Lam 1-4 | ESV | STEP | How lonely sits the city that was full of people ! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations ! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave .

1 ^aHow lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like ^ba widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was ^ca princess among the provinces
has become ^da slave.
2 ^eShe weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
^famong all her lovers
she has ^gnone to comfort her;
^hall her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
3 ⁱJudah has gone into exile because of affliction
and hard servitude;
^jshe dwells now among the nations,
^kbut finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress. ^{▼▼Or in the narrow passes}
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for none come to ^mthe festival;
ⁿall her gates are desolate;
her priests ^ogroan;
her virgins have been afflicted, ^{▼▼Septuagint, Old Latin dragged away}
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5 ^qHer foes have become the head;
her ^renemies prosper,
because ^sthe Lord has afflicted her
^tfor the multitude of her transgressions;
^uher children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6 From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
^vthat find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembers
in the days of her affliction and wandering
^wall the precious things
that were hers from ^xdays of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was none to help her,
her foes gloated over her;
they ^ymocked at her downfall.
8 ^zJerusalem sinned grievously;
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
^aafor they have seen her nakedness;
she herself ^abgroans
and turns her face away.
9 Her uncleanness was ^acin her skirts;
^adshe took no thought of her future; ^{▼▼Or end}
therefore her fall is terrible;
^afshe has no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has ^agtriumphed!”
10 The enemy has stretched out his hands
over all her ^ahprecious things;
for she has seen ^aithe nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom you ^ajforbade
to enter your congregation.
11 All her people ^akgroan
as ^althey search for bread;
they trade their ^amtreasures for ^anfood
to revive their strength.
“Look, O Lord, and see,
for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all ^aoyou who pass by?
^apLook and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which ^aqthe Lord inflicted
on ^arthe day of his fierce anger.
13 “From on high he ^assent fire;
into my bones ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew bones and} he made it descend;
^auhe spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
^avhe has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.
14 “My transgressions were bound ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} into ^axa yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord rejected
all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men;
^aythe Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 “For these things ^azI weep;
my eyes flow with tears;
for ^baa comforter is far from me,
one to ^bbrevive my spirit;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.”
17 ^bcZion stretches out her hands,
but ^bdthere is none to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18 ^be“The Lord is in the right,
^bffor I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
^bgmy young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
19 “I called to ^bhmy lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while ^bithey sought food
to revive their strength.
20 “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;
^bjmy stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
^bkIn the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21 “They heard ^{▼▼Septuagint, Syriac Hear} ^bmmy groaning,
yet ^bnthere is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
^bothey are glad that you have done it.
You have brought ^{▼▼Syriac Bring} the day you announced;
^bqnow let them be as I am.
22 ^br“Let all their evildoing come before you,
and deal with them
as ^bsyou have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for ^btmy groans are many,
and ^bumy heart is faint.”

Lamentations 2

The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity

1 How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion ^bvunder a cloud!
^bwHe has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered ^bxhis footstool
in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord ^byhas swallowed up ^bzwithout mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath ^cahe has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought ^cbdown to the ground ^ccin dishonor
the kingdom ^cdand its rulers.
3 He has cut down in ^cefierce anger
all ^cfthe might of Israel;
^cghe has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
^chhe has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
4 ^ciHe has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set ^cjlike a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.
5 ^ckThe Lord has become like an enemy;
^clhe has swallowed up Israel;
^cmhe has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
^cnmourning and lamentation.
6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins ^cohis meeting place;
^cpthe Lord has made Zion forget
festival and ^cqSabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7 ^crThe Lord has scorned his altar,
^csdisowned his sanctuary;
^cthe has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
^cuthey raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
as on the day of festival.
8 ^cvThe Lord determined to lay in ruins
^cwthe wall of the daughter of Zion;
^cxhe stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
^cyhe caused rampart and wall to lament;
^czthey languished together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
^dahe has ruined ^dband broken her bars;
^dcher king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and ^ddher prophets find
no vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
^desit on the ground ^dfin silence;
^dgthey have thrown dust on their heads
and ^dhput on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 ^diMy eyes are spent with weeping;
^djmy stomach churns;
^dkmy bile is poured out to the ground
^dlbecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
^dmbecause infants and babies ^dnfaint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
^do“Where is bread and wine?”
^dpas they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosom.
13 What can I say for you, ^dqto what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
^drWhat can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
^dsFor your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 ^dtYour prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
^duthey have not exposed your iniquity
to ^dvrestore your fortunes,
^dwbut have seen for you ^dxoracles
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
^dythey hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
^dzthe perfection of beauty,
^eathe joy of all the earth?”
16 ^ebAll your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We ^echave swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; ^edwe see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out ^eehis word,
which he commanded ^eflong ago;
^eghe has thrown down ^ehwithout pity;
^eihe has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the ^ejmight of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O ^ekwall of the daughter of Zion,
^ellet tears stream down like a torrent
^emday and night!
^enGive yourself no rest,
^eoyour eyes no respite!
19 “Arise, ^epcry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
^eqPour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
^erLift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
^eswho faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
20 Look, O Lord, and see!
^etWith whom have you dealt thus?
^euShould women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of ^evtheir tender care?
Should ^ewpriest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 In the dust of the streets
^exlie the young and the old;
^eymy young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
^ezyou have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering ^fawithout pity.
22 You summoned as if to ^fba festival day
^fcmy terrors on every side,
^fdand on the day of the anger of the Lord
no one escaped or survived;
^fethose whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed.

