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Lamentations Chapter 2

Other Translations

asv (asv) - eBible.org engASV USFM

1 All that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness:
2 Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
3 Her filthiness was in her skirts; she remembered not her latter end;
4 Therefore is she come down wonderfully; she hath no comforter:
5 Behold, O Jehovah, my affliction; for the enemy hath magnified himself.
6 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things:
7 For she hath seen that the nations are entered into her sanctuary,
8 Concerning whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thine assembly.
9 All her people sigh, they seek bread;
10 They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul:
11 See, O Jehovah, and behold; for I am become abject.
12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?
13 Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is brought upon me,
14 Wherewith Jehovah hath afflicted
15 me in the day of his fierce anger.
16 From on high hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them;
17 He hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back:
18 He hath made me desolate and faint all the day.
19 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand;
20 They are knit together, they are come up upon my neck; he hath made my strength to fail:
21 The Lord hath delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.
22 The Lord hath set at nought all my mighty men in the midst of me;

darby (darby) - eBible.org Darby 1890 plaintext

1 How hath the Lord in his anger covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud! He hath cast down from the heavens unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob, and hath not spared; 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.
3 He hath cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath withdrawn his right hand from before the enemy; and he burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, devouring round about.
4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy; he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and hath slain all that was pleasant to the eye: in the tent of the daughter of Zion, he hath poured out his fury like fire.
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 hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
6 And he hath violently cast down his enclosure as a garden; he hath destroyed his place of assembly: Jehovah hath caused set feast and sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger king and priest.
7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath rejected 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 on the day of a set feast.
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 the wall to lament: they languish together.
9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations: the law is no [more]; her prophets also find no vision from Jehovah.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, they keep silence; they have cast dust upon their heads, they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their head to the ground.
11 Mine eyes are consumed with tears, my bowels are troubled; my liver is poured upon the earth, because of the ruin of the daughter of my people; because infant and suckling swoon in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city; when they pour out their soul into their mothers' bosom.
13 What shall I take to witness for thee? what shall I liken unto thee, daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, virgin daughter of Zion? For thy ruin is great as the sea: who will heal thee?
14 Thy prophets have seen vanity and folly for thee; and they have not revealed thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee burdens of falsehood and causes of expulsion.
15 All that pass by clap [their] hands at thee; they hiss and shake their head at the daughter of Jerusalem: Is this the city which they called, The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
16 All thine enemies open their mouth against thee, they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed [her] up; this is forsooth the day that we looked for: we have found, we have seen [it].
17 Jehovah hath done what he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word which he had commanded from the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not spared, and he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee; he hath set up 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 torrent day and night: give thyself no respite; let not the apple of thine eye rest.
19 Arise, cry out in the night, in 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, who faint from hunger at the top of all the streets.
20 See, Jehovah, and consider to whom thou hast done this! Shall the women eat their fruit, the infants that they nursed? Shall priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 The child 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 killed, thou hast not spared.
22 Thou hast called up, as on the day of a set feast, my terrors on every side; and in the day of Jehovah's anger there was none that escaped or remained: those that I have nursed and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.

