Lamentations 2

1How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! He hath cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, And hath not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.

1The Lord has covered the people of Zion with the cloud of his anger! He has cast down the glory of Israel from heaven to earth. He did not even remember his footstool on the day he was angry.

2The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: He hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He hath brought them down to the ground; he hath profaned the kingdom and the princes thereof.

2The Lord has swallowed up every home in Judah without pity. In his rage, he has torn down the strongholds of the people. He has brought the kingdom and its leaders down to the ground in shame.

3He hath cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel; He hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy: And he hath burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.

3In his fierce anger, he has cut off all the strength of Israel. He withdrew his hand of protection when the enemy approached. He burned against the people like a raging fire that consumes everything around it.

4He hath bent his bow like an enemy, he hath stood with his right hand as an adversary, And hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye: In the tent of the daughter of Zion he hath poured out his wrath like fire.

4He bent his bow like an enemy and stood ready to strike like a foe. He killed everyone who was pleasant to look at. He poured out his fury like fire on the tents of the people of Zion.

5The Lord is become as an enemy, he hath swallowed up Israel; He hath swallowed up all her palaces, he hath destroyed his strongholds; And he hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.

5The Lord has become like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel. He destroyed all its palaces and tore down its fortresses. He has filled the people of Judah with nothing but mourning and crying.

6And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden; he hath destroyed his place of assembly: Jehovah hath caused solemn assembly and sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, And hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

6He has smashed his own temple as if it were a garden hut; he has destroyed his meeting place. The Lord has made Zion forget its festivals and Sabbaths. In his fierce anger, he has rejected both king and priest.

7The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary; He hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces: They have made a noise in the house of Jehovah, as in the day of a solemn assembly.

7The Lord has abandoned his altar and turned away from his sanctuary. He has handed the walls of her palaces over to the enemy. They shouted in the Lord’s house as if it were a day of celebration.

8Jehovah hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; He hath stretched out the line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying; And he hath made the rampart and wall to lament; they languish together.

8The Lord decided to destroy the wall of the people of Zion. He marked it for destruction and did not hold back his hand. He made the towers and walls mourn; they have all crumbled together.

9Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not; Yea, her prophets find no vision from Jehovah.

9Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has smashed and broken her bars. Her king and princes are scattered among the nations where the Law is no longer taught. Even her prophets receive no more visions from the Lord.

10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, they 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.

10The elders of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They throw dust on their heads and wear scratchy sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground in shame.

11Mine eyes do fail with tears, my heart is troubled; My liver is poured upon the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the young children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.

11My eyes are worn out from crying, and I am deeply troubled. My heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, and because children and infants are fainting in the city streets.

12They say to their mothers, Where is grain and wine? When they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city, When their soul is poured out into their mothers’ bosom.

12They cry out to their mothers, 'Where is the bread and wine?' as they collapse like wounded men in the streets and as their lives slip away in their mothers' arms.

13What shall I testify unto thee? what shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? For thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?

13What can I say to you? What can I compare you to, O Jerusalem? What can I say to comfort you, young Zion? Your ruin is as deep as the sea; who can possibly heal you?

14Thy prophets have seen for thee false and foolish visions; And they have not uncovered thine iniquity, to bring back thy captivity, But have seen for thee false oracles and causes of banishment.

14Your prophets told you lies and worthless visions. They did not point out your sins to keep you from being taken away. Instead, they gave you false messages that led you astray.

15All 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 called The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?

15Everyone who passes by claps their hands in mockery. They hiss and shake their heads at Jerusalem, asking, 'Is this the city called "The Perfection of Beauty" and "The Joy of All the Earth"?'

16All thine enemies have opened their mouth wide 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.

16All your enemies have opened their mouths wide against you. They hiss and grind their teeth, saying, 'We have swallowed her up! This is the day we’ve been waiting for; we have finally seen it happen!'

17Jehovah hath done that which he purposed; he hath fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old; He hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: And he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee; he hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries.

17The Lord has done what he planned; he has carried out the word he commanded long ago. He has torn everything down without pity. He let your enemies rejoice over you and gave power to those who hate you.

18Their 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 respite; let not the apple of thine eye cease.

18The people cry out to the Lord from their hearts. O wall of Zion, let your tears flow like a river day and night! Give yourself no rest; don't let your eyes stop crying.

19Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; Pour out thy 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 at the head of every street.

19Get up and cry out in the night, even as the night watches begin. Pour out your heart like water before the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who are starving at every street corner.

20See, O Jehovah, and behold to whom thou hast done thus! Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands? Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

20Look, Lord, and see: Who have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their own children, the ones they have cared for? Should priests and prophets be killed inside the Lord’s sanctuary?

21The youth and the old man 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 slaughtered, and not pitied.

21Young and old lie together on the ground in the streets. My young men and women have been killed by the sword. You killed them on the day of your anger; you slaughtered them without any mercy.

22Thou hast called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side; And there was none that escaped or remained in the day of Jehovah’s anger: Those that I have dandled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.

22You summoned terrors against me from every side, as if you were calling people to a festival. No one escaped or survived on the day of the Lord’s anger. The enemy has destroyed the children I raised and cared for.