Lamentations 1

How Lonely Sits the City

1 a How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like b a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was c a princess among the provinces
has become d a slave.

2 e She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
f among all her lovers
she has g none to comfort her;
h all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.

3 i Judah has gone into exile because of affliction
and hard servitude;
j she dwells now among the nations,
k but finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress. 1

4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for none come to l the festival;
m all her gates are desolate;
her priests n groan;
her virgins have been afflicted, 2
and she herself suffers bitterly.

5 o Her foes have become the head;
her p enemies prosper,
because q the Lord has afflicted her
r for the multitude of her transgressions;
s her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.

6 From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
t that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.

7 Jerusalem remembers
in the days of her affliction and wandering
u all the precious things
that were hers from v days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was none to help her,
her foes gloated over her;
they w mocked at her downfall.

8 x Jerusalem sinned grievously;
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
y for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself z groans
and turns her face away.

9 Her uncleanness was a in her skirts;
b she took no thought of her future; 3
therefore her fall is terrible;
c she has no comforter.
"O Lord, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has d triumphed!"

10 The enemy has stretched out his hands
over all her e precious things;
for she has seen f the nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom you g forbade
to enter your congregation.

11 All her people z groan
as h they search for bread;
they trade their e treasures for i food
to revive their strength.
"Look, O Lord, and see,
for I am despised."

12 "Is it nothing to you, all j you who pass by?
k Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which l the Lord inflicted
on m the day of his fierce anger.

13 "From on high he n sent fire;
into my bones 4 he made it descend;
o he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
p he has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.

14 "My transgressions were bound 5 into q a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.

15 "The Lord rejected
all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men;
r the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter of Judah.

16 "For these things s I weep;
my eyes flow with tears;
for t a comforter is far from me,
one to u revive my spirit;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed."

17 v Zion stretches out her hands,
but t there is none to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.

18 w "The Lord is in the right,
x for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
y my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.

19 "I called to z my lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while a they sought food
to revive their strength.

20 "Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;
b my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
c In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.

21 "They heard 6 d my groaning,
yet e there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
f they are glad that you have done it.
You have brought 7 the day you announced;
f now let them be as I am.

22 g "Let all their evildoing come before you,
and deal with them
as h you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for d my groans are many,
and i my heart is faint."

  1. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:34
    And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.
  2. Cross References
    Jeremiah 15:8
    I have made their widows more in number than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of young men a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror fall upon them suddenly.
  3. Cross References
    Lamentations 5:16
    The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!
    Ezra 4:20
    And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid.
    Ecclesiastes 2:8
    I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 31:8
    And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man; and a sword, not of man, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be put to forced labor.
  5. Cross References
    Psalms 6:6
    I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
    Jeremiah 9:1
    Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
    Jeremiah 13:17
    But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord 's flock has been taken captive.
  6. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:19
    I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength.
    Jeremiah 22:22
    The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; then you will be ashamed and confounded because of all your evil.
    Jeremiah 30:14
    All your lovers have forgotten you; they care nothing for you; for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy, the punishment of a merciless foe, because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant.
  7. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:9
    Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; therefore her fall is terrible; she has no comforter. "O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!
    Lamentations 1:16 - 17
    "For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed."
    Lamentations 1:21
    They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am.
    Ecclesiastes 4:1
    Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.
  8. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:22 - 26
    Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God : "Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side:
  9. Cross References
    Jeremiah 52:27
    And the king of Babylon struck them down, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.
  10. Cross References
    Lamentations 2:9
    Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her bars; her king and princes are among the nations; the law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from the Lord.
    Deuteronomy 28:64 - 65
    And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
  11. Cross References
    Jeremiah 45:3
    You said, 'Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.
  12. Cross References
    Lamentations 2:6
    He has laid waste his booth like a garden, laid in ruins his meeting place; the Lord has made Zion forget festival and Sabbath, and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
  13. Cross References
    Jeremiah 14:2
    Judah mourns, and her gates languish; her people lament on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
  14. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:8
    Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away.
    Lamentations 1:11
    All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. "Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.
    Lamentations 1:21 - 22
    They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am.
  15. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:13
    And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them.
    Deuteronomy 28:44
    He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
    Jeremiah 13:21
    What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you like those of a woman in labor?
  16. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:1
    Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
  17. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:12
    Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.
    Lamentations 3:33
    For he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.
  18. Cross References
    Jeremiah 30:14 - 15
    All your lovers have forgotten you; they care nothing for you; for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy, the punishment of a merciless foe, because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant.
    Daniel 9:16
    O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us.
  19. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 36:17
    Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand.
    2 Chronicles 36:20
    He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia.
    Jeremiah 52:28 - 30
    This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans.
  20. Cross References
    Jeremiah 14:6
    The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail because there is no vegetation.
  21. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:10 - 11
    The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter your congregation.
  22. Cross References
    Lamentations 2:17
    The Lord has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago; he has thrown down without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes.
    Jeremiah 46:26
    I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, declares the Lord.
  23. Cross References
    Obadiah 1:12 - 13
    But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress.
    Psalms 119:51
    The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law.
  24. Cross References
    Zechariah 13:1
    On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
  25. Cross References
    Ezekiel 16:37
    Therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.
  26. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:4
    The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.
    Lamentations 1:21 - 22
    They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am.
  27. Cross References
    Jeremiah 13:22
    And if you say in your heart, 'Why have these things come upon me?' it is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up and you suffer violence.
  28. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:29
    If they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern their latter end!
    Isaiah 47:7
    You said, "I shall be mistress forever," so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end.
  29. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:2
    She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
  30. Cross References
    Jeremiah 48:26
    Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision.
  31. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:7
    Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things that were hers from days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her, her foes gloated over her; they mocked at her downfall.
  32. Cross References
    Psalms 79:1
    O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
    Jeremiah 51:51
    'We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach; dishonor has covered our face, for foreigners have come into the holy places of the Lord 's house.'
  33. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 23:3
    No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever.
    Nehemiah 13:1
    On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God.
  34. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:8
    Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away.
  35. Cross References
    Lamentations 2:12
    They cry to their mothers, "Where is bread and wine?" as they faint like a wounded man in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers' bosom.
    Lamentations 4:4
    The tongue of the nursing infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives to them.
    Jeremiah 38:9
    "My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city."
    Jeremiah 52:6
    On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
  36. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:10
    The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter your congregation.
  37. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:19
    I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength.
  38. Cross References
    Job 21:29
    Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony
    Psalms 80:12
    Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
  39. Cross References
    Daniel 9:12
    He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem.
  40. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:5
    Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.
  41. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:13
    They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns; they have tired themselves out but profit nothing. They shall be ashamed of their harvests because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
  42. Cross References
    Psalms 102:3
    For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.
  43. Cross References
    Psalms 9:15
    The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
    Ezekiel 12:13
    And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there.
    Ezekiel 17:20
    I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he has committed against me.
  44. Cross References
    Lamentations 3:11
    He turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate.
    Jeremiah 8:18
    My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me.
  45. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:48
    Therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.
  46. Cross References
    Isaiah 63:2 - 3
    Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?
  47. Cross References
    Jeremiah 13:17
    But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord 's flock has been taken captive.
  48. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:2
    She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
    Lamentations 1:21
    They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am.
  49. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:11
    All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. "Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.
  50. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:15
    When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
    Jeremiah 4:31
    For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, "