Lamentations 2:1-19 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Anger of Yahweh

א Aleph

How the Lord has ^acovered the daughter of ZionWith a cloud in His anger!He has ^bcast from heaven to earthThe ^cbeauty of Israel,And has not remembered the ^dfootstool of His feetIn the day of His anger.

ב Beth

²The Lord has ^aswallowed up; He has not sparedAll the habitations of Jacob.In His wrath He has ^bpulled downThe strongholds of the daughter of Judah;He has ^cbrought them down to the ground;He has ^dprofaned the kingdom and its princes.

ג Gimel

³In ¹hot anger He has cut in pieces²All the ^astrength of Israel;He has ^bturned back His right handFrom before the enemy.And He has ^cburned in Jacob like a flaming fireDevouring round about.

ד Daleth

⁴He has bent His ^abow like an enemy;He has set His right hand like an adversaryAnd killed all that were ^bdesirable to the eye;In the tent of the daughter of ZionHe has ^cpoured out His wrath like fire.

ה He

⁵The Lord has become like an ^aenemy.He has ^bswallowed up Israel;He has swallowed up all its ^cpalaces;He has brought its strongholds to ruinAnd ^dmultiplied in the daughter of JudahMourning and moaning.

ו Vav

⁶And He has violently treated His ¹tabernacle like a garden booth;He has ^abrought His appointed ²meeting place to ruin.Yahweh has ^bcaused to be forgottenThe appointed time and sabbath in Zion,And He has ^cspurned king and priestIn the indignation of His anger.

ז Zayin

⁷The Lord has ^arejected His altar;He has abandoned His sanctuary;He ^bhas delivered into the hand of the enemyThe walls of her palaces.They have made a ^cnoise in the house of YahwehAs in the day of an appointed time.

ח Heth

⁸Yahweh ¹determined to bring to ruinThe wall of the daughter of Zion.He has ^astretched out a line;He has not turned His hand back from swallowing up,And He has ^bcaused rampart and wall to mourn;They have languished together.

ט Teth

⁹Her ^agates have sunk into the ground;He has destroyed and broken her bars.Her king and her princes are among the nations;The ^blaw is no more.Also, her prophets find^cNo vision from Yahweh.

י Yodh

¹⁰The elders of the daughter of Zion^aSit on the ground; they ^bare silent.They have thrown ^cdust up on their heads;They have girded themselves with ^dsackcloth.The ^evirgins of JerusalemHave bowed their heads down to the ground.

כ Kaph

¹¹My ^aeyes fail because of tears;My ¹^,^binmost being is greatly disturbed;My ²^,^cheart is poured out on the earth^dBecause of the ³destruction of the daughter of my people,When ^einfants and nursing babies faintIn the open squares of the city.

ל Lamedh

¹²They say to their mothers,“^aWhere is grain and wine?”As they faint like a wounded manIn the open squares of the city,As their ^blife is poured outOn their mothers’ bosom.

מ Mem

¹³What shall I testify about you?To what ^ashall I equate you,O daughter of Jerusalem?To what shall I liken you as I comfort you,O ^bvirgin daughter of Zion?For your ¹destruction is as vast as the sea;Who can ^cheal you?

נ Nun

¹⁴Your ^aprophets have beheld for youWorthless and ineffective visions;And they have not ^buncovered your iniquitySo as to ¹return you from captivity,But they have ^cbeheld for you worthless and misleading ²oracles.

ס Samekh

¹⁵All who pass along the way^aClap their hands in derision at you;They ^bhiss and shake their headsAt the daughter of Jerusalem,“Is this the city of which they said,‘^cThe perfection of beauty,^dThe joy of the whole earth’?”

פ Pe

¹⁶All ^ayour enemiesHave opened their mouths wide against you;They hiss and ^bgnash their teeth.They say, “We have ^cswallowed her up!Surely this is the ^dday for which we have hoped;We have found it, we have seen it.”

ע Ayin

¹⁷Yahweh has ^adone what He purposed;He has completed His wordWhich He commanded from days of old.He has pulled down ^bwithout sparing,And He has caused the enemy to ^cbe glad over you;He has ^dexalted the ¹might of your adversaries.

צ Tsadhe

¹⁸Their ^aheart cried out to the Lord,“O ^bwall of the daughter of Zion,Let your ^ctears run down like a river day and night;Give yourself no relief;Let ¹your eyes not be still.

ק Qoph

¹⁹“Arise, cry aloud in the ^anightAt the head of the night watches;^bPour out your heart like waterBefore the presence of the Lord;Lift up your hands to HimFor the ^clife of your infantsWho are ^dfaint because of hungerAt the head of every street.”