The Lamentations of Jeremiah
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!
2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on hercheeks;Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her:All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they arebecome her enemies.
3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, andbecause of great servitude;She dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest:All her persecutors overtook her within the straits.
4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemnassembly;All her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh:Her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.
5 Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies prosper;For Jehovah hath afflicted her for the multitude of hertransgressions:Her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary.
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.
7 Jerusalem remembereth in the days of her affliction and ofher miseries all her pleasant things that were from thedays of old:When her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and nonedid help her,The adversaries saw her, they did mock at her desolations.
8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is becomeas an unclean thing;All that honored her despise her, because they have seen hernakedness:Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
9 Her filthiness was in her skirts; she remembered not herlatter end;Therefore is she come down wonderfully; she hath no comforter:Behold, O Jehovah, my affliction; for the enemy hath magnifiedhimself.
10 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all herpleasant things:For she hath seen that the nations are entered into hersanctuary,Concerning whom thou didst command that they should not enterinto thine assembly.
11 All her people sigh, they seek bread;They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh thesoul:See, O Jehovah, and behold; for I am become abject.
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 fierceanger.
13 From on high hath he sent fire into my bones, and itprevaileth 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 knit together, they are come up upon my neck; he hathmade my strength to fail:The Lord hath delivered me into their hands, against whom I amnot able to stand.
15 The Lord hath set at nought all my mighty men in themidst of me;He hath called a solemn assembly against me to crush my youngmen:The Lord hath trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter ofJudah.
16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth downwith water;Because the comforter that should refresh my soul is far from me:My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.
17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands; there is none to comforther;Jehovah hath commanded concerning Jacob, that they that areround about him should be his adversaries:Jerusalem is among them as an unclean thing.
18 Jehovah is righteous; for I have rebelled against hiscommandment:Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, 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 them food to refresh their souls.
20 Behold, O Jehovah; for I am in distress; my heart istroubled;My 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 thatthou hast done it:Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast proclaimed, and theyshall be like unto me.
22 Let all their wickedness come before thee;And do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all mytransgressions:For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
1 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with acloud in his anger!He hath cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty ofIsrael,And hath not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
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 daughterof Judah;He hath brought them down to the ground; he hath profaned thekingdom and the princes thereof.
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 devourethround about.
4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy, he hath stood with hisright 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 wrathlike fire.
5 The Lord is become as an enemy, he hath swallowed upIsrael;He hath swallowed up all her palaces, he hath destroyed hisstrongholds;And he hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning andlamentation.
6 And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if itwere of a garden; he hath destroyed his place of assembly:Jehovah hath caused solemn assembly and sabbath to be forgottenin Zion,And hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king andthe priest.
7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred hissanctuary;He hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of herpalaces:They have made a noise in the house of Jehovah, as in the day ofa solemn assembly.
8 Jehovah hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughterof Zion;He hath stretched out the line, he hath not withdrawn his handfrom destroying;And he hath made the rampart and wall to lament; they languishtogether.
9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed andbroken her bars:Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law isnot;Yea, her prophets find no vision from Jehovah.
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 girdedthemselves with sackcloth:The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my heart is troubled;My liver is poured upon the earth, because of the destruction ofthe daughter of my people,Because the young children and the sucklings swoon in thestreets of the city.
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.
13 What shall I testify unto thee? what shall I liken tothee, O daughter of Jerusalem?What shall I compare to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgindaughter of Zion?For thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?
14 Thy prophets have seen for thee false and foolish visions;And they have not uncovered thine iniquity, to bring back thycaptivity,But have seen for thee false oracles and causes of banishment.
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, Thejoy of the whole earth?
16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth wide againstthee;They hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, We have swallowed herup;Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, wehave seen it.
17 Jehovah hath done that which he purposed; he hathfulfilled 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 hathexalted the horn of thine adversaries.
18 Their heart cried unto the Lord:O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a riverday and night;Give thyself no respite; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
19 Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of thewatches;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.
20 See, O Jehovah, and behold to whom thou hast done thus!Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandledin the hands?Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary ofthe Lord?
21 The youth and the old man lie on the ground in thestreets;My virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword:Thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hastslaughtered, [and] not pitied.
22 Thou hast called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, myterrors on every side;And there was none that escaped or remained in the day ofJehovah's anger:Those that I have dandled and brought up hath mine enemyconsumed.
1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of hiswrath.
2 He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and notin light.
3 Surely against me he turneth his hand again and again allthe day.
4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken mybones.
5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall andtravail.
6 He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those thathave been long dead.
7 He hath walled me about, that I cannot go forth; he hathmade my chain heavy.
8 Yea, when I cry, and call for help, he shutteth out myprayer.
9 He hath walled up my ways with hewn stone; he hath made mypaths crooked.
10 He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion insecret places.
11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; hehath made me desolate.
