Judgment on Jerusalem
א Aleph
1How the Lord has overshadowed
Daughter Zion with his anger!
He has thrown down Israel’s glory
from heaven to earth.
ב Beth
all the dwellings of Jacob.
In his wrath he has demolished
He brought them to the ground
ג Gimel
in his burning anger
in the presence of the enemy.
He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
ד Daleth
his right hand is positioned like an adversary.
pouring out his wrath like fire
on the tent of Daughter Zion.
ה He
5The Lord is like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all its palaces
and destroyed its fortified cities.
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation
within Daughter Judah.2:5 Is 29:2
ו Waw
6He has wrecked his temple2:6 Lit booth
as if it were merely a shack in a field,2:6 Lit it were a garden
destroying his place of meeting.2:6 Ps 74:4
The Lord has abolished
appointed festivals and Sabbaths in Zion.
He has despised king and priest
in his fierce anger.
ז Zayin
7The Lord has rejected his altar,
repudiated his sanctuary;2:7 Ps 89:39
he has handed the walls of her palaces
over to the enemy.
They have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.
ח Cheth
8The Lord determined to destroy
the wall of Daughter Zion.
and did not restrain himself from destroying.
He made the ramparts and walls grieve;
together they waste away.
ט Teth
he has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.
Her king and her leaders live among the nations,
instruction2:9 Or the law is no more,
and even her prophets receive
י Yod
10The elders of Daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence.
They have thrown dust on their heads2:10 Gn 37:34; Jos 7:6; Neh 9:1; Jb 2:12–13; Ezk 27:30
and put on sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem
כ Kaph
11My eyes are worn out from weeping;2:11 Ps 69:3; Jr 9:1; 14:17; Lm 3:48–49
I am churning within.
because of the destruction of my dear people,2:11 Lm 3:48
because infants and nursing babies faint
in the streets of the city.2:11 Jr 44:7
ל Lamed
12They cry out to their mothers,
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their life pours out
in the arms of their mothers.
מ Mem
13What can I say on your behalf?
What can I compare you to, Daughter Jerusalem?
What can I liken you to,
so that I may console you, Virgin Daughter Zion?
For your ruin is as vast as the sea.
Who can heal you?2:13 Nah 3:19
נ Nun
14Your prophets saw visions for you
that were empty and deceptive;2:14 Or insipid2:14 Jr 5:12–13; 23:9–40; 28:1–4; 29:29–32; Ezk 13:8–16
they did not reveal your iniquity
and so restore your fortunes.2:14 Dt 30:1–3; Jr 29:11–14; 30:1–3
They saw pronouncements for you
that were empty and misleading.
ס Samek
15All who pass by
at Daughter Jerusalem:
Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,2:15 Ps 50:2
the joy of the whole earth?2:15 Ps 48:2
פ Pe
16All your enemies
This is the day we have waited for!
We have lived to see it.”
ע Ayin
17The Lord has done what he planned;
he has accomplished his decree,
which he ordained in days of old.
letting the enemy gloat over you
and exalting the horn of your adversaries.
צ Tsade
18The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord.
Wall of Daughter Zion,2:18 Lm 2:8
let your tears run down like a river
Give yourself no relief
and your2:18 Lit and the daughter of your eyes no rest.
ק Qoph
19Arise, cry out in the night
from the first watch of the night.
Pour out your heart like water
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your children
who are fainting from hunger
at the head of every street.2:19 Is 51:20
ר Resh
20
Lord, look and consider
to whom you have done this.
Should women eat their own children,2:20 Lv 26:27–29; Dt 28:53–57; 2Kg 6:24–31; Jr 19:9; Lm 4:10
the infants they have nurtured?2:20 Or infants in a healthy condition; Hb obscure
Should priests and prophets
be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?
שׁ Shin
21Both young and old
are lying on the ground in the streets.
My young women and young men
have fallen by the sword.
You have killed them in the day of your anger,
ת Taw
as if for an appointed festival day;
on the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped or survived.
My enemy has destroyed
those I nurtured2:22 Or I bore healthy; Hb obscure and reared.
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