Lamentations 2

¹ How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Ziondaughter of Zion with a cloud in his angeranger, and cast down from heavenheaven to the earthearth the beauty of IsraelIsrael, and rememberedremembered not his footstoolfootstool in the day ofday of his angeranger!

² The Lord hath swallowedswallowed up all the habitations of JacobJacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holdsstrong holds of the daughter of JudahJudah; he hath brought them down to the groundground: he hath polluted the kingdom and its princesprinces.

³ He hath cut off in his fierce angerfierce anger all the hornhorn of IsraelIsrael: he hath drawn backback his right handright hand from beforebefore the enemyenemy, and he burned against JacobJacob like a flamingflaming firefire, which devoureth on every sideside.

⁴ He hath bent his bowbow like an enemyenemy: he stood with his right handright hand as an adversary, and slewslew all that were pleasant to the eyeeye in the tabernacletabernacle of the daughter of Ziondaughter of Zion: he poured out his furyfury like firefire.

⁵ The Lord was as an enemyenemy: he hath swallowedswallowed up IsraelIsrael, he hath swallowedswallowed up all her palacespalaces: he hath destroyed his strong holdsstrong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of JudahJudah mourning and lamentation.

⁶ And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a gardengarden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORDthe LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbathssabbaths to be forgottenforgotten in Zion, and in the indignation of his angeranger hath despiseddespised the king and the priest.

⁷ The LordThe Lord hath cast off his altaraltar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath givengiven up into the handhand of the enemyenemy the walls of her palacespalaces; they have made a noisenoise in the house of thehouse of the LORDLORD, as in the day ofday of a solemn feast.

⁸ The LORDThe LORD hath purposed to destroy the wallwall of the daughter of Ziondaughter of Zion: he hath stretched outstretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his handhand from destroying: therefore he made the rampartrampart and the wallwall to lament; they languished together.

⁹ Her gatesgates are sunk into the groundground; he hath destroyed and brokenbroken her barsbars: her king and her princesprinces are among the GentilesGentiles: the law is no more: her prophetsprophets also findfind no visionvision from the LORDthe LORD.

¹⁰ The elderselders of the daughter of Ziondaughter of Zion sitsit upon the groundground, and keep silence: they have cast up dustdust upon their headsheads; they have girdedgirded themselves with sackclothsackcloth: the virginsvirgins of JerusalemJerusalem hang downdown their headsheads to the groundground.

¹¹ My eyeseyes do fail with tearstears, my bowels are troubled, my liverliver is poured upon the earthearth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklingssucklings swoon in the streetsstreets of the city.

¹² They saysay to their mothersmothers, Where is corncorn and winewine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streetsstreets of the citycity, when their soulsoul was poured out into their mothersmothers' bosombosom.

¹³ What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of JerusalemJerusalem? What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfortcomfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is greatgreat like the seasea: who can heal thee?

¹⁴ Thy prophetsprophets have seenseen vainvain and foolish things for thee: and they have not revealed thy iniquityiniquity, to turn away thy captivitycaptivity; but have seenseen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.

¹⁵ All that passpass by, clap their handshands at thee; they hiss and wag their headhead at the daughter of JerusalemJerusalem, saying, Is this the citycity that men call the Perfection of beautybeauty, the Joy of the whole earthearth?

¹⁶ All thy enemiesenemies have openedopened their mouthmouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teethteeth: they saysay, We have swallowedswallowed her up: certainly this is the dayday that we looked for; we have foundfound, we have seenseen it.

¹⁷ The LORDThe LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commandedcommanded in the days of olddays of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thy enemyenemy to rejoicerejoice over thee, he hath set up the hornhorn of thy adversariesadversaries.

¹⁸ Their heartheart cried to the Lord, O wallwall of the daughter of Ziondaughter of Zion, let tearstears run downdown like a riverriver day and nightnight: givegive thyself no rest; let not the apple of thy eyeeye cease.

¹⁹ Arise, cry out in the nightnight: in the beginning of the watches pour outpour out thy heartheart like waterwater beforebefore the faceface of the Lord: liftlift up thy handshands towards him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the headhead of every street.

²⁰ Behold, O LORDLORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the womenwomen eateat their fruitfruit, children of a span longlong? shall the priest and the prophetprophet be slainslain in the sanctuary of the Lordthe Lord?

²¹ The youngyoung and the old lie on the groundground in the streetsstreets: my virginsvirgins and my young menyoung men have fallenfallen by the swordsword; thou hast slainslain them in the day ofday of thy angeranger; thou hast killedkilled, and not pitied.

²² Thou hast calledcalled as in a solemn dayday my terrors around, so that in the day ofday of the LORDthe LORD'S angeranger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up, hath my enemyenemy consumed.