Lamentations 1:1-7
Lamentations 1:1-7 The Message (MSG)
Oh, oh, oh . . . How empty the city, once teeming with people. A widow, this city, once in the front rank of nations, once queen of the ball, she’s now a drudge in the kitchen. She cries herself to sleep each night, tears soaking her pillow. No one’s left among her lovers to sit and hold her hand. Her friends have all dumped her. After years of pain and hard labor, Judah has gone into exile. She camps out among the nations, never feels at home. Hunted by all, she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Zion’s roads weep, empty of pilgrims headed to the feasts. All her city gates are deserted, her priests in despair. Her virgins are sad. How bitter her fate. Her enemies have become her masters. Her foes are living it up because GOD laid her low, punishing her repeated rebellions. Her children, prisoners of the enemy, trudge into exile. All beauty has drained from Daughter Zion’s face. Her princes are like deer famished for food, chased to exhaustion by hunters. Jerusalem remembers the day she lost everything, when her people fell into enemy hands, and not a soul there to help. Enemies looked on and laughed, laughed at her helpless silence.
Lamentations 1:1-7 King James Version (KJV)
How doth the city sit solitary, That was full of people! How is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, And princess among the provinces, How is she become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, And her tears are on her cheeks: Among all her lovers She hath none to comfort her: All her friends have dealt treacherously with her, They are become her enemies. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, And because of great servitude: She dwelleth among the heathen, She findeth no rest: All her persecutors overtook her Between the straits. The ways of Zion do mourn, Because none come to the solemn feasts: All her gates are desolate: Her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted, And she is in bitterness. Her adversaries are the chief, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD hath afflicted her For the multitude of her transgressions: Her children are gone Into captivity before the enemy. And from the daughter of Zion All her beauty is departed: Her princes are become like harts That find no pasture, And they are gone without strength Before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembered In the days of her affliction and of her miseries All her pleasant things That she had in the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, And none did help her: The adversaries saw her, And did mock at her sabbaths.
Lamentations 1:1-7 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
How lonely sits the city That was full of people! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces Has become a forced laborer! She weeps bitterly in the night And her tears are on her cheeks; She has none to comfort her Among all her lovers. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies. Judah has gone into exile under affliction And under harsh servitude; She dwells among the nations, But she has found no rest; All her pursuers have overtaken her In the midst of distress. The roads of Zion are in mourning Because no one comes to the appointed feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests are groaning, Her virgins are afflicted, And she herself is bitter. Her adversaries have become her masters, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD has caused her grief Because of the multitude of her transgressions; Her little ones have gone away As captives before the adversary. All her majesty Has departed from the daughter of Zion; Her princes have become like deer That have found no pasture; And they have fled without strength Before the pursuer. In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her precious things That were from the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the adversary And no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, They mocked at her ruin.
Lamentations 1:1-7 New Century Version (NCV)
Jerusalem once was full of people, but now the city is empty. Jerusalem once was a great city among the nations, but now she is like a widow. She was like a queen of all the other cities, but now she is a slave. She cries loudly at night, and tears are on her cheeks. There is no one to comfort her; all who loved her are gone. All her friends have turned against her and are now her enemies. Judah has gone into captivity where she suffers and works hard. She lives among other nations, but she has found no rest. Those who chased her caught her when she was in trouble. The roads to Jerusalem are sad, because no one comes for the feasts. No one passes through her gates. Her priests groan, her young women are suffering, and Jerusalem suffers terribly. Her foes are now her masters. Her enemies enjoy the wealth they have taken. The LORD is punishing her for her many sins. Her children have gone away as captives of the enemy. The beauty of Jerusalem has gone away. Her rulers are like deer that cannot find food. They are weak and run from the hunters. Jerusalem is suffering and homeless. She remembers all the good things from the past. But her people were defeated by the enemy, and there was no one to help her. When her enemies saw her, they laughed to see her ruined.
Lamentations 1:1-7 American Standard Version (ASV)
How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces is become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude; She dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest: All her persecutors overtook her within the straits. The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly; All her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh: Her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness. Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies prosper; For Jehovah hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: Her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary. And from the daughter of Zion all her majesty is departed: Her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, And they are gone without strength before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembereth in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old: When her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and none did help her, The adversaries saw her, they did mock at her desolations.
