| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1How the Lord has overshadowed Daughter Zion with his anger! He has thrown down Israel's glory from heaven to earth. He did not acknowledge his footstool in the day of his anger. | 1The Lord in his anger has cast a dark shadow over beautiful Jerusalem. The fairest of Israel’s cities lies in the dust, thrown down from the heights of heaven. In his day of great anger, the Lord has shown no mercy even to his Temple. |
| 2Without compassion the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob. In his wrath he has demolished the fortified cities of Daughter Judah. He brought them to the ground and defiled the kingdom and its leaders. | 2Without mercy the Lord has destroyed every home in Israel. In his anger he has broken down the fortress walls of beautiful Jerusalem. He has brought them to the ground, dishonoring the kingdom and its rulers. |
| 3He has cut off every horn of Israel in his burning anger and withdrawn his right hand in the presence of the enemy. He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything. | 3All the strength of Israel vanishes beneath his fierce anger. The Lord has withdrawn his protection as the enemy attacks. He consumes the whole land of Israel like a raging fire. |
| 4He has strung his bow like an enemy; his right hand is positioned like an adversary. He has killed everyone who was the delight to the eye, pouring out his wrath like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion. | 4He bends his bow against his people, as though he were their enemy. His strength is used against them to kill their finest youth. His fury is poured out like fire on beautiful Jerusalem. |
| 5The Lord is like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel. He swallowed up all its palaces and destroyed its fortified cities. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation within Daughter Judah. | 5Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel like an enemy. He has destroyed her palaces and demolished her fortresses. He has brought unending sorrow and tears upon beautiful Jerusalem. |
| 6He has wrecked his temple as if it were merely a shack in a field, destroying his place of meeting. The LORD has abolished appointed festivals and Sabbaths in Zion. He has despised king and priest in his fierce anger. | 6He has broken down his Temple as though it were merely a garden shelter. The LORD has blotted out all memory of the holy festivals and Sabbath days. Kings and priests fall together before his fierce anger. |
| 7The Lord has rejected his altar, repudiated his sanctuary; he has handed the walls of her palaces over to the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed festival. | 7The Lord has rejected his own altar; he despises his own sanctuary. He has given Jerusalem’s palaces to her enemies. They shout in the LORD’s Temple as though it were a day of celebration. |
| 8The LORD determined to destroy the wall of Daughter Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not restrain himself from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls grieve; together they waste away. | 8The LORD was determined to destroy the walls of beautiful Jerusalem. He made careful plans for their destruction, then did what he had planned. Therefore, the ramparts and walls have fallen down before him. |
| 9Zion's gates have fallen to the ground; he has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates. Her king and her leaders live among the nations, instruction is no more, and even her prophets receive no vision from the LORD. | 9Jerusalem’s gates have sunk into the ground. He has smashed their locks and bars. Her kings and princes have been exiled to distant lands; her law has ceased to exist. Her prophets receive no more visions from the LORD. |
| 10The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. | 10The leaders of beautiful Jerusalem sit on the ground in silence. They are clothed in burlap and throw dust on their heads. The young women of Jerusalem hang their heads in shame. |
| 11My eyes are worn out from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief because of the destruction of my dear people, because infants and nursing babies faint in the streets of the city. | 11I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken. My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people. Little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets. |
| 12They cry out to their mothers, "Where is the grain and wine?" as they faint like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their life pours out in the arms of their mothers. | 12They cry out to their mothers, “We need food and drink!” Their lives ebb away in the streets like the life of a warrior wounded in battle. They gasp for life as they collapse in their mothers’ arms. |
| 13What can I say on your behalf? What can I compare you to, Daughter Jerusalem? What can I liken you to, so that I may console you, Virgin Daughter Zion? For your ruin is as vast as the sea. Who can heal you? | 13What can I say about you? Who has ever seen such sorrow? O daughter of Jerusalem, to what can I compare your anguish? O virgin daughter of Zion, how can I comfort you? For your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you? |
| 14Your prophets saw visions for you that were empty and deceptive; they did not reveal your iniquity and so restore your fortunes. They saw pronouncements for you that were empty and misleading. | 14Your prophets have said so many foolish things, false to the core. They did not save you from exile by pointing out your sins. Instead, they painted false pictures, filling you with false hope. |
| 15All who pass by scornfully clap their hands at you. They hiss and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem: Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth? | 15All who pass by jeer at you. They scoff and insult beautiful Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city called ‘Most Beautiful in All the World’ and ‘Joy of All the Earth’?” |
| 16All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, "We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for! We have lived to see it." | 16All your enemies mock you. They scoff and snarl and say, “We have destroyed her at last! We have long waited for this day, and it is finally here!” |
| 17The LORD has done what he planned; he has accomplished his decree, which he ordained in days of old. He has demolished without compassion, letting the enemy gloat over you and exalting the horn of your adversaries. | 17But it is the LORD who did just as he planned. He has fulfilled the promises of disaster he made long ago. He has destroyed Jerusalem without mercy. He has caused her enemies to gloat over her and has given them power over her. |
| 18The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. Wall of Daughter Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief and your eyes no rest. | 18Cry aloud before the Lord, O walls of beautiful Jerusalem! Let your tears flow like a river day and night. Give yourselves no rest; give your eyes no relief. |
| 19Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water before the Lord's presence. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger at the head of every street. | 19Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer, pleading for your children, for in every street they are faint with hunger. |
| 20LORD, look and consider to whom you have done this. Should women eat their own children, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the Lord's sanctuary? | 20“O LORD, think about this! Should you treat your own people this way? Should mothers eat their own children, those they once bounced on their knees? Should priests and prophets be killed within the Lord’s Temple? |
| 21Both young and old are lying on the ground in the streets. My young women and young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without compassion. | 21“See them lying in the streets— young and old, boys and girls, killed by the swords of the enemy. You have killed them in your anger, slaughtering them without mercy. |
| 22You summon those who terrorize me on every side, as if for an appointed festival day; on the day of the LORD's anger no one escaped or survived. My enemy has destroyed those I nurtured and reared. | 22“You have invited terrors from all around, as though you were calling them to a day of feasting. In the day of the LORD’s anger, no one has escaped or survived. The enemy has killed all the children whom I carried and raised.” |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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