Lamentations 1 - Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Lament over Jerusalem

א Alef

1 How[a] she sits alone,(A)
the city(B) once crowded with people!
She who was great among the nations
has become like a widow.(C)
The princess among the provinces
has been put to forced labor.

ב Bet

2 She weeps aloud during the night,(D)
with tears on her cheeks.
There is no one to offer her comfort,
not one from all her lovers.[b](E)
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.

ג Gimel

3 Judah has gone into exile
following[c] affliction and harsh slavery;
she lives among the nations
but finds no place to rest.(F)
All her pursuers have overtaken her
in narrow places.

ד Dalet

4 The roads to Zion(G) mourn,
for no one comes to the appointed festivals.(H)
All her gates are deserted;
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she herself is bitter.

ה He

5 Her adversaries have become her masters;(I)
her enemies are at ease,(J)
for the Lord has made her suffer
because of her many transgressions.
Her children have gone away
as captives before the adversary.

ו Vav

6 All her splendor(K) has vanished
from Daughter Zion.(L)
Her leaders are like stags
that find no pasture;
they walk away exhausted
before the hunter.(M)

ז Zayin

7 During the days of her affliction and homelessness(N)
Jerusalem remembers all her precious belongings
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the adversary’s hand,
she had no one to help.
The adversaries looked at her,
laughing over her downfall.

ח Khet

8 Jerusalem has sinned grievously;
therefore, she has become an object of scorn.[d]
All who honored her now despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness.
She herself groans and turns away.

ט Tet

9 Her uncleanness stains her skirts.(O)
She never considered her end.
Her downfall was astonishing;(P)
there was no one to comfort her.
Lord, look on my affliction,
for the enemy triumphs!

י Yod

10 The adversary has seized
all her precious belongings.
She has even seen the nations
enter her sanctuary—
those You had forbidden
to enter Your assembly.(Q)

כ Kaf

11 All her people groan
while they search for bread.(R)
They have traded their precious belongings for food
in order to stay alive.(S)
Lord, look and see
how I have become despised.

ל Lamed

12 Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by?(T)
Look and see!
Is there any pain like mine,
which was dealt out to me,
which the Lord made me suffer
on the day of His burning anger?(U)

מ Mem

13 He sent fire from heaven(V) into my bones;
He made it descend.[e](W)
He spread a net for my feet(X)
and turned me back.
He made me desolate,
sick all day long.

נ Nun

14 My transgressions have been formed into a yoke,[f][g](Y)
fastened together by His hand;
they have been placed on my neck,
and the Lord has broken my strength.
He has handed me over
to those I cannot withstand.

ס Samek

15 The Lord has rejected(Z)
all the mighty men within me.
He has summoned an army[h] against me
to crush my young warriors.
The Lord has trampled Virgin Daughter Judah(AA)
like grapes in a winepress.(AB)

ע Ayin

16 I weep because of these things;
my eyes flow[i] with tears.(AC)
For there is no one nearby to comfort me,(AD)
no one to keep me alive.
My children are desolate
because the enemy has prevailed.

פ Pe

17 Zion stretches out her hands;
there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his adversaries.
Jerusalem has become
something impure(AE) among them.

צ Tsade

18 The Lord is just,
for I have rebelled against His command.(AF)
Listen, all you people;
look at my pain.
My young men and women
have gone into captivity.(AG)

ק Qof

19 I called to my lovers,(AH)
but they betrayed me.
My priests and elders
perished in the city
while searching for food
to keep themselves alive.(AI)

ר Resh

20 Lord, see how I am in distress.
I am churning within;(AJ)
my heart is broken,[j]
for I have been very rebellious.
Outside, the sword takes the children;
inside, there is death.(AK)

שׁ Shin

21 People have heard me groaning,(AL)
but there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my misfortune;
they are glad that You have caused it.(AM)
Bring on the day You have announced,
so that they may become like me.(AN)

ת Tav

22 Let all their wickedness come before You,
and deal with them
as You have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions.(AO)
For my groans are many,
and I am sick at heart.

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:1 The stanzas in Lm 1–4 form an acrostic.
  2. Lamentations 1:2 = Jerusalem’s political allies
  3. Lamentations 1:3 Or because of
  4. Lamentations 1:8 Or become impure
  5. Lamentations 1:13 DSS, LXX; MT reads bones, and it prevailed against them
  6. Lamentations 1:14 Some Hb mss, LXX read He kept watch over my transgressions
  7. Lamentations 1:14 Or The yoke of my transgressions is bound; Hb obscure
  8. Lamentations 1:15 Or has announced an appointed time
  9. Lamentations 1:16 Lit my eye, my eye flows
  10. Lamentations 1:20 Lit is turned within me

