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The Lamentations of Jeremiah
- 1:1 How doth the city sit
solitary, that was full of people!
- She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations!
- She that was a princess among the provinces is become tributary!
- 1:2 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.
- 1:3 Judah is gone into
captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude;
- She dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest:
- All her persecutors overtook her within the straits.
- 1:4 The ways of Zion do
mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly;
- All her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh:
- Her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.
- 1:5 Her adversaries are
become the head, her enemies prosper;
- For Jehovah hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions:
- Her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary.
- 1:6 And from the daughter
of Zion all her majesty is departed:
- Her princes are become like harts that find no pasture,
- And they are gone without strength before the pursuer.
- 1:7 Jerusalem remembereth
in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things
that were from the days of old:
- When her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and none did help
her,
- The adversaries saw her, they did mock at her desolations.
- 1:8 Jerusalem hath
grievously sinned; therefore she is become as an unclean thing;
- All that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness:
- Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
- 1:9 Her filthiness was in
her skirts; she remembered not her latter end;
- Therefore is she come down wonderfully; she hath no comforter:
- Behold, O Jehovah, my affliction; for the enemy hath magnified himself.
- 1:10 The adversary hath
spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things:
- For she hath seen that the nations are entered into her sanctuary,
- Concerning whom thou didst command that they should not enter into
thine assembly.
- 1:11 All her people sigh,
they seek bread;
- They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul:
- See, O Jehovah, and behold; for I am become abject.
-
- 1:12 Is it nothing to you,
all ye that pass by?
- Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is
brought upon me,
- Wherewith Jehovah hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce
anger.
- 1:13 From on high 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.
- 1:14 The yoke of my
transgressions is bound by his hand;
- They are knit together, they are come up upon my neck; he hath made my
strength to fail:
- The Lord hath delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not
able to stand.
- 1:15 The Lord hath set at
nought all my mighty men in the midst of me;
- He hath called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men:
- The Lord hath trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.
- 1:16 For these things I
weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water;
- Because the comforter that should refresh my soul is far from me:
- My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.
- 1:17 Zion spreadeth forth
her hands; there is none to comfort her;
- Jehovah hath commanded concerning Jacob, that they that are round
about him should be his adversaries:
- Jerusalem is among them as an unclean thing.
- 1:18 Jehovah is righteous;
for I have rebelled against his commandment:
- Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and behold my sorrow:
- My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
- 1:19 I called for my
lovers, but they deceived me:
- My priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city,
- While they sought them food to refresh their souls.
-
- 1:20 Behold, O Jehovah;
for I am in distress; my heart is troubled;
- My heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled:
- Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
- 1:21 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 proclaimed, and they shall be
like unto me.
- 1:22 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.
- 2:1 How 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.
- 2:2 The 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.
- 2:3 He 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.
- 2:4 He 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.
- 2:5 The 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.
- 2:6 And 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.
- 2:7 The 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.
- 2:8 Jehovah 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.
- 2:9 Her 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.
- 2:10 The 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.
-
- 2:11 Mine 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.
- 2:12 They 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.
- 2:13 What 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?
- 2:14 Thy 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.
- 2:15 All 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?
- 2:16 All 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.
- 2:17 Jehovah 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.
- 2:18 Their 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.
- 2:19 Arise, 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.
-
- 2:20 See, 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?
- 2:21 The 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.
- 2:22 Thou 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.
- 3:1 I am the man that hath
seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
- 3:2 He hath led me and
caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.
- 3:3 Surely against me he
turneth his hand again and again all the day.
- 3:4 My flesh and my skin
hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.
- 3:5 He hath builded
against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
- 3:6 He hath made me to
dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
- 3:7 He hath walled me
about, that I cannot go forth; he hath made my chain heavy.
- 3:8 Yea, when I cry, and
call for help, he shutteth out my prayer.
- 3:9 He hath walled up my
ways with hewn stone; he hath made my paths crooked.
- 3:10 He is unto me as a
bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
- 3:11 He hath turned aside
my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
- 3:12 He hath bent his bow,
and set me as a mark for the arrow.
- 3:13 He hath caused the
shafts of his quiver to enter into my reins.
- 3:14 I am become a
derision to all my people, and their song all the day.
- 3:15 He hath filled me
with bitterness, he hath sated me with wormwood.
- 3:16 He hath also broken
my teeth with gravel stones; he hath covered me with ashes.
- 3:17 And thou hast removed
my soul far off from peace; I forgat prosperity.
- 3:18 And I said, My
strength is perished, and mine expectation from Jehovah.
- 3:19 Remember mine
affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
- 3:20 My soul hath them
still in remembrance, and is bowed down within me.
- 3:21 This I recall to my
mind; therefore have I hope.
- 3:22 It is of
Jehovah’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because his
compassions fail not.
- 3:23 They are new every
morning; great is thy faithfulness.
- 3:24 Jehovah is my
portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
- 3:25 Jehovah is good unto
them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
- 3:26 It is good that a man
should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Jehovah.
- 3:27 It is good for a man
that he bear the yoke in his youth.
- 3:28 Let him sit alone and
keep silence, because he hath laid it upon him.
- 3:29 Let him put his mouth
in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
- 3:30 Let him give his
cheek to him that smiteth him; let him be filled full with reproach.
- 3:31 For the Lord will not
cast off for ever.
- 3:32 For though he cause
grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his
lovingkindnesses.
- 3:33 For he doth not
afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
- 3:34 To crush under foot
all the prisoners of the earth,
- 3:35 To turn aside the
right of a man before the face of the Most High,
- 3:36 To subvert a man in
his cause, the Lord approveth not.
- 3:37 Who is he that saith,
and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
- 3:38 Out of the mouth of
the Most High cometh there not evil and good?
