Lam 2 | HCSB | STEP | How the Lord has overshadowed Daughter Zion with His anger ! He has thrown down Israel’s glory from heaven to earth . He has abandoned His footstool in the day of His anger .

Lamentations 2

Judgment on Jerusalem

‏א‎ Alef

1 How the Lord has overshadowed
Daughter ^{▼▼Zion: Originally a term for the fortified section of Jerusalem and then, by extension, used for the temple and the city of Jerusalem both in the present time and in the future}Zion with His anger!
He has thrown down Israel’s glory
from heaven to earth.
He has abandoned His footstool ^{▼▼Either the ark of the covenant or the temple
,} ^c
in the day of His anger. ^d

‏ב‎ Bet

2 Without compassion ^e the Lord has swallowed up
all the dwellings of Jacob.
In His wrath He has demolished
the fortified cities ^f of Daughter Judah.
He brought them to the ground
and defiled the kingdom and its leaders. ^g

‏ג‎ Gimel

3 He has cut off every ^{▼▼horn: A symbol of power based on the strength of animal horns}horn ⁱ of Israel
in His burning anger
and withdrawn His right hand ^j
in the presence of the enemy.
He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything. ^k

‏ד‎ Dalet

4 He has bent His bow like an enemy; ^l
His right hand is positioned like an adversary.
He has killed everyone who was loved, ^{▼▼Lit killed all the delights of the eye; Ezk 24:16}
pouring out His wrath like fire
on the tent of Daughter Zion.

‏ה‎ He

5 The Lord is like an enemy;
He has swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all its palaces
and destroyed its fortified cities.
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation
within Daughter Judah. ⁿ

‏ו‎ Vav

6 He has done violence to His temple ^{▼▼Lit booth}
as if it were a garden booth,
destroying His place of meeting. ^p
The Lord has abolished
appointed festivals and Sabbaths in Zion.
He has despised king and priest
in His fierce anger.

‏ז‎ Zayin

7 The Lord has rejected His altar,
repudiated His sanctuary; ^q
He has handed the walls of her palaces
over to the enemy.
They have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.

‏ח‎ Khet

8 The Lord determined to destroy
the wall of Daughter Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line ^r
and did not restrain Himself from destroying.
He made the ramparts and walls grieve;
together they waste away.

‏ט‎ Tet

9 Zion’s gates have fallen to the ground; ^s
He has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.
Her king and her leaders live among the nations,
instruction ^{▼▼Or the law} is no more,
and even her prophets receive
no vision from the Lord. ^u

‏י‎ Yod

10 The elders of Daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence.
They have thrown dust on their heads ^v
and put on ^{▼▼sackcloth: Garment made of poor quality material and worn as a sign of grief and mourning}sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground. ^x

‏כ‎ Kaf

11 My eyes are worn out from weeping; ^y
I am churning within.
My heart is poured out in grief ^{▼▼Lit My liver is poured out on the ground
,} ^aa
because of the destruction of my dear people, ^ab
because children and infants faint
in the streets of the city. ^ac

‏ל‎ Lamed

12 They cry out to their mothers:
Where is the grain and wine? ^ad
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their lives fade away
in the arms of their mothers.

‏מ‎ Mem

13 What can I say on your behalf?
What can I compare you to, Daughter Jerusalem?
What can I liken you to,
so that I may console you, Virgin Daughter Zion?
For your ruin is as vast as the sea.
Who can heal you? ^ae

‏נ‎ Nun

14 Your prophets saw visions for you
that were empty and deceptive; ^af
they did not reveal your ^{▼▼guilt/guilty: The liability to be punished for a fault, a sin, an act, or an omission unless there is forgiveness or atonement; the term normally concerns an objective fact, not a subjective feeling.}guilt
and so restore your fortunes. ^ah
They saw ^{▼▼oracle: A prophetic speech of a threatening or menacing character, often against the nations}oracles for you
that were empty and misleading.

‏ס‎ Samek

15 All who pass by
scornfully clap their hands ^aj at you.
They mock ^{▼▼Lit hiss
,} ^al and shake their heads ^am
at Daughter Jerusalem:
Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty, ^an
the joy of the whole earth? ^ao

‏פ‎ Pe

16 All your enemies
open their mouths against you. ^ap
They hiss and gnash their teeth, ^aq
saying, “We have swallowed her up. ^ar
This is the day we have waited for!
We have lived to see it.”

‏ע‎ Ayin

17 The Lord has done what He planned;
He has accomplished His decree,
which He ordained in days of old.
He has demolished without compassion, ^as
letting the enemy gloat over you
and exalting the horn of your adversaries.

‏צ‎ Tsade

18 The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord.
Wall of Daughter Zion, ^at
let your tears run down like a river
day and night. ^au
Give yourself no relief
and your ^{▼▼Lit and the daughter of your} eyes no rest.

‏ק‎ Qof

19 Arise, cry out in the night
from the first watch of the night.
Pour out your heart like water
before the Lord’s presence. ^aw
Lift up your hands to Him
for the lives of your children
who are fainting from hunger
on the corner of every street. ^ax

‏ר‎ Resh

20 Lord, look and consider
who You have done this to.
Should women eat their own children, ^ay
the infants they have nurtured? ^{▼▼Or infants in a healthy condition; Hb obscure}
Should priests and prophets
be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?

‏ׁש‎ Shin

21 Both young and old
are lying on the ground in the streets.
My young men and women
have fallen by the sword.
You have killed them in the day of Your anger,
slaughtering without compassion. ^ba

‏ת‎ Tav

22 You summoned my attackers ^{▼▼Or terrors} on every side, ^bc
as if for an appointed festival day;
on the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped or survived.
My enemy has destroyed
those I nurtured ^{▼▼Or I bore healthy; Hb obscure} and reared.