lxxbrent (lxxbrent) - Septuagint (Brenton 1851) eBible USFM

1 Aleph. How has the Lord darkened in his wrath the daughter of Sion! he has cast down the glory of Israel from heaven to earth, and has not remembered his footstool.
2 Beth. In the day of his wrath the Lord has overwhelmed [her] as in the sea, [and] not spared: he has brought down in his fury all the beautiful things of Jacob; he has brought down to the ground the strong-holds of the daughter of Juda: he has profaned her king and her princes.
3 Gimel. He has broken in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he has turned back his right hand from the face of the enemy, and has kindled a flame in Jacob as fire, and it has devoured all things round about.
4 Daleth. He has bent his bow as an opposing enemy: he has strengthened his right hand as an adversary, and has destroyed all the desirable things of my eyes in the tabernacle of the daughter of Sion: he has poured forth his anger as fire.
5 He. The Lord is become as an enemy: he has overwhelmed Israel as in the sea, he has overwhelmed her palaces: he has destroyed his strong-holds, and has multiplied the afflicted and humbled ones to the daughter of Juda.
6 Vau. And he has scattered his tabernacle as a vine, he has marred his feast: the Lord has forgotten the feast and the sabbath which he appointed in Sion, and in the fury of his wrath has vexed the king, and priest, and prince.
7 Zain. The Lord has rejected his altar, he has cast off his sanctuary, he has broken by the hand of the enemy the wall of her palaces; they have uttered their voice in the house of the Lord as on a feast day.
8 Heth. And he has turned to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he has stretched out the measuring line, he has not turned back his hand from afflicting [her]: therefore the bulwark mourned, and the wall was weakened with it.
9 Teth. Her gates are sunk into the ground: he has destroyed and broken to pieces her bars, [and] her king and her prince among the Gentiles: there is no law, nay, her prophets have seen no vision from the Lord.
10 Jod. The elders of the daughter of Sion have sat upon the ground, they have kept silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloths: they have brought down to the ground the chief virgins in Jerusalem.
11 Chaph. Mine eyes have failed with tears, my heart is troubled, my glory is cast down to the ground, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; while the infant and suckling swoon in the streets of the city.
12 Lamed. They said to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? while they fainted like wounded men in the streets of the city, while their souls were poured out into their mother's bosom.
13 Mem. What shall I testify to thee, or what shall I compare to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? who shall save and comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Sion? for the cup of thy destruction is enlarged: who shall heal thee?
14 Nun. Thy prophets have seen for thee vanities and folly: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn back thy captivity; but they have seen for thee vain burdens, and worthless visions.
15 Samech. All that go by the way have clapped their hands at thee; they have hissed and shaken their head at the daughter of Jerusalem. Is this the city, they say, the crown of joy of all the earth?
16 Ain. All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they have hissed and gnashed their teeth, and said, We have swallowed her up: moreover this is the day which we looked for; we have found it, we have seen it.
17 Phe. The Lord has done that which he purposed; he has accomplished his word, [even] the things which he commanded from the ancient days: he has thrown down, and has not spared: and he has caused the enemy to rejoice over thee, he has exalted the horn of him that afflicted thee.
18 Tsade. Their heart cried to the Lord, Ye walls of Sion, pour down tears like torrents day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eyes cease.
19 Koph. Arise, rejoice in the night at the beginning of thy watch: pour out thy heart as water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands to him for the life of thine infants, who faint for hunger at the top of all the streets.
20 Rhechs. Behold, O Lord, and see for whom thou hast gathered thus. Shall the women eat the fruit of their womb? the cook has made a gathering: shall the infants sucking at the breasts be slain? wilt thou slay the priest and prophet in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 Chsen. The child and old man have lain down in the street: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity: thou hast slain [them] with the sword and with famine; in the day of thy wrath thou hast mangled [them], thou hast not spared.
22 Thau. He has called my sojourners round about to a solemn day, and there was not in the day of the wrath of the Lord any one that escaped or was left; whereas I have strengthened and multiplied all mine enemies.

vul1914 (vul1914) - Vulgate 1914 UTF-8 (sacredbible.org)

