Lamentations 2:1-22

The Lord was so angry that he shrouded the daughter of Zion with shame. He hurled down to the ground the splendor of Israel. He disregarded his footstool on the day of his anger. The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the homes of Jacob’s descendants. In his fury, he tore down the fortresses of Daughter Judah. He threw to the ground and brought disgrace to the kingdom of Judah and her leaders. In his burning anger, he shattered all the might of Israel as her enemies approached. He raged among his people like a flaming fire, which consumes everything near it. He bent his bow like an enemy and clenched his fist like a foe. Like an enemy, he slaughtered all his pride and joy. He poured out his fury like fire on the temple of beloved Jerusalem. The Lord became our enemy; he destroyed Israel. He devastated all her palaces and ruined her strongholds. He has multiplied weeping and wailing for Daughter Judah. He wrecked his temple like a vineyard shack and utterly destroyed his meeting place. YAHWEH erased the memory in Zion of his appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In the heat of his anger, he spurned both king and priest. The Lord has rejected his own altar and disowned his sanctuary. He has given the walls of her fortresses to her enemies. When the enemy toppled YAHWEH’s temple, they shouted for joy like it was a festival day. YAHWEH was determined to destroy the walls of beloved Zion. As builders draw a straight line to build a wall, he stretched out the line of judgment to break down her walls. He caused her walls and towers to mourn, as they tumbled to the ground. Her gates have collapsed to the ground; he has wrecked and shattered their bars. Her king and leaders are captives among the gentiles, and instruction from the Torah scrolls is no more. Her prophets, too, receive no vision from YAHWEH. The elders of beloved Zion sit mute on the ground. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young virgins of Jerusalem bow their heads in sorrow to the ground. My eyes have no tears left, and my stomach is tied in knots. My heart is spilled out into the dirt over the destruction of the daughter of my people. Little toddlers and children collapse in the streets of the city. They keep saying, “Mommy, I’m hungry,” as they faint like wounded men in the city streets. Their souls trickle away, and they breathe their last in the embrace of their mothers. With what can I compare you? What can I say to you, beloved Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, in order to comfort you, fair Zion? For your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you? The visions your prophets saw for you were false and deceptive whitewash. They neither exposed your guilt nor brought you back in repentance. The false visions they told you were nothing but delusions. All who pass your way applaud in mockery. They wag their heads with contempt, saying over beloved Jerusalem, “Is this really the city called The Perfection of Beauty, The Joy of All the Earth?” Your enemies are a choir of scoffers and scolders. They hatefully sneer and glare at you. They gleefully exclaim, “We have destroyed her. This is the day we’ve been waiting for, and now we have lived to see it!” YAHWEH has done everything he planned and has carried out his word. As he ordained long ago, he has destroyed without pity. He increased the power of your foes and caused your enemies to rejoice over you. Beloved Zion, let your walls wail and your heart cry out to YAHWEH. Let a waterfall of tears flow day and night. Give your eyes no rest; let tears keep streaming from your eyes. Arise, cry aloud through the night as each watch begins. Pour your heart out like water before the presence of YAHWEH. Raise your hands toward him; intercede for the lives of your children, who faint with hunger on every street corner. “Look, YAHWEH, and please consider. Whom have you ever treated this way? Should women eat their offspring, the little ones they have nursed? Should priests and prophets be slaughtered in the Lord’s sanctuary? “Both children and the elderly alike are lying dead in the dusty streets. My young men and maidens have both fallen by the sword. You have killed them on the day of your anger; you slaughtered them without mercy. “You invited terror as if to a festival, to attack me from all sides. On the day of YAHWEH’s anger, none escaped and none survived. All whom I cherished and reared have been annihilated by the enemy.”