Lamentations 1:1-7 New International Version (NIV)
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. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. After affliction and harsh labor, Judah has gone into exile. She dwells among the nations; she finds no resting place. All who pursue her have overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish. Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. The LORD has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe. All the splendor has departed from Daughter Zion. Her princes are like deer that find no pasture; in weakness they have fled before the pursuer. 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. Her enemies looked at her and laughed at her destruction.
Lamentations 1:1-7 New King James Version (NKJV)
How lonely sits the city That was full of people! How like a widow is she, Who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces Has become a slave! She weeps bitterly in the night, Her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers She has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies. Judah has gone into captivity, Under affliction and hard servitude; She dwells among the nations, She finds no rest; All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits. The roads to Zion mourn Because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted, And she is in bitterness. Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD has afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy. And from the daughter of Zion All her splendor has departed. Her princes have become like deer That find no pasture, That flee without strength Before the pursuer. In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things That she had in the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, With no one to help her, The adversaries saw her And mocked at her downfall.
Lamentations 1:1-7 Amplified Bible (AMP)
How solitary and lonely sits the city [Jerusalem] That was [once] full of people! How like a widow she has become. She who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces, Has become a forced laborer! She weeps bitterly in the night And her tears are [constantly] on her cheeks; Among all her lovers (political allies) She has no one to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies. [Jer 3:1; 4:30] Judah has gone into exile under affliction And under harsh servitude; She dwells among the [pagan] nations, But she has found no rest; All her pursuers have overtaken her In the midst of [her] distress. The roads to Zion are in mourning Because no one comes to the appointed feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests are groaning, Her virgins are grieved and suffering, And she suffers bitterly. Her adversaries have become her masters, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD has caused her grief Because of the multitude of her transgressions; Her young children have gone Into captivity before the enemy. [Jer 30:14, 15; 52:28; Dan 9:7-14] All her beauty and majesty Have departed from the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem). Her princes have become like deer That have found no pasture; They have fled without strength Before the pursuer. In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her precious things That she had from the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the adversary, And no one helped her, The enemy saw her, They mocked at her downfall.
Lamentations 1:1-7 New Living Translation (NLT)
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. She sobs through the night; tears stream down her cheeks. Among all her lovers, there is no one left to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her and become her enemies. Judah has been led away into captivity, oppressed with cruel slavery. She lives among foreign nations and has no place of rest. Her enemies have chased her down, and she has nowhere to turn. The roads to Jerusalem are in mourning, for crowds no longer come to celebrate the festivals. The city gates are silent, her priests groan, her young women are crying— how bitter is her fate! Her oppressors have become her masters, and her enemies prosper, for the LORD has punished Jerusalem for her many sins. Her children have been captured and taken away to distant lands. All the majesty of beautiful Jerusalem has been stripped away. Her princes are like starving deer searching for pasture. They are too weak to run from the pursuing enemy. In the midst of her sadness and wandering, Jerusalem remembers her ancient splendor. But now she has fallen to her enemy, and there is no one to help her. Her enemy struck her down and laughed as she fell.
Lamentations 1:1-7 The Passion Translation (TPT)
How lonely sits the city once thronged with people! Once great among the nations, she is now lonely like a widow. Once a fair princess ruling among the provinces, now a shackled servant. She is weeping bitterly through the night, with tears streaming down her cheeks. Among all her lovers, not one can be found to comfort her. Her friends have all betrayed her and have now become her enemies. Judah’s people have gone into exile under harsh labor and much pain. They found no place to rest living among foreigners. All their enemies have seized them in the narrow passes. The empty roads to Zion mourn, for no one travels to her sacred feasts anymore. The singing maidens suffer, and the priests can only groan. The city gates stand empty, and Zion can only moan. Her foes have the upper hand while her enemies are now at ease. For YAHWEH has made Jerusalem suffer for her many, many sins. Her young children are taken into captivity as captives before the oppressor. All the splendor has departed from the fair daughter of Zion. Her princes are like deer that find no pasture. Weak and weary they stumble, unable to flee from those who pursue them. In her days of wandering and affliction, Jerusalem still remembers all her precious treasures that were hers from days gone by. When the enemies defeated her people, there was no one to help her. Her conquerors looked on, jeering and cheering at her downfall.
Lamentations 1:1-7 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)
How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies. Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly. Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the LORD has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. From the daughter of Zion all her majesty has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things that were hers from days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her, her foes gloated over her; they mocked at her downfall.