1 ALEPH. Quomodo obtexit caligine in furore suo Dominus filiam Sion: proiecit de cælo in terram inclytam Israel, et non est recordatus scabelli pedum suorum in die furoris sui.
2 BETH. Præcipitavit Dominus, nec pepercit, omnia speciosa Iacob: destruxit in furore suo muntiones virginis Iuda, et deiecit in terram: polluit regnum, et principes eius.
3 GHIMEL. Confregit in ira furoris sui omne cornu Israel: avertit retrorsum dexteram suam a facie inimici: et succendit in Iacob quasi ignem flammæ devorantis in gyro:
4 DALETH. Tetendit arcum suum quasi inimicus, firmavit dexteram suam quasi hostis: et occidit omne, quod pulchrum erat visu in tabernaculo filiæ Sion, effudit quasi ignem indignationem suam.
5 HE. Factus est Dominus velut inimicus: præcipitavit Israel, præcipitavit omnia mœnia eius: dissipavit munitiones eius, et replevit in filia Iuda humiliatum et humiliatam.
6 VAU. Et dissipavit quasi hortum tentorium suum, demolitus est tabernaculum suum: oblivioni tradidit Dominus in Sion festivitatem, et sabbatum: et in opprobrium, et in indignationem furoris sui regem, et sacerdotem.
7 ZAIN. Repulit Dominus altare suum, maledixit sanctificationi suæ: tradidit in manu inimici muros turrium eius: vocem dederunt in domo Domini, sicut in die solemni.
8 HETH. Cogitavit Dominus dissipare murum filiæ Sion: tetendit funiculum suum, et non avertit manum suam a perditione: luxitque antemurale, et murus pariter dissipatus est.
9 TETH. Defixæ sunt in terra portæ eius: perdidit, et contrivit vectes eius: regem eius et principes eius in Gentibus: non est lex, et prophetæ eius non invenerunt visionem a Domino.
10 IOD. Sederunt in terra, conticuerunt senes filiæ Sion: consperserunt cinere capita sua, accincti sunt ciliciis, abiecerunt in terram capita sua virgines Ierusalem.
11 CAPH. Defecerunt præ lacrymis oculi mei, conturbata sunt viscera mea: effusum est in terra iecur meum super contritione filiæ populi mei, cum deficeret parvulus, et lactens in plateis oppidi.
12 LAMED. Matribus suis dixerunt: Ubi est triticum et vinum? cum deficerent quasi vulnerati in plateis civitatis: cum exhalarent animas suas in sinu matrum suarum.
13 MEM. Cui comparabo te? vel cui assimilabo te filia Ierusalem? cui exæquabo te, et consolabor te virgo filia Sion? magna est enim velut mare contritio tua: quis medebitur tui?
14 NUN. Prophetæ tui viderunt tibi falsa, et stulta, nec aperiebant iniquitatem tuam, ut te ad pœnitentiam provocarent: viderunt autem tibi assumptiones falsas, et eiectiones.
15 SAMECH. Plauserunt super te manibus omnes transeuntes per viam: sibilaverunt, et moverunt caput suum super filiam Ierusalem: Hæccine est urbs, dicentes, perfecti decoris, gaudium universæ terræ?
16 PHE. Aperuerunt super te os suum omnes inimici tui: sibilaverunt, et fremuerunt dentibus, et dixerunt: Devorabimus: en ista est dies, quam expectabamus: invenimus, vidimus.
17 AIN. Fecit Dominus quæ cogitavit, complevit sermonem suum, quem præceperat a diebus antiquis: destruxit, et non pepercit, et lætificavit super te inimicum, et exaltavit cornu hostium tuorum.
18 SADE. Clamavit cor eorum ad Dominum super muros filiæ Sion: Deduc quasi torrentem lacrymas per diem, et noctem: non des requiem tibi neque taceat pupilla oculi tui.
19 COPH. Consurge, lauda in nocte in principio vigiliarum: effunde sicut aquam cor tuum ante conspectum Domini: leva ad eum manus tuas pro anima parvulorum tuorum, qui defecerunt in fame in capite omnium compitorum.
20 RES. Vide Domine, et considera quem vindemiaveris ita: ergone comedent mulieres fructum suum, parvulos ad mensuram palmæ? si occiditur in sanctuario Domini sacerdos, et propheta?
21 SIN. Iacuerunt in terra foris puer, et senex: virgines meæ, et iuvenes mei ceciderunt in gladio: interfecisti in die furoris tui: percussisti, nec misertus es.
22 THAU. Vocasti quasi ad diem sollemnem, qui terrerent me de circuitu, et non fuit in die furoris Domini qui effugeret, et relinqueretur: quos educavi, et enutrivi, inimicus meus consumpsit eos.