Lamentations 3

Great Is Your Faithfulness

1 ^ffI am the man who has seen affliction
under the ^fgrod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
^fhinto darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
^fihe has broken my bones;
5 ^fjhe has besieged and enveloped me
with ^fkbitterness and tribulation;
6 ^flhe has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 ^fmHe has walled me about so that ^fnI cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8 though ^foI call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 ^fphe has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 ^fqHe is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
11 ^frhe turned aside my steps and ^fstore me to pieces;
^fthe has made me desolate;
12 ^fuhe bent his bow ^fvand set me
as a target for his arrow.
13 He drove into my kidneys
^fwthe arrows of his quiver;
14 ^fxI have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
^fythe object of their taunts all day long.
15 ^fzHe has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with ^gawormwood.
16 ^gbHe has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and ^gcmade me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness ^{▼▼Hebrew good} is;
18 ^geso I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”
19 ^gfRemember my affliction and my wanderings,
^ggthe wormwood and ^ghthe gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
^giand is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and ^gjtherefore I have hope:
22 ^gkThe steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; ^{▼▼Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Because of the steadfast love of the Lord, we are not cut off}
^gmhis mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new ^gnevery morning;
^gogreat is your faithfulness.
24 ^gp“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
^gq“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who ^grwait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 ^gsIt is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 ^gtIt is good for a man that he bear
the yoke ^guin his youth.
28 Let him ^gvsit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
29 ^gwlet him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30 ^gxlet him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
31 ^gyFor the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32 but, though he ^gzcause grief, ^hahe will have compassion
^hbaccording to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 ^hcfor he does not afflict from his heart
or ^hdgrieve the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot
all ^hethe prisoners of the earth,
35 ^hfto deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
^hgthe Lord does not approve.
37 ^hhWho has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 ^hiIs it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
39 ^hjWhy should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways,
^hkand return to the Lord!
41 ^hlLet us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
42 ^hm“We have transgressed and ^hnrebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
^hokilling without pity;
44 ^hpyou have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 ^hqYou have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.
46 ^hr“All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
47 ^hspanic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and ^htdestruction;
48 ^humy eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 ^hv“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
50 ^hwuntil the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees;
51 my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
52 ^hx“I have been hunted ^hylike a bird
by those who were my enemies ^hzwithout cause;
53 ^iathey flung me alive into the pit
^iband cast stones on me;
54 ^icwater closed over my head;
I said, ^id‘I am lost.’
55 ^ie“I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
56 ^ifyou heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
57 ^igYou came near when I called on you;
you said, ^ih‘Do not fear!’
58 “You have ⁱⁱtaken up my cause, ^ijO Lord;
you have ^ikredeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, ^ilO Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all ^imtheir plots against me.
61 ⁱⁿ“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all ^iotheir plots against me.
62 The lips and thoughts ^ipof my assailants
are against me all the day long.
63 ^iqBehold their sitting and their rising;
^irI am the object of their taunts.
64 ^is“You will repay them, ^{▼▼Or Repay them} O Lord,
^iuaccording to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them ^{▼▼Or Give them} dullness of heart;
your curse will be ^{▼▼Or place your curse} on them.
66 You will pursue them ^{▼▼Or Pursue them} in anger and ^iydestroy them
from under ^izyour heavens, O Lord.” ^{▼▼Syriac (compare Septuagint, Vulgate); Hebrew the heavens of the Lord}

Lamentations 4

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

1 ^jbHow the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
^jcat the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in ^jdfine gold,
how they are regarded as ^jeearthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast;
they nurse their young;
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the nursing infant ^jfsticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
^jgthe children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.
5 Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
^jhthose who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.
6 ^jiFor the chastisement ^{▼▼Or iniquity} of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment ^{▼▼Or sin} of Sodom,
^jlwhich was overthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her. ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain}
7 Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
the beauty of their form ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} was like sapphire. ^{▼▼Hebrew lapis lazuli}
8 ^jpNow their face is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.
9 Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
by lack of the fruits of the field.
10 ^jqThe hands of ^jrcompassionate women
^jshave boiled their own children;
^jtthey became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 ^juThe Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and ^jvhe kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
12 ^jwThe kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 This was for ^jxthe sins of her prophets
and ^jythe iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.
14 ^jzThey wandered, blind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
^kathat no one was able to touch
their garments.
15 “Away! ^kbUnclean!” people cried at them.
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
people said among the nations,
“They shall stay with us no longer.”
16 ^kcThe Lord himself ^{▼▼Hebrew The face of the Lord} has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
^keno honor was shown to the priests,
^kfno favor to the elders.
17 ^kgOur eyes failed, ever watching
^khvainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for ^kia nation which could not save.
18 ^kjThey dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
^kkour end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were ^klswifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 ^kmThe breath of our nostrils, ^knthe Lord’s anointed,
was captured ^koin their pits,
of whom we said, ^kp“Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21 ^kqRejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in ^krthe land of Uz;
but to you also ^ksthe cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
22 ^ktThe punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer; ^{▼▼Or he will not exile you again}
but ^kvyour iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.