- 3:39 Wherefore doth a
living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
-
- 3:40 Let us search and try
our ways, and turn again to Jehovah.
- 3:41 Let us lift up our
heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
- 3:42 We have transgressed
and have rebelled; thou hast not pardoned.
- 3:43 Thou hast covered
with anger and pursued us; thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
- 3:44 Thou hast covered
thyself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.
- 3:45 Thou hast made us an
off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.
- 3:46 All our enemies have
opened their mouth wide against us.
- 3:47 Fear and the pit are
come upon us, devastation and destruction.
- 3:48 Mine eye runneth down
with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- 3:49 Mine eye poureth
down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
- 3:50 Till Jehovah look
down, and behold from heaven.
- 3:51 Mine eye affecteth my
soul, because of all the daughters of my city.
- 3:52 They have chased me
sore like a bird, they that are mine enemies without cause.
- 3:53 They have cut off my
life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone upon me.
- 3:54 Waters flowed over my
head; I said, I am cut off.
-
- 3:55 I called upon thy
name, O Jehovah, out of the lowest dungeon.
- 3:56 Thou heardest my
voice; hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
- 3:57 Thou drewest near in
the day that I called upon thee; thou saidst, Fear not.
- 3:58 O Lord, thou hast
pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
- 3:59 O Jehovah, thou hast
seen my wrong; judge thou my cause.
- 3:60 Thou hast seen all
their vengeance and all their devices against me.
- 3:61 Thou hast heard their
reproach, O Jehovah, and all their devices against me,
- 3:62 The lips of those
that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.
- 3:63 Behold thou their
sitting down, and their rising up; I am their song.
- 3:64 Thou wilt render unto
them a recompense, O Jehovah, according to the work of their hands.
- 3:65 Thou wilt give them
hardness of heart, thy curse unto them.
- 3:66 Thou wilt pursue them
in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Jehovah.
- 4:1 How is the gold become
dim! how is the most pure gold changed!
- The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.
- 4:2 The precious sons of
Zion, comparable to fine gold,
- How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of
the potter!
- 4:3 Even the jackals draw
out the breast, they give suck to their young ones:
- The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the
wilderness.
- 4:4 The tongue of the
sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst:
- The young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
- 4:5 They that did feed
delicately are desolate in the streets:
- They that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
- 4:6 For the iniquity of
the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom,
- That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands were laid upon her.
- 4:7 Her nobles were purer
than snow, they were whiter than milk;
- They were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was as of
sapphire.
- 4:8 Their visage is
blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets:
- Their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like
a stick.
- 4:9 They that are slain
with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger;
- For these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the
field.
- 4:10 The hands of the
pitiful women have boiled their own children;
- They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- 4:11 Jehovah hath
accomplished his wrath, he hath poured out his fierce anger;
- And he hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured the
foundations thereof.
- 4:12 The kings of the
earth believed not, neither all the inhabitants of the world,
- That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of
Jerusalem.
- 4:13 It is because
of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests,
- That have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.
- 4:14 They wander as blind
men in the streets, they are polluted with blood,
- So that men cannot touch their garments.
- 4:15 Depart ye, they cried
unto them, Unclean! depart, depart, touch not!
- When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, They
shall no more sojourn here.
- 4:16 The anger of Jehovah
hath scattered them; he will no more regard them:
- They respected not the persons of the priests, they favored not the
elders.
- 4:17 Our eyes do yet fail
in looking for our vain help:
- In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
- 4:18 They hunt our steps,
so that we cannot go in our streets:
- Our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
- 4:19 Our pursuers were
swifter than the eagles of the heavens:
- They chased us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the
wilderness.
- 4:20 The breath of our
nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits;
- Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
-
- 4:21 Rejoice and be glad,
O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz:
- The cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and
shalt make thyself naked.
- 4:22 The punishment of
thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry
thee away into captivity:
- He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will uncover thy
sins.
- 5:1 Remember, O Jehovah,
what is come upon us:
- Behold, and see our reproach.
- 5:2 Our inheritance is
turned unto strangers,
- Our houses unto aliens.
- 5:3 We are orphans and
fatherless;
- Our mothers are as widows.
- 5:4 We have drunken our
water for money;
- Our wood is sold unto us.
- 5:5 Our pursuers are upon
our necks:
- We are weary, and have no rest.
- 5:6 We have given the hand
to the Egyptians,
- And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
- 5:7 Our fathers sinned,
and are not;
- And we have borne their iniquities.
- 5:8 Servants rule over us:
- There is none to deliver us out of their hand.
- 5:9 We get our bread at
the peril of our lives,
- Because of the sword of the wilderness.
- 5:10 Our skin is black
like an oven,
- Because of the burning heat of famine.
- 5:11 They ravished the
women in Zion,
- The virgins in the cities of Judah.
- 5:12 Princes were hanged
up by their hand:
- The faces of elders were not honored.
- 5:13 The young men bare
the mill;
- And the children stumbled under the wood.
- 5:14 The elders have
ceased from the gate,
- The young men from their music.
- 5:15 The joy of our heart
is ceased;
- Our dance is turned into mourning.
- 5:16 The crown is fallen
from our head:
- Woe unto us! for we have sinned.
- 5:17 For this our heart is
faint;
- For these things our eyes are dim;
- 5:18 For the mountain of
Zion, which is desolate:
- The foxes walk upon it.
-
- 5:19 Thou, O Jehovah,
abidest for ever;
- Thy throne is from generation to generation.
- 5:20 Wherefore dost thou
forget us for ever,
- And forsake us so long time?
- 5:21 Turn thou us unto
thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned;
- Renew our days as of old.
- 5:22 But thou hast utterly
rejected us;
- Thou art very wroth against us.
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