Lamentations 2
God punishes Jerusalem because he is angry
He has caused a dark cloud to cover
Jerusalem was the most beautiful city in Israel.
But now, from
God has caused it to fall to the ground.
He has become so angry,
he has not kept his own home safe.
He would not
Because of his
he has destroyed all Judah's strong towns.
He has knocked them all down to become
The
he has completely destroyed Israel's army.
When Israel's enemies attacked them,
God refused to help them with his power.
He destroyed Jacob's descendants,
like a fire that burns everything.
as if he was Israel's enemy.
He has used his power to attack us as an enemy!
He has killed our brave men that we were
He has become very angry with Zion's people.
His anger is like a hot fire that destroys everything.
He has destroyed Israel.
He has destroyed all her
He has caused her strong cities to become heaps of stones.
He has caused all Judah's people to weep.
They cannot stop crying.
as if it was a hut in a garden.
He has destroyed his special meeting place.
The Lord has caused Zion's people to forget
the
Because he is very angry,
he has turned against our king and our
He has gone away from his temple.
He has given Jerusalem's palaces to her enemies.
They shout loudly in the Lord's temple,
as if it is a happy festival day.
the strong walls of Zion.
He did it carefully, stone by stone,
and he did not stop.
The
now lie on the ground.
It is very sad to see this.
God has destroyed the metal
The king and his officers are
There is nobody to teach
The
any
They are saying nothing.
They have dressed themselves in
They have put dirt on their heads.
The young women of Jerusalem are also sad.
They turn their faces down towards the ground.
Deep inside me, I am very
I feel ill because my people are
and they are dying.
Children and babies fall in the city's streets
because they are so weak.
‘Where is our food and our drink?’
They soon fall down on the streets of the city,
like a soldier with a
They die slowly in their mothers' arms.
has anyone
What can I say that will help you?
I cannot
Your trouble is very great.
It is as deep as the sea.
Can anyone make you well again?
that
They should have told you that your
Then you would have been safe from your trouble.
But they deceived you with their messages,
which were useless
They are happy to see your trouble.
They
and they say,
‘Is this the place that people called the most beautiful city?
Did it really bring
They
They say ‘We have destroyed this city!
We have waited a long time for this day.
Now we have finally seen it happen!’
He has done what he promised to do a long time ago.
He has destroyed your city
and he has not felt sorry about it.
He has given your enemies a reason to be happy.
He has made them stronger than you.
Let your
All day and all night, do not rest.
Do not stop weeping.
Do this all through every night.
Tell the Lord God everything that you think and you feel.
Let it pour out like water from a jar.
Lift up your hands and pray to him.
Ask him to save the lives of your children.
They fall down on every street in the city
because they have no food to eat.
Jerusalem's people complain about their punishment
You have caused us to
Women eat their own children now!
They are the children that they have taken care of.
Enemies have killed your
in your own
The enemy's
You killed our people because you were angry,
and you did not feel sorry.
They attacked us from all around.
At that time of your great anger,
nobody could
Our enemies have destroyed our own children,
the children that we gave birth to and we took care of.’