Lamentations 1
International Children’s Bible
Jerusalem Cries over Her Destruction
1 Jerusalem once was full of people.
But now the city is empty.
Jerusalem once was a great city among the nations.
But now she[a] has become like a widow.
She was like a queen of all the other cities.
But now she is a slave.
2 She cries loudly at night.
Tears are on her cheeks.
There is no one to comfort her.
All her lovers are gone.
All her friends have turned against her.
They have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into captivity.
She has suffered and worked hard.
She lives among other nations.
But she has found no rest.
Those who chased her caught her.
They caught her when she was in trouble.
4 The roads to Jerusalem are sad.
No one comes to Jerusalem for the feasts.
No one passes through her gates.
And her priests groan.
Her young women are suffering.
And Jerusalem suffers terribly.
5 Her enemies have become her masters.
Her enemies enjoy the wealth they have won.
The Lord is punishing her
for her many sins.
Her children have gone away.
They are captives of the enemy in a foreign land.
6 The beauty of Jerusalem
has gone away.
Her rulers are like deer
that cannot find food.
They are weak and have run away
from those who chased them.
7 Jerusalem is suffering and homeless.
She remembers all the precious things
she had in the past.
She remembers when her people were defeated by the enemy.
There was no one to help her.
When her enemies saw her,
they laughed to see her ruined.
8 Jerusalem sinned terribly.
So she has become unclean.
Those who honored her hate her now
because they have seen her nakedness.
Jerusalem groans
and turns away.
9 Jerusalem made herself unclean by her sins.
She did not think about what would happen to her.
Her defeat was surprising.
There was no one to comfort her.
She says, “Lord, see how I suffer.
The enemy has won.”
10 The enemy reached out and took
all her precious things.
She even saw foreigners
enter her Temple.
Lord, you had commanded
that they should not enter the meeting of your people.
11 All of Jerusalem’s people are groaning.
They are looking for bread.
They are giving away their precious things for food
so they can stay alive.
The city says, “Look, Lord, and see.
I am hated.”
12 Jerusalem says, “You who pass by on the road don’t seem to care.
Come, look at me and see.
Is there any pain like mine?
Is there any pain like that he has caused me?
The Lord has punished me
on the day of his great anger.
13 “The Lord sent fire from above.
It went down into my bones.
He stretched out a net for my feet.
He turned me back.
He made me sad and lonely.
I am weak all day.
14 “He has noticed my sins.
They are tied together by his hands.
They hang around my neck.
He has turned my strength into weakness.
The Lord has let me be defeated
by those who are stronger than I am.
15 “The Lord has rejected
all my mighty men inside my walls.
He brought an army against me
to destroy my young men.
As if in a winepress, the Lord has crushed
the capital city of Judah.
16 “I cry about these things.
My eyes overflow with tears.
There is no one near to comfort me.
There is no one who can give me strength again.
My children are left sad and lonely
because the enemy has won.”
17 Jerusalem reaches out her hands,
but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has commanded for the people of Jacob
that their enemies surround them.
Jerusalem has become unclean
like those around her.
18 Jerusalem says, “The Lord is right.
But I refused to obey him.
Listen, all you people.
Look at my pain.
My young women and men
have gone into captivity.
19 “I called out to my friends,
but they turned against me.
My priests and my elders
have died in the city.
They were looking for food
so they could stay alive.
20 “Look at me, Lord. I am upset.
I am troubled.
My heart is troubled
because I have been so stubborn.
Out in the streets, the sword kills.
Inside the houses, death destroys.
21 “People have heard my groaning.
There is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble.
They are happy that you have done this to me.
Now bring that day you have announced.
Let my enemies be like me.
22 “Look at all their evil.
Do to them what you have done to me
because of all my sins.
I groan over and over again,
and I am afraid.”
Footnotes
- 1:1 she In this poem the city of Jerusalem is described as a woman.
Lamentations 1
Names of God Bible
The Prophet Speaks Out: No One Offers Comfort
1 [a]“Look how deserted Jerusalem is!
Once the city was crowded with people.
Once it was important among the nations.
Now it is a widow.
Once it was a princess among the provinces.
Now it does forced labor.
2 Jerusalem cries bitterly at night with tears running down its cheeks.
Out of all those who love the city, no one offers it comfort.
