Lamentationes 2
1 ALEPH. Quomodo obtexit caligine in furore suo Dominus filiam Sion: proiecit de cælo in terram inclytam Israel, et non est recordatus scabelli pedum suorum in die furoris sui.
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 BETH. Præcipitavit Dominus, nec pepercit, omnia speciosa Iacob: destruxit in furore suo muntiones virginis Iuda, et deiecit in terram: polluit regnum, et principes eius.
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 GHIMEL. Confregit in ira furoris sui omne cornu Israel: avertit retrorsum dexteram suam a facie inimici: et succendit in Iacob quasi ignem flammæ devorantis in gyro:
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 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 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 HE. Factus est Dominus velut inimicus: præcipitavit Israel, præcipitavit omnia mœnia eius: dissipavit munitiones eius, et replevit in filia Iuda humiliatum et humiliatam.
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 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.
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 ZAIN. Repulit Dominus altare suum, maledixit sanctificationi suæ: tradidit in manu inimici muros turrium eius: vocem dederunt in domo Domini, sicut in die solemni.
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 HETH. Cogitavit Dominus dissipare murum filiæ Sion: tetendit funiculum suum, et non avertit manum suam a perditione: luxitque antemurale, et murus pariter dissipatus est.
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 TETH. Defixæ sunt in terra portæ eius: perdidit, et contrivit vectes eius: regem eius et principes eius in Gentibus: non est lex, et prophetæ eius non invenerunt visionem a Domino.
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 IOD. Sederunt in terra, conticuerunt senes filiæ Sion: consperserunt cinere capita sua, accincti sunt ciliciis, abiecerunt in terram capita sua virgines Ierusalem.
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 CAPH. Defecerunt præ lacrymis oculi mei, conturbata sunt viscera mea: effusum est in terra iecur meum super contritione filiæ populi mei, cum deficeret parvulus, et lactens in plateis oppidi.
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 LAMED. Matribus suis dixerunt: Ubi est triticum et vinum? cum deficerent quasi vulnerati in plateis civitatis: cum exhalarent animas suas in sinu matrum suarum.
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 MEM. Cui comparabo te? vel cui assimilabo te filia Ierusalem? cui exæquabo te, et consolabor te virgo filia Sion? magna est enim velut mare contritio tua: quis medebitur tui?
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 NUN. Prophetæ tui viderunt tibi falsa, et stulta, nec aperiebant iniquitatem tuam, ut te ad pœnitentiam provocarent: viderunt autem tibi assumptiones falsas, et eiectiones.
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 SAMECH. Plauserunt super te manibus omnes transeuntes per viam: sibilaverunt, et moverunt caput suum super filiam Ierusalem: Hæccine est urbs, dicentes, perfecti decoris, gaudium universæ terræ?
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 PHE. Aperuerunt super te os suum omnes inimici tui: sibilaverunt, et fremuerunt dentibus, et dixerunt: Devorabimus: en ista est dies, quam expectabamus: invenimus, vidimus.
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 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.
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 SADE. Clamavit cor eorum ad Dominum super muros filiæ Sion: Deduc quasi torrentem lacrymas per diem, et noctem: non des requiem tibi neque taceat pupilla oculi tui.
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 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, 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 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?
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 SIN. Iacuerunt in terra foris puer, et senex: virgines meæ, et iuvenes mei ceciderunt in gladio: interfecisti in die furoris tui: percussisti, nec misertus es.
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 THAU. Vocasti quasi ad diem sollemnem, qui terrerent me de circuitu, et non fuit in die furoris Domini qui effugeret, et relinqueretur: quos educavi, et enutrivi, inimicus meus consumpsit eos.
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.
