Lamentations 2:10-22
New International Version
10 The elders of Daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence;(A)
they have sprinkled dust(B) on their heads(C)
and put on sackcloth.(D)
The young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.(E)
11 My eyes fail from weeping,(F)
I am in torment within(G);
my heart(H) is poured out(I) on the ground
because my people are destroyed,(J)
because children and infants faint(K)
in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”(L)
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away(M)
in their mothers’ arms.(N)
13 What can I say for you?(O)
With what can I compare you,
Daughter(P) Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
that I may comfort you,
Virgin Daughter Zion?(Q)
Your wound is as deep as the sea.(R)
Who can heal you?
14 The visions of your prophets
were false(S) and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
to ward off your captivity.(T)
The prophecies they gave you
were false and misleading.(U)
15 All who pass your way
clap their hands at you;(V)
they scoff(W) and shake their heads(X)
at Daughter Jerusalem:(Y)
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,(Z)
the joy of the whole earth?”(AA)
16 All your enemies open their mouths
wide against you;(AB)
they scoff and gnash their teeth(AC)
and say, “We have swallowed her up.(AD)
This is the day we have waited for;
we have lived to see it.”(AE)
17 The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled(AF) his word,
which he decreed long ago.(AG)
He has overthrown you without pity,(AH)
he has let the enemy gloat over you,(AI)
he has exalted the horn[a] of your foes.(AJ)
18 The hearts of the people
cry out to the Lord.(AK)
You walls of Daughter Zion,(AL)
let your tears(AM) flow like a river
day and night;(AN)
give yourself no relief,
your eyes no rest.(AO)
19 Arise, cry out in the night,
as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart(AP) like water
in the presence of the Lord.(AQ)
Lift up your hands(AR) to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint(AS) from hunger
at every street corner.
20 “Look, Lord, and consider:
Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,(AT)
the children they have cared for?(AU)
Should priest and prophet be killed(AV)
in the sanctuary of the Lord?(AW)
Footnotes
- Lamentations 2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength.
Lamentations 2:10-22
King James Version
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers' bosom.
13 What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?
14 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.
15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.
17 The Lord hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.
18 Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
19 Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.
20 Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.
22 Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the Lord's anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
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