Lamentations Chapter 1
Jerusalem Deserted
1:1How lonely the city sits that used to bustle with people!
She’s like a widow that was once great among the nations!
The princess among the provinces has become a slave!
2 She cries bitterly at night; tears are on her cheeks.
Nobody among her lovers is there to comfort her.
Her friends have betrayed her
and become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile in suffering and hard servitude;
she’s spread out among the nations now;
with no resting place.
Her pursuers have caught up with her in the middle of her distress.
4 The roads to Zion are in mourning
because nobody attends the appointed festivals.
Her gates are desolate, her priests groan,
her virgins suffer, and she suffers bitterly herself.
Lam 1:1-4
5 Her adversaries have become her masters; her enemies prosper.
The LORD has made her suffer for her many sins.
Her children have gone away captive to the foe.
6 The majesty is gone from Zion;
her officials are like bucks that can’t find pasture;
they’ve fled away weak before their pursuers.
7 In her time of suffering and homelessness,
Jerusalem remembers her treasured things from before;
when her people fell to her adversaries and nobody helped her,
the enemies gloated over her and mocked her downfall.
8 Jerusalem sinned grievously, so she’s become filthy.
Everybody that honored her before despises her now,
because they’ve seen her nakedness;
she groans and turns away.
Lam 1:5-8
9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she didn’t give any thought to her doom;
so she’s fallen terribly with no comforter.
10 The foe has reached out for her treasured things;
she has watched the nations invade her sanctuary,
people you commanded not to enter your community.
11 The people are groaning as they look for bread;
they’ve given their treasured things for food to stay alive;
“Look, LORD, I’m despised.
12 Is it nothing to you that go by?
Look and see if there’s any pain like my pain
that was severely dealt out to me,
that the LORD inflicted in his fierce anger.
Lam 1:9-12
13 He sent fire from on high into my bones, and it descended on them.
He spread a net for my feet and turned me back;
he left me desolate and faint all day long.
14 He has tied my sins together into a yoke around my neck;
he has made my strength fail,
and turned me over to those I can’t withstand.
15 The Lord has rejected the strong men that are with me;
he has called an appointed time against me to crush my young men;
like a winepress he has trodden down the young virgin Judah.
16 I weep for those things; my eyes run down with tears
because there’s no comforter near to restore my soul.
My children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed.” Lam 1:13-16
17 Zion holds out her hands, but there’s no one to comfort her;
the LORD has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors would be his enemies;
Jerusalem has become something filthy in their minds.
18 “The LORD is good; I’ve rebelled against his command;
listen now, all you nations, and look at my pain;
my virgins and young men have gone into captivity.
19 I called to my lovers, but they deceived me;
my priests and elders perished in the city
as they looked for food to stay alive.
20 Look, LORD, because I’m in distress; my soul is in turmoil.
My heart’s upset because I’ve been rebellious.
The sword bereaves in the street; it’s like death in the house. Lam 1:17-20
21 They’ve heard that I’m groaning with nobody to comfort me.
My enemies have heard about my trouble;
they’re glad you’ve done it.
Bring the time you’ve promised,
and let them be like me.
22 Pay attention to their sinfulness,,
and deal with them like you’ve dealt with me for my sins.