Lamentations 2

The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity

1 How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion aunder a cloud!
bHe has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered chis footstool
in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord dhas swallowed up ewithout mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath fhe has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought gdown to the ground hin dishonor
the kingdom iand its rulers.
3 He has cut down in jfierce anger
all kthe might of Israel;
lhe has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
mhe has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
4 nHe has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set olike 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 pThe Lord has become like an enemy;
qhe has swallowed up Israel;
rhe has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
smourning and lamentation.
6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins this meeting place;
uthe Lord has made Zion forget
festival and vSabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7 wThe Lord has scorned his altar,
xdisowned his sanctuary;
yhe has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
zthey raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
as on the day of festival.
8 aaThe Lord determined to lay in ruins
abthe wall of the daughter of Zion;
ache stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
adhe caused rampart and wall to lament;
aethey languished together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
afhe has ruined agand broken her bars;
ahher king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and aiher prophets find
no vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
ajsit on the ground akin silence;
althey have thrown dust on their heads
and amput on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 anMy eyes are spent with weeping;
aomy stomach churns;
apmy bile is poured out to the ground
aqbecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
arbecause infants and babies asfaint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
atWhere is bread and wine?”
auas they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothersbosom.
13 What can I say for you, avto what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
awWhat can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
axFor your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 ayYour prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
azthey have not exposed your iniquity
to barestore your fortunes,
bbbut have seen for you bcoracles
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
bdthey hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
bethe perfection of beauty,
bfthe joy of all the earth?”
16 bgAll your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We bhhave swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; biwe see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out bjhis word,
which he commanded bklong ago;
blhe has thrown down bmwithout pity;
bnhe has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the bomight of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O bpwall of the daughter of Zion,
bqlet tears stream down like a torrent
brday and night!
bsGive yourself no rest,
btyour eyes no respite!
19 Arise, bucry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
bvPour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
bwLift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
bxwho faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
20 Look, O Lord, and see!
byWith whom have you dealt thus?
bzShould women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of catheir tender care?
Should cbpriest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 In the dust of the streets
cclie the young and the old;
cdmy young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
ceyou have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering cfwithout pity.
22 You summoned as if to cga festival day
chmy terrors on every side,
ciand on the day of the anger of the Lord
no one escaped or survived;
cjthose whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed.
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