Lamentations 1:18–2:4
18 “The Lord is righteous,g
yet I rebelledh against his command.
Listen, all you peoples;
look on my suffering.i
My young men and young women
have gone into exile.j
19 “I called to my alliesk
but they betrayed me.
My priests and my elders
perishedl in the city
while they searched for food
to keep themselves alive.
20 “See, Lord, how distressedm I am!
I am in tormentn within,
and in my heart I am disturbed,o
for I have been most rebellious.p
Outside, the sword bereaves;
inside, there is only death.q
21 “People have heard my groaning,r
but there is no one to comfort me.s
All my enemies have heard of my distress;
they rejoicet at what you have done.
May you bring the dayu you have announced
so they may become like me.
22 “Let all their wickedness come before you;
deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my sins.v
My groansw are many
and my heart is faint.”
2 a How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion
with the cloud of his angerb!x
He has hurled down the splendor of Israel
from heaven to earth;
he has not remembered his footstooly
in the day of his anger.z
2 Without pitya the Lord has swallowedb up
all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has torn down
the strongholdsc of Daughter Judah.
He has brought her kingdom and its princes
down to the groundd in dishonor.
3 In fierce anger he has cut off
He has withdrawn his right handf
at the approach of the enemy.
He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything around it.g
4 Like an enemy he has strung his bow;h
his right hand is ready.
Like a foe he has slain
all who were pleasing to the eye;i
he has poured out his wrathj like firek
on the tentl of Daughter Zion.