Lamentations
Lamentations is a book of very sad poems. Lamentations is in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Jeremiah wrote the Book of Lamentations after soldiers from Babylon destroyed Jerusalem.
Jerusalem had been a beautiful city. The temple (house of God) was in Jerusalem. But the soldiers destroyed the buildings. They killed many people (Lamentations 2:21). They led the young men away to Babylon. The soldiers even forced the young women to have sex with them (Lamentations 5:11-13).
Jeremiah saw these terrible events. And he knew why these things happened. They happened because the people in Jerusalem had not obeyed God's law. The people prayed to evil gods. And the people were very evil. God sent his servants to warn the people. But the people did not change their behaviour. So, God punished them (2 Chronicles 36:14-17).
Jeremiah was very sad when he wrote Lamentations. But he still had hope. Between his sad words, he wrote about God's love. Jeremiah knew that God cares (Lamentations 3:22-33).
Jeremiah wanted the people to trust God again (Lamentations 3:40-42). And Jeremiah knew that God would not always punish his people (Lamentations 4:22). Jeremiah prayed that the people could return to Jerusalem (Lamentations 5:21).