How hath the Lord covered
the daughter
of Zion
with a cloud
in his anger
, and cast down
from heaven
unto the earth
the beauty
of Israel
, and remembered
not his footstool
in the day
of his anger
!
The Lord hath swallowed up
all the habitations
of Jacob
, and hath not pitied
: he hath thrown down
in his wrath
the strong holds
of the daughter
of Judah
; he hath brought them down
to the ground
: he hath polluted
the kingdom
and the princes
thereof.
He hath cut off in his fierce
anger
all the horn
of Israel
: he hath drawn
back
his right hand
from before
the enemy
, and he burned
against Jacob
like a flaming
fire
, which devoureth
round about
.
He hath bent his bow
like an enemy
: he stood
with his right hand
as an adversary
, and slew
all that were pleasant
to the eye
in the tabernacle
of the daughter
of Zion
: he poured out
his fury
like fire
.
The Lord was as an enemy
: he hath swallowed up
Israel
, he hath swallowed up
all her palaces
: he hath destroyed
his strong holds
, and hath increased
in the daughter
of Judah
mourning
and lamentation
.
And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle
, as if it were of a garden
: he hath destroyed
his places of the assembly
: the LORD
hath caused the solemn feasts
and sabbaths
to be forgotten
in Zion
, and hath despised
in the indignation
of his anger
the king
and the priest
.
The Lord hath cast off
his altar
, he hath abhorred
his sanctuary
, he hath given up
into the hand
of the enemy
the walls
of her palaces
; they have made
a noise
in the house
of the LORD
, as in the day
of a solemn feast
.
The LORD hath purposed
to destroy
the wall
of the daughter
of Zion
: he hath stretched out
a line
, he hath not withdrawn
his hand
from destroying
: therefore he made the rampart
and the wall
to lament
; they languished
together
.
Her gates are sunk
into the ground
; he hath destroyed
and broken
her bars
: her king
and her princes
are among the Gentiles
: the law
is no more ; her prophets
also find
no vision
from the LORD
.
The elders of the daughter
of Zion
sit
upon the ground
, and keep silence
: they have cast up
dust
upon their heads
; they have girded
themselves with sackcloth
: the virgins
of Jerusalem
hang down
their heads
to the ground
.
Mine eyes do fail
with tears
, my bowels
are troubled
, my liver
is poured
upon the earth
, for the destruction
of the daughter
of my people
; because the children
and the sucklings
swoon
in the streets
of the city
.
They say to their mothers
, Where is corn
and wine
? when they swooned
as the wounded
in the streets
of the city
, when their soul
was poured out
into their mothers
' bosom
.
What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing
shall I liken
to thee, O daughter
of Jerusalem
? what shall I equal
to thee, that I may comfort
thee, O virgin
daughter
of Zion
? for thy breach
is great
like the sea
: who can heal
thee?
Thy prophets have seen
vain
and foolish things
for thee: and they have not discovered
thine iniquity
, to turn away
thy captivity
; but have seen
for thee false
burdens
and causes of banishment
.
All that pass by clap
their hands
at thee
; they hiss
and wag
their head
at the daughter
of Jerusalem
, saying, Is this the city
that men call
The perfection
of beauty
, The joy
of the whole earth
?
All thine enemies have opened
their mouth
against thee: they hiss
and gnash
the teeth
: they say
, We have swallowed her up
: certainly
this is the day
that we looked for
; we have found
, we have seen
it .
The LORD hath done
that which he had devised
; he hath fulfilled
his word
that he had commanded
in the days
of old
: he hath thrown down
, and hath not pitied
: and he hath caused thine enemy
to rejoice
over thee, he hath set up
the horn
of thine adversaries
.
Their heart cried
unto the Lord
, O wall
of the daughter
of Zion
, let tears
run down
like a river
day
and night
: give
thyself no rest
; let not the apple
of thine eye
cease
.
Arise, cry out
in the night
: in the beginning
of the watches
pour out
thine heart
like water
before
the face
of the Lord
: lift up
thy hands
toward him for the life
of thy young children
, that faint
for hunger
in the top
of every street
.
Behold, O LORD
, and consider
to whom thou hast done
this
. Shall the women
eat
their fruit
, and children
of a span long
? shall the priest
and the prophet
be slain
in the sanctuary
of the Lord
?
The young and the old
lie
on the ground
in the streets
: my virgins
and my young men
are fallen
by the sword
; thou hast slain
them in the day
of thine anger
; thou hast killed
, and not pitied
.
Thou hast called as in a solemn
day
my terrors
round about
, so that in the day
of the LORD'S
anger
none escaped
nor remained
: those that I have swaddled
and brought up
hath mine enemy
consumed
.