12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He hath caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into myreins.
14 I am become a derision to all my people, and their songall the day.
15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath sated me withwormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones; he hathcovered me with ashes.
17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace; Iforgat prosperity.
18 And I said, My strength is perished, and mine expectationfrom Jehovah.
19 Remember mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood andthe gall.
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is bowed downwithin me.
21 This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope.
22 [It is of] Jehovah's lovingkindnesses that we are notconsumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
24 Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will Ihope in him.
25 Jehovah is good unto them that wait for him, to the soulthat seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait forthe salvation of Jehovah.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he hath laidit upon him.
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may behope.
30 Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him; let himbe filled full with reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
32 For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassionaccording to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
33 For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve thechildren of men.
34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of theMost High,
36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.
37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when theLord commandeth it not?
38 Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not eviland good?
39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for thepunishment of his sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah.
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in theheavens.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled; thou hast notpardoned.
43 Thou hast covered with anger and pursued us; thou hastslain, thou hast not pitied.
44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, so that no prayercan pass through.
45 Thou hast made us an off-scouring and refuse in the midstof the peoples.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
47 Fear and the pit are come upon us, devastation anddestruction.
48 Mine eye runneth down with streams of water, for thedestruction of the daughter of my people.
49 Mine eye poureth down, and ceaseth not, without anyintermission,
50 Till Jehovah look down, and behold from heaven.
51 Mine eye affecteth my soul, because of all the daughtersof my city.
52 They have chased me sore like a bird, they that are mineenemies without cause.
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast astone upon me.
54 Waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off.
55 I called upon thy name, O Jehovah, out of the lowestdungeon.
56 Thou heardest my voice; hide not thine ear at mybreathing, at my cry.
57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee;thou saidst, Fear not.
58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thouhast redeemed my life.
59 O Jehovah, thou hast seen my wrong; judge thou my cause.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their devicesagainst me.
61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Jehovah, and all theirdevices against me,
62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and theirdevice against me all the day.
63 Behold thou their sitting down, and their rising up; I amtheir song.
64 Thou wilt render unto them a recompense, O Jehovah,according to the work of their hands.
65 Thou wilt give them hardness of heart, thy curse untothem.
66 Thou wilt pursue them in anger, and destroy them fromunder the heavens of Jehovah.
1 How is the gold become dim! [how] is the most pure goldchanged!The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of everystreet.
2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold,How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the handsof the potter!
3 Even the jackals draw out the breast, they give suck totheir young ones:The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches inthe wilderness.
4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof ofhis mouth for thirst:The young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets:They that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greaterthan the sin of Sodom,That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands were laid uponher.
7 Her nobles were purer than snow, they were whiter thanmilk;They were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was asof sapphire.
8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known inthe streets:Their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is becomelike a stick.
9 They that are slain with the sword are better than theythat are slain with hunger;For these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits ofthe field.
10 The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their ownchildren;They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of mypeople.
11 Jehovah hath accomplished his wrath, he hath poured outhis fierce anger;And he hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured thefoundations thereof.
12 The kings of the earth believed not, neither all theinhabitants of the world,That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates ofJerusalem.
13 [It is] because of the sins of her prophets, [and] theiniquities of her priests,That have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.
14 They wander as blind men in the streets, they arepolluted with blood,So that men cannot touch their garments.
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].
16 The anger of Jehovah hath scattered them; he will no moreregard them:They respected not the persons of the priests, they favored notthe elders.
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.
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.
19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens:They chased us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in thewilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, wastaken in their pits;Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among thenations.
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest inthe land of Uz:The cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt bedrunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, Odaughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away intocaptivity:He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he willuncover thy sins.
1 Remember, O Jehovah, what is come upon us:Behold, and see our reproach.
2 Our inheritance is turned unto strangers,Our houses unto aliens.
3 We are orphans and fatherless;Our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunken our water for money;Our wood is sold unto us.
5 Our pursuers are upon our necks:We are weary, and have no rest.
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians,And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are not;And we have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants rule over us:There is none to deliver us out of their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,Because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin is black like an oven,Because of the burning heat of famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion,The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hanged up by their hand:The faces of elders were not honored.
13 The young men bare the mill;And the children stumbled under the wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate,The young men from their music.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased;Our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The crown is fallen from our head:Woe unto us! for we have sinned.
17 For this our heart is faint;For these things our eyes are dim;
18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate:The foxes walk upon it.
19 Thou, O Jehovah, abidest for ever;Thy throne is from generation to generation.
20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever,[And] forsake us so long time?
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned;Renew our days as of old
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us;Thou art very wroth against us.
Old Testament
New Testament