1 2 3 4 5
2 <1> Look how the Lord has set
Daughter Zion[9] under a cloud.
He has thrown the glory of Israel
from the sky to the ground.
He forgot that Israel was his footstool,
on the day of his anger.
<2> The Lord destroyed the houses of Jacob.[10]
He destroyed them without mercy.
In his anger he destroyed
the fortresses of Daughter Judah.[11]
He threw the kingdom of Judah
and its rulers to the ground.
He ruined the kingdom of Judah.
<3> The Lord was angry, and he destroyed
all the strength of Israel.
He took away his right hand from Israel.
He did this when the enemy came.
He burned like a flaming fire in Jacob.
He was like a fire that burns all around.
<4> The Lord bent his bow like an enemy.
He held his sword in his right hand.
He killed all the good-looking men of Judah.
He killed them as if they were the enemy.
The Lord poured out his anger
like a fire on the tents of Zion.
<5> The Lord has become like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
and all her fortresses.
He has made much sadness and crying
for the dead in Daughter Judah.
<6> The Lord pulled up his own tent[12]
as if it were a garden.
He has ruined the place where the people
went to meet to worship him.
The Lord has made people forget
the special assemblies and special days of rest[13] in Zion.
He rejected the king and the priests.
He was angry and rejected them.
<7> He rejected his altar,
and he rejected his Holy Place of worship.
He let the enemy pull down the walls
of the palaces of Jerusalem.
The enemy shouted with joy in the Lord's Temple.
They made noise, as though it were a festival.
<8> The Lord planned to destroy
the wall of Daughter Zion.
He marked the wall with a measuring line.
He didn't stop himself from destroying it.
He made all the walls cry out in sadness.
Together they wasted away.
<9> Jerusalem's gates have sunk into the ground.
He destroyed and smashed the bars of the gates.
Her king and princes are in other nations.
There is no more teaching for them.
Also Jerusalem's prophets have not had
any visions[14] from the Lord.
<10> The elders of Zion[15] sit on the ground.
They sit on the ground and are quiet.
They pour dust on their heads.
They put on sackcloth.[16]
The young women of Jerusalem
bow their heads to the ground in sorrow.
<11> My eyes are worn out with tears,
and my insides are upset.
My heart feels like it has been poured on the ground;
I feel this way because of the destruction of my people.
Children and babies are fainting
in the public squares of the city.
<12> They ask their mothers,
"Where is the bread and wine?"
as they pour out their life in their mother's laps.
<13> Daughter Zion,
what can I compare you to?
What can I compare you to,
Virgin Daughter Zion?
How can I comfort you?
Your destruction is as big as the sea.
I don't think anyone can heal you.
<14> Your prophets saw visions for you,
but their visions were only worthless lies.
They didn't speak against your sins.
They didn't try to make things better.
They spoke messages for you,
but they were false messages that fooled you.
<15> Those who pass by on the road
clap their hands at you in shock.
They whistle and shake their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem.[17]
They ask, "Is this the city that people called
'The Perfectly Beautiful City'
and 'The Joy of all the Earth'?"
<16> All your enemies laugh at you.
They whistle and grind their teeth at you.
They say, "We have swallowed them up!
This is the day we were hoping for.
We have finally seen this happen!"
<17> The Lord did what he planned to do.
He did what he said he would do.
He did what he commanded a long time ago.
He destroyed, and he had no pity.
He made your enemies happy
because of what happened to you.
He made your enemies strong.
<18> Cry out[18] with your hearts to the Lord!
Wall of Daughter Zion,[19]
let tears roll down like a stream.
Let your tears roll down day and night.
Don't stop crying
or let your eyes dry.
<19> Get up and cry throughout the night.
Pour out your heart as if it were water.
Pour out your heart before the Lord.
Lift up your hands in prayer to the Lord.
Ask him to let your starving children live.
They are fainting with hunger in all the streets of the city.
<20> Look at me, Lord!
See who it is that you have treated this way.
Let me ask this question:
Should women eat the children
they have given birth to?
Should women eat the children
they have cared for?
Should priests and prophets
be killed in the Temple of the Lord?
<21> Young men and old men
lie on the ground in the streets of the city.
My young women and young men
have been killed by the sword.
You killed them on the day of your anger.
You killed them without mercy!
<22> You invited terror to come to me
from all around.
You invited terror as though you were
inviting it to a festival.
No one escaped
on the day of the Lord's anger.
My enemy killed the people
who I raised and brought up.
© Copyright 2004 World Bible Translation Center.