Cross references

  1. 1:1 : Lm 3:28
  2. 1:1 : Lm 1:17
  3. 1:1 : Ex 22:22; Dt 10:18; 24:19-21; Is 1:17; 47:8-9
  4. 1:2 : Ps 6:6
  5. 1:2 : Jr 3:1; 22:20-22
  6. 1:3 : Dt 28:65; Ps 116:7
  7. 1:4 : 2Sm 5:7; Ps 20:2; Jr 51:35
  8. 1:4 : Dt 16:16; 2Ch 8:13; Ps 84:5; Is 1:11-17
  9. 1:5 : Dt 28:13, 44
  10. 1:5 : Jb 3:26; 12:6; Jr 12:1
  11. 1:6 : Ezk 27:10
  12. 1:6 : Lm 2:1, 4, 8; 4:22
  13. 1:6 : Jr 39:4-7
  14. 1:7 : Is 58:7; Lm 3:19
  15. 1:9 : Jr 13:22, 26; Nah 3:5
  16. 1:9 : Dt 28:43
  17. 1:10 : Dt 23:3; Neh 13:1-3; Ezk 44:9
  18. 1:11 : Jr 38:9; 52:6
  19. 1:11 : Lm 1:19; 2:20; 4:10
  20. 1:12 : Ps 89:41; Jr 22:8
  21. 1:12 : Am 5:18
  22. 1:13 : Gn 19:24; Hs 8:14; Am 1:4–2:5
  23. 1:13 : 1Kg 18:38; 2Kg 1:10, 12; Jb 30:30; Jr 20:9
  24. 1:13 : Ps 35:7; Is 51:20; Ezk 12:13; Hs 7:12
  25. 1:14 : Gn 27:40; Lv 26:13; Dt 28:48; 2Ch 10:3-11; Is 9:4; Jr 27:2, 6-11
  26. 1:15 : Ps 119:118
  27. 1:15 : Lm 2:2, 5
  28. 1:15 : Is 63:1-6; Jl 3:12-15; Rv 14:17-20; 19:15
  29. 1:16 : Jr 9:1, 18; Lm 2:11, 18; 3:48-49
  30. 1:16 : Is 40:1
  31. 1:17 : Lv 15:19-20; Ezk 7:19-20; 18:6
  32. 1:18 : Neh 9:33
  33. 1:18 : Dt 28:41; 2Ch 29:9; Ezr 9:7; Jr 48:46
  34. 1:19 : Lm 1:2
  35. 1:19 : Lm 1:11
  36. 1:20 : Jb 30:27
  37. 1:20 : Dt 32:25; Ezk 7:15
  38. 1:21 : Lm 1:4, 8
  39. 1:21 : Lm 2:15-17
  40. 1:21 : Is 62:8–63:6; Ezk 38–39; Jl 3:1-3; Mc 7:8-13; Zch 14:1-9
  41. 1:22 : Lm 4:21-22

You Might Also Like:

Lamentations 1 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

1 How hath she sat alone, The city abounding with people! She hath been as a widow, The mighty among nations! Princes among provinces, She hath become tributary! 2 She weepeth sore in the night, And her tear [is] on her cheeks, There is no comforter for her out of all her lovers, All her friends dea...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

1 How sitteth alone the city (that once was so) full of people? the lady of folks is made as a widow; the princess of provinces is made under tribute. (How the city now sitteth alone, or empty, that once was so full of people! the lady of nations is made like a widow; the princess of provinces is pu...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - World English Bible (WEB)

1 How the city sits solitary, that was full of people!She has become as a widow, who was great among the nations!She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave! 2 She weeps bitterly in the night. Her tears are on her cheeks.Among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her.All her fr...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - The Voice (VOICE)

1 [a] Aaghh! Lonely is this city that once bustled with life;Cheer is empty; like a widow, she is abandoned and oh, so lonely.She who was a princess, great among the nations, has lost everything and been forced to serve as a slave. 2 Bawling, she weeps without constraint every night, cries herself t...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Song of Jerusalem’s Groaning1 How lonely sits the city, once so full of people! She who was once great among the nations has become like a widow. The princess among the provinces has become a forced laborer.2 Bitterly she weeps in the night, her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers, there i...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

The Deserted City1 How lonely sits the citythat was full of people!How like a widow has she become, she that was great among the nations!She that was a princess among the cities has become a vassal. 2 She weeps bitterly in the night, tears on her cheeks;among all her lovers she has none to comfort h...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

The Deserted City1 How lonely sits the city that once was full of people!How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations!She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal. 2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks;among all her lovers she has no ...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Deserted City1 How lonely sits the city that once was full of people!How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations!She that was a princess among the provinces has become subject to forced labor.(A)2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks;among all her l...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Sorrow in Jerusalem1 Jerusalem, once so full of people, is now deserted.She who was once great among the nations now sits alone like a widow.Once the queen of all the earth, she is now a slave. 2 She sobs through the night; tears stream down her cheeks.Among all her lovers, there is no one left to c...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - New Life Version (NLV)

Jerusalem’s Sorrows1 How empty is the city that was once full of people! She was once great among the nations. But now she has become like a woman whose husband has died. She who was once a queen among the cities has become a servant made to work. 2 She cries hard in the night, with tears on her fa...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Jerusalem in Affliction1 How lonely sits the cityThat was full of people!(A)How like a widow is she,Who was great among the nations!The (B)princess among the provincesHas become a [a]slave! 2 She (C)weeps bitterly in the (D)night,Her tears are on her cheeks;Among all her loversShe has none to comfor...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

1 [a]How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations!She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. 2 Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks.Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her.All her frien...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - New International Version (NIV)

1 [a]How deserted(A) lies the city, once so full of people!(B)How like a widow(C) is she, who once was great(D) among the nations!She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave.(E) 2 Bitterly she weeps(F) at night, tears are on her cheeks.Among all her lovers(G) there is no one to comf...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

1 The city of Jerusalem is so empty! She used to be full of people.But now she’s like a woman whose husband has died. She used to be great among the nations.She was like a queen among the kingdoms. But now she is a slave. 2 Jerusalem weeps bitterly at night. Tears run down her cheeks. None of her fr...
Read More

Lamentations 1 - New Century Version (NCV)

Jerusalem Cries over Her Loss1 Jerusalem once was full of people, but now the city is empty.Jerusalem once was a great city among the nations, but now she[a] is like a widow.She was like a queen of all the other cities, but now she is a slave. 2 She cries loudly at night, and tears are on her cheeks...
Read More