web (web) - WorldEnglish.Bible — CC0 modern update of ASV

1 How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! He has cast the beauty of Israel down from heaven to the earth, and hasn’t remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob without pity. He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought them down to the ground. He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
3 He has cut off all the horn of Israel in fierce anger. He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy. He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours all around.
4 He has bent his bow like an enemy. He has stood with his right hand as an adversary. He has killed all that were pleasant to the eye. In the tent of the daughter of Zion, he has poured out his wrath like fire.
5 The Lord has become as an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces. He has destroyed his strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah.
6 He has violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were a garden. He has destroyed his place of assembly. The LORD has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion. In the indignation of his anger, he has despised the king and the priest.
7 The Lord has cast off his altar. He has abhorred his sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have made a noise in the LORD’s house, as in the day of a solemn assembly.
8 The LORD has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out the line. He has not withdrawn his hand from destroying; He has made the rampart and wall lament. They languish together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground. He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not. Yes, her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground. They keep silence. They have cast up dust on their heads. They have clothed themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes fail with tears. My heart is troubled. My bile is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the young children and the infants swoon in the streets of the city.
12 They ask 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 to you? What shall I liken to you, daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare to you, that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion? For your breach is as big as the sea. Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets have seen false and foolish visions for you. They have not uncovered your iniquity, to reverse your captivity, but have seen for you false revelations and causes of banishment.
15 All that pass by clap their hands at you. 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’?”
16 All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found it. We have seen it.”
17 The LORD has done that which he planned. He has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old. He has thrown down, and has not pitied. He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you. He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief. Don’t let your eyes rest.
19 Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands toward him for the life of your young children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.
20 “Look, LORD, and see to whom you have done thus! Should the women eat their offspring, the children that they held and bounced on their knees? Should the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 “The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets. My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger. You have slaughtered, and not pitied.
22 “You have called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side. There was no one that escaped or remained in the day of the LORD’s anger. My enemy has consumed those whom I have cared for and brought up.