All of Jerusalem’s friends have betrayed it and become its enemies.
3 “Judah has been exiled after much suffering and harsh treatment.
Its people live among the nations; they find no rest.
Those who chased them caught up with them
in places where there was no way out.
4 “The roads to Zion are deserted.[b]
No one comes to the annual festivals.
No one passes through any of its gates.[c]
Its priests are groaning.
Its young women are made to suffer.
Zion is bitter.
5 Its opponents are now in control.
Its enemies have no worries.
Yahweh made Zion suffer for its many rebellious acts.
Its children go ahead of their opponents into captivity.
6 All splendor has abandoned the people of Zion.
Its influential people were like deer that couldn’t find any pasture.
They ran without any strength ahead of the hunters.
7 “Now, during its suffering and oppression,
Jerusalem remembers all the treasures it had from ancient times,
when its people fell into the power of their enemies
with no one to help them.
Their opponents looked on, and they laughed at Jerusalem’s downfall.
8 Jerusalem has sinned so much that it has become a filthy thing.
Everyone who used to honor it now despises it.
They’ve seen it naked.
Jerusalem groans and turns away.
9 Jerusalem’s own filth covers its clothes.
It gave no thought to its future.
Its downfall was shocking.
No one offers it comfort.
‘O Yahweh, look at my suffering,
because my enemies have triumphed.’
10 The enemies laid their hands on all of the city’s treasures.
Jerusalem has seen the nations enter the holy place.
‘O Lord, they are the same people
you have forbidden to enter your congregation.’
11 All the people are groaning as they beg for bread.
They trade their treasures for food to keep themselves alive.
‘O Yahweh, look and see how despised I am!’”
Zion Speaks Out: No One Offers Comfort
12 “Doesn’t this affect all of you who pass by?
Look and see if there’s any pain
like the pain that Yahweh has caused me,
like the pain that he has made me suffer on the day of his fierce anger.
13 He sent fire from above.
He made it go deep into my bones.
He spread a net for my feet.
He made me turn back.
He has left me devastated.
He has made me sick all day long.
14 My rebellious acts are a heavy burden for me.
They were tied together by Yahweh’s own hands.
They were tied around my neck.
He has weakened me with them.
Adonay has handed me over to people I cannot oppose.[d]
15 Adonay has treated all the warriors inside my walls with contempt.
He called an army to defeat my young men.
Adonay trampled the people of Judah in a winepress.
16 I’m crying because of all these things.
My eyes—my eyes flow with tears.
No one can give me the comfort I need to keep me alive.
Everyone is too far away from me.
My children are devastated because my enemies have won.”
17 Zion holds out its hands.
No one offers it comfort.
Yahweh has given this order about Jacob:
His own neighbors will become his opponents.
Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
18 “Yahweh is right in what he did,
because I rebelled against his word.
Please listen, all you people, and look at my pain.
My young women and young men have gone into captivity.
19 I called for those who love me, but they betrayed me.
My priests and leaders breathed their last breath in the city,
looking for food to keep themselves alive.
20 “O Yahweh, see the distress I’m in!
My stomach is churning.
My heart is pounding because I’ve been very bitter.
In the streets swords kill my children.
Inside the houses it’s like death.
21 “All my enemies have heard that I am groaning.
No one offers me comfort.
All my enemies have heard about my disaster.
They are happy that you did it.
You have allowed the day to come, the one that you had announced.
Let my enemies be like me now.[e]
22 Recall all of their wickedness.
Then deal with them as you have dealt with me
because of all my rebellious acts.
I groan so much and feel so sick at heart.”
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:1 Chapter 1 is a poem in Hebrew alphabetical order.
- Lamentations 1:4 Or “are in mourning.”
- Lamentations 1:4 Or “All its gates are in despair.”
- Lamentations 1:14 Hebrew meaning of this verse uncertain.
- Lamentations 1:21 Hebrew meaning of this verse uncertain.
Lamentations 1
King James Version
1 How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!
2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.
4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
5 Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
6 And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.
8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
9 Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.
10 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.
11 All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O Lord, and consider; for I am become vile.
12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
13 From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.
14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.
15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.
16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.
17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.
18 The Lord is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
19 I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.
20 Behold, O Lord; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
21 They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.
22 Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.