Lamentations 2

New King James Version

² The Lord has swallowed up and has^(E)not pitied
All the dwelling places of Jacob.
He has thrown down in His wrath
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
He has broughtthemdown to the ground;
^(F)He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.

³ He has cut off in fierce anger
Every^[a]horn of Israel;
^(G)He has drawn back His right hand
From before the enemy.
^(H)He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
Devouring all around.

^4 (I)Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow;
With His right hand, like an adversary,
He has slain^(J)allwho werepleasing to His eye;
On the tent of the daughter of Zion,
He has poured out His fury like fire.

^5 (K)The Lord was like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel,
He has swallowed up all her palaces;
^(L)He has destroyed her strongholds,
And has increased mourning and lamentation
In the daughter of Judah.

⁶ He has done violence^(M)to His^[b]tabernacle,
^(N)As if it werea garden;
He has destroyed His place of assembly;
TheLordhas caused
The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.
In His burning indignation He has^(O)spurned the king and the priest.

⁷ The Lord has spurned His altar,
He has^(P)abandoned His sanctuary;
He has^[c]given up the walls of her palaces
Into the hand of the enemy.
^(Q)They have made a noise in the house of theLord
As on the day of a set feast.

⁸ TheLordhas^[d]purposed to destroy
The^(R)wall of the daughter of Zion.
^(S)He has stretched out a line;
He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying;
Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament;
They languished together.

⁹ Her gates have sunk into the ground;
He has destroyed and^(T)broken her bars.
^(U)Her king and her princesareamong the^[e]nations;
^(V)The Lawisnomore,
And her^(W)prophets find no^[f]vision from theLord.

¹⁰ The elders of the daughter of Zion
^(X)Sit on the groundandkeep silence;
^[g]They^(Y)throw dust on their heads
And^(Z)gird themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Bow their heads to the ground.

^11 (AA)My eyes fail with tears,
My^[h]heart is troubled;
^(AB)My^[i]bile is poured on the ground
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
Because^(AC)the children and the infants
Faint in the streets of the city.

¹² They say to their mothers,
“Whereisgrain and wine?”
As they swoon like the wounded
In the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
In their mothers’ bosom.

¹³ How shall I^(AD)console^[j]you?
To what shall I liken you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruinisspread wide as the sea;
Who can heal you?

¹⁴ Your^(AE)prophets have seen for you
False and deceptive visions;
They have not^(AF)uncovered your iniquity,
To bring back your captives,
But have envisioned for you false^(AG)prophecies and delusions.

¹⁵ All who^[k]pass by^(AH)claptheirhands at you;
They hiss^(AI)and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Isthis the city that is called
^(AJ)‘The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth’?”

^16 (AK)All your enemies have opened their mouth against you;
They hiss and gnashtheirteeth.
They say,^(AL)“We have swallowedherup!
Surely thisisthe^(AM)day we have waited for;
We have foundit,^(AN)we have seenit!”

¹⁷ TheLordhas done what He^(AO)purposed;
He has fulfilled His word
Which He commanded in days of old.
He has thrown down and has not pitied,
And He has caused an enemy to^(AP)rejoice over you;
He has exalted the^[l]horn of your adversaries.

¹⁸ Their heart cried out to the Lord,
“O wall of the daughter of Zion,
^(AQ)Let tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief;
Give^[m]your eyes no rest.

¹⁹ “Arise,^(AR)cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
^(AS)Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him
For the life of your young children,
Who faint from hunger^(AT)at the head of every street.”

²⁰ “See, OLord, and consider!
To whom have You done this?
^(AU)Should the women eat their offspring,
The children^[n]they have cuddled?
Should the priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?

²¹ “Young^(AV)and old lie
On the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the^(AW)sword;
You have slainthemin the day of Your anger,
You have slaughteredandnot pitied.

²² “You have invited as to a feast day
^(AX)The terrors that surround me.
In the day of theLord’s anger
There was no refugee or survivor.
^(AY)Those whom I have borne and brought up
My enemies have^(AZ)destroyed.”