ylt (ylt) - Bible.com YLT98 plain UTF-8

1 How doth the Lord cloud in His anger the daughter of Zion, He hath cast from heaven <FI>to<Fi> earth the beauty of Israel, And hath not remembered His footstool in the day of His anger.
2 Swallowed up hath the Lord, He hath not pitied any of the pleasant places of Jacob, He hath broken down in His wrath The fortresses of the daughter of Judah, He hath caused to come to the earth, He polluted the kingdom and its princes.
3 He hath cut off in the heat of anger every horn of Israel, He hath turned backward His right hand From the face of the enemy, And He burneth against Jacob as a flaming fire, It hath devoured round about.
4 He hath trodden His bow as an enemy, Stood hath His right hand as an adversary, And He slayeth all the desirable ones of the eye, In the tent of the daughter of Zion, He hath poured out as fire His fury.
5 The Lord hath been as an enemy, He hath swallowed up Israel, He hath swallowed up all her palaces, He hath destroyed His fortresses, And He multiplieth in the daughter of Judah Mourning and moaning.
6 And He shaketh as a garden His tabernacle, He hath destroyed His appointed place, Jehovah hath forgotten in Zion the appointed time and sabbath, And despiseth, in the indignation of His anger, king and priest.
7 The Lord hath cast off His altar, He hath rejected His sanctuary, He hath shut up into the hand of the enemy The walls of her palaces, A noise they have made in the house of Jehovah Like a day of appointment.
8 Devised hath Jehovah to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion, He hath stretched out a line, He hath not turned His hand from destroying, And He causeth bulwark and wall to mourn, Together--they have been weak.
9 Sunk into the earth have her gates, He hath destroyed and broken her bars, Her king and her princes <FI>are<Fi> among the nations, There is no law, also her prophets Have not found vision from Jehovah.
10 Sit on the earth--keep silent do the elders of the daughter of Zion, They have caused dust to go up on their head, They have girded on sackcloth, Put down to the earth their head have the virgins of Jerusalem.
11 Consumed by tears have been my eyes, Troubled have been my bowels, Poured out to the earth hath been my liver, For the breach of the daughter of my people; In infant and suckling being feeble, In the broad places of the city,
12 To their mothers they say, `Where <FI>are<Fi> corn and wine?' In their becoming feeble as a pierced one In the broad places of the city, In their soul pouring itself out into the bosom of their mothers.
13 What do I testify <FI>to<Fi> thee, what do I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What do I equal to thee, and I comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? For great as a sea <FI>is<Fi> thy breach, Who doth give healing to thee?
14 Thy prophets have seen for thee a false and insipid thing, And have not revealed concerning thine iniquity, To turn back thy captivity, And they see for thee false burdens and causes of expulsion.
15 Clapped hands at thee have all passing by the way, They have hissed--and they shake the head At the daughter of Jerusalem: `Is this the city of which they said: The perfection of beauty, a joy to all the land?'
16 Opened against thee their mouth have all thine enemies, They have hissed, yea, they gnash the teeth, They have said: `We have swallowed <FI>her<Fi> up, Surely this <FI>is<Fi> the day that we looked for, We have found--we have seen.'
17 Jehovah hath done that which He devised, He hath fulfilled His saying That He commanded from the days of old, He hath broken down and hath not pitied, And causeth an enemy to rejoice over thee, He lifted up the horn of thine adversaries.
18 Cried hath their heart unto the Lord; O wall of the daughter of Zion, Cause to go down as a stream tears daily and nightly, Give not rest to thyself, Let not the daughter of thine eye stand still.
19 Arise, cry aloud in the night, At the beginning of the watches. Pour out as water thy heart, Over against the face of the Lord, Lift up unto Him thy hands, for the soul of thine infants, Who are feeble with hunger at the head of all out-places.
20 See, O Jehovah, and look attentively, To whom Thou hast acted thus, Do women eat their fruit, infants of a handbreadth? Slain in the sanctuary of the Lord are priest and prophet?
21 Lain on the earth <FI>in<Fi> out-places have young and old, My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword, Thou hast slain in a day of Thine anger, Thou hast slaughtered--Thou hast not pitied.
22 Thou dost call as <FI>at<Fi> a day of appointment, My fears from round about, And there hath not been in the day of the anger of Jehovah, An escaped and remaining one, They whom I stretched out and nourished, My enemy hath consumed!

Explanations by Age Level

Explain Like I'm 5

A long, long time ago, there was nothing at all - no earth, no sky, no animals, no people. It was all dark and empty. But God was there! God is so powerful that He can make anything just by speaking. So God said "Let there be light!" and BOOM! There was light everywhere! God saw that the light was beautiful and good. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the very first day when God started making our wonderful world!

Explain Like I'm 10

Before anything existed - no planets, stars, or life - God decided to create the universe. The earth started out as a dark, empty place covered with water. But God's Spirit was there, ready to bring order and beauty to everything. When God spoke and said "Let there be light," light immediately appeared because God's words have incredible power. God looked at the light and was pleased with what He had made. He organized time by separating light (day) from darkness (night), creating the first 24-hour period. This shows us that God is organized and purposeful in everything He does.

Explain Like I'm 15

Genesis 1:1-5 establishes fundamental theological truths about God and creation. The Hebrew word "bara" (created) indicates creation from nothing (ex nihilo), demonstrating God's absolute sovereignty and power. The phrase "without form and void" (tohu wa-bohu) describes a state of chaos that God transforms into order. The Spirit of God "hovering" or "brooding" over the waters suggests active, caring involvement in creation. The creation of light before the sun (created on day 4) indicates that God Himself is the ultimate source of light and energy. The establishment of day and night creates the framework of time, showing that God operates within orderly patterns while transcending them. This passage refutes both atheistic materialism and pantheism, establishing that God is both transcendent (separate from creation) and immanent (actively involved in it).