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 comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed(H) her;
they have become her enemies.(I)

3 After affliction and harsh labor,
Judah has gone into exile.(J)
She dwells among the nations;
she finds no resting place.(K)
All who pursue her have overtaken her(L)
in the midst of her distress.

4 The roads to Zion mourn,(M)
for no one comes to her appointed festivals.
All her gateways are desolate,(N)
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she is in bitter anguish.(O)

5 Her foes have become her masters;
her enemies are at ease.
The Lord has brought her grief(P)
because of her many sins.(Q)
Her children have gone into exile,(R)
captive before the foe.(S)

6 All the splendor has departed
from Daughter Zion.(T)
Her princes are like deer
that find no pasture;
in weakness they have fled(U)
before the pursuer.

7 In the days of her affliction and wandering
Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands,
there was no one to help her.(V)
Her enemies looked at her
and laughed(W) at her destruction.

8 Jerusalem has sinned(X) greatly
and so has become unclean.(Y)
All who honored her despise her,
for they have all seen her naked;(Z)
she herself groans(AA)
and turns away.

9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts;
she did not consider her future.(AB)
Her fall(AC) was astounding;
there was none to comfort(AD) her.
“Look, Lord, on my affliction,(AE)
for the enemy has triumphed.”

10 The enemy laid hands
on all her treasures;(AF)
she saw pagan nations
enter her sanctuary(AG)—
those you had forbidden(AH)
to enter your assembly.

11 All her people groan(AI)
as they search for bread;(AJ)
they barter their treasures for food
to keep themselves alive.
“Look, Lord, and consider,
for I am despised.”

12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?(AK)
Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering(AL)
that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me
in the day of his fierce anger?(AM)

13 “From on high he sent fire,
sent it down into my bones.(AN)
He spread a net(AO) for my feet
and turned me back.
He made me desolate,(AP)
faint(AQ) all the day long.

14 “My sins have been bound into a yoke[b];(AR)
by his hands they were woven together.
They have been hung on my neck,
and the Lord has sapped my strength.
He has given me into the hands(AS)
of those I cannot withstand.

15 “The Lord has rejected
all the warriors in my midst;(AT)
he has summoned an army(AU) against me
to[c] crush my young men.(AV)
In his winepress(AW) the Lord has trampled(AX)
Virgin Daughter(AY) Judah.

16 “This is why I weep
and my eyes overflow with tears.(AZ)
No one is near to comfort(BA) me,
no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
because the enemy has prevailed.”(BB)

17 Zion stretches out her hands,(BC)
but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has decreed for Jacob
that his neighbors become his foes;(BD)
Jerusalem has become
an unclean(BE) thing(BF) among them.

18 “The Lord is righteous,(BG)
yet I rebelled(BH) against his command.
Listen, all you peoples;
look on my suffering.(BI)
My young men and young women
have gone into exile.(BJ)

19 “I called to my allies(BK)
but they betrayed me.
My priests and my elders
perished(BL) in the city
while they searched for food
to keep themselves alive.

20 “See, Lord, how distressed(BM) I am!
I am in torment(BN) within,
and in my heart I am disturbed,(BO)
for I have been most rebellious.(BP)
Outside, the sword bereaves;
inside, there is only death.(BQ)

21 “People have heard my groaning,(BR)
but there is no one to comfort me.(BS)
All my enemies have heard of my distress;
they rejoice(BT) at what you have done.
May you bring the day(BU) you have announced
so they may become like me.

22 “Let all their wickedness come before you;
deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my sins.(BV)
My groans(BW) are many
and my heart is faint.”

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
  2. Lamentations 1:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint He kept watch over my sins
  3. Lamentations 1:15 Or has set a time for me / when he will

Cross references

  1. Lamentations 1:1 : S Lev 26:43
  2. Lamentations 1:1 : S Jer 42:2
  3. Lamentations 1:1 : S Isa 47:8
  4. Lamentations 1:1 : S 1Ki 4:21
  5. Lamentations 1:1 : Isa 3:26; S Jer 40:9; Eze 5:5
  6. Lamentations 1:2 : Ps 6:6
  7. Lamentations 1:2 : S Jer 3:1
  8. Lamentations 1:2 : S Jer 4:30; Mic 7:5
  9. Lamentations 1:2 : ver 16; S Jer 30:14
  10. Lamentations 1:3 : S Jer 13:19
  11. Lamentations 1:3 : Dt 28:65
  12. Lamentations 1:3 : S Ex 15:9
  13. Lamentations 1:4 : S Ps 137:1
  14. Lamentations 1:4 : S Isa 27:10; S Jer 9:11
  15. Lamentations 1:4 : ver 21; Joel 1:8-13
  16. Lamentations 1:5 : S Isa 22:5; S Jer 30:15
  17. Lamentations 1:5 : S Ps 5:10
  18. Lamentations 1:5 : S Jer 10:20; S 39:9; 52:28-30
  19. Lamentations 1:5 : S Ps 137:3; La 2:17
  20. Lamentations 1:6 : S Ps 9:14; Jer 13:18
  21. Lamentations 1:6 : S Lev 26:36
  22. Lamentations 1:7 : S 2Ki 14:26; S Jer 37:7; La 4:17
  23. Lamentations 1:7 : S Jer 2:26
  24. Lamentations 1:8 : ver 20; Isa 59:2-13
  25. Lamentations 1:8 : S Jer 2:22
  26. Lamentations 1:8 : S Jer 13:22, 26
  27. Lamentations 1:8 : ver 21, 22; S Ps 6:6; S 38:8
  28. Lamentations 1:9 : Dt 32:28-29; Eze 24:13
  29. Lamentations 1:9 : Jer 13:18
  30. Lamentations 1:9 : S Ecc 4:1; S Jer 16:7
  31. Lamentations 1:9 : Ps 25:18
  32. Lamentations 1:10 : S Isa 64:11
  33. Lamentations 1:10 : Ps 74:7-8; 79:1; Jer 51:51
  34. Lamentations 1:10 : Dt 23:3
  35. Lamentations 1:11 : S Ps 6:6; S 38:8
  36. Lamentations 1:11 : S Jer 37:21; S 52:6
  37. Lamentations 1:12 : S Jer 18:16
  38. Lamentations 1:12 : ver 18
  39. Lamentations 1:12 : S Isa 10:4; 13:13; S Jer 30:24
  40. Lamentations 1:13 : S Job 30:30; Ps 102:3
  41. Lamentations 1:13 : S Job 18:8
  42. Lamentations 1:13 : S Jer 44:6
  43. Lamentations 1:13 : Hab 3:16
  44. Lamentations 1:14 : S Dt 28:48; S Isa 47:6; S Jer 15:12
  45. Lamentations 1:14 : S Jer 32:5
  46. Lamentations 1:15 : Jer 37:10
  47. Lamentations 1:15 : Isa 41:2
  48. Lamentations 1:15 : Isa 28:18; S Jer 18:21
  49. Lamentations 1:15 : S Jdg 6:11
  50. Lamentations 1:15 : S Isa 5:5
  51. Lamentations 1:15 : Jer 14:17
  52. Lamentations 1:16 : S Job 7:3; S Ps 119:136; S Isa 22:4; La 2:11, 18; 3:48-49
  53. Lamentations 1:16 : S Ps 69:20; Ecc 4:1; S Jer 16:7
  54. Lamentations 1:16 : S ver 2; Jer 13:17; 14:17
  55. Lamentations 1:17 : S Jer 4:31
  56. Lamentations 1:17 : S Ex 23:21
  57. Lamentations 1:17 : Jer 2:22
  58. Lamentations 1:17 : S Lev 18:25-28
  59. Lamentations 1:18 : S Ex 9:27; S Ezr 9:15
  60. Lamentations 1:18 : S 1Sa 12:14
  61. Lamentations 1:18 : ver 12
  62. Lamentations 1:18 : Dt 28:32, 41
  63. Lamentations 1:19 : S Jer 22:20
  64. Lamentations 1:19 : S Jer 14:15; La 2:20
  65. Lamentations 1:20 : S Jer 4:19
  66. Lamentations 1:20 : La 2:11
  67. Lamentations 1:20 : S Job 20:2
  68. Lamentations 1:20 : S ver 8
  69. Lamentations 1:20 : S Dt 32:25; Eze 7:15
  70. Lamentations 1:21 : S ver 8; S Ps 6:6; S 38:8
  71. Lamentations 1:21 : ver 4
  72. Lamentations 1:21 : La 2:15
  73. Lamentations 1:21 : Isa 47:11; Jer 30:16
  74. Lamentations 1:22 : Ne 4:5
  75. Lamentations 1:22 : S ver 8; S Ps 6:6

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