Should the women eat their offspring, the children that they held and bounced on their knees? Should the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 Sin Jacuerunt in terra foris puer et senex; virgines meæ et juvenes mei ceciderunt in gladio: interfecisti in die furoris tui, percussisti, nec misertus es.
“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, and not pitied.
22 Thau Vocasti quasi ad diem solemnem, qui terrerent me de circuitu; et non fuit in die furoris Domini qui effugeret, et relinqueretur: quos educavi et enutrivi, inimicus meus consumpsit eos.]
“You have called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side. There was no one that escaped or remained in the day of the LORD’s anger. My enemy has consumed those whom I have cared for and brought up.
