International Standard Version
Lamentations 2
1 How the Lord in his wrath shamed a cherished b Zion! He cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel, He did not remember his footstool c in the time of his anger.
2 The Lord swallowed up without pity all of Jacob’s habitations. In his wrath he tore down the strongholds of fair Judah. d He cast to the ground in dishonor both her kingdom and its rulers.
3 In his fierce wrath he cut off all the strength e of Israel. He withdrew his protection f as the enemy approached. g He burned Jacob like a blazing fire consumes everything around it.
4 He bent his bow against us h as would an enemy, his right hand cocked as would an adversary. He has killed everyone in whom we took pride; in the tent of cherished i Zion he poured out his anger like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an enemy— he has devoured Israel. He has devoured all of her palaces, destroying her fortresses. He filled cherished Judah j with mourning and lament.
6 He plowed under his Temple k like a garden, spoiling his tent. The LORD abolished in Zion both festivals and Sabbaths. In his fierce wrath he despised both king and priest.
7 The Lord rejected his altar, disavowing his sanctuary. He gave up her palace walls to the control of the enemy. They shouted in the LORD’s Temple, as though they were attending a day of celebration.
8 The LORD planned to destroy the walls of cherished l Zion. He measured them with his line. He did not withhold his hand from destruction. He made both ramparts and defensive walls mourn; they languish together.
9 Jerusalem’s m gates collapsed to the ground; he destroyed and broke the bars of her gates. n Both king and prince have gone into captivity. o There is no instruction, p and the prophets receive no vision from the LORD.
10 The leaders of cherished q Zion sit silently on the ground; they throw dust on their heads and dress in mourning clothes. The young women of Jerusalem bow their heads in sorrow. r
11 My eyes are worn out from crying, my insides are churning, My emotions pour out in grief s because my people are destroyed— Children and infants faint in the streets of the city.
12 They ask their mothers, “Is there anything to eat or drink?” t They faint in the streets of the city like wounded men. Their life ebbs away while they lie on their mother’s bosom.
13 What can be said about you? To what should you be compared, fair u Jerusalem? To what may I liken you, so I may comfort you, fair one v of Zion? Indeed, your wound is as deep as the sea— who can heal you?
14 Your prophets look on your behalf; they see false and deceptive visions. They did not expose your sins in order to restore what had been captured. w Instead, they crafted oracles for you that are false and misleading.
15 Everyone who passes by on the road shake their fists x at you. They hiss and shake their heads at cherished y Jerusalem: “Is this the city men used to call ‘The Perfection of Beauty,’ and ‘The Joy of the Entire Earth’”?
16 All of your enemies insult you with gaping mouths. They hiss and grind their teeth while saying, “We have devoured her completely. Yes, this is the day that we anticipated! We found it at last; z we have seen it!”
17 The LORD did what he planned. He carried out his threat. Just as he commanded long ago, he has torn down without pity; He let the enemy boast about you and has exalted the power aa of your enemies.
18 Cry out from your heart to the Lord, wall of fair bb Zion! Let your tears run down like a river day and night. Allow yourself no rest, and don’t stop crying.
19 Get up and cry aloud in the night, at the beginning of every hour. cc Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord! Lift up your hands toward him for the lives of your children, who are fainting away at every street corner.
20 Look, LORD, and take note: To whom have you done this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cuddled? Should priests and prophets be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 Young men and the aged lie on the ground in the streets; my young women and young men have fallen by the sword. You killed them in your anger, slaughtering them without pity.
22 You have invited those who terrorize me to come around, as if today were a festival. No one has escaped or survived the time of the LORD’s anger. My enemy has finished off those whom I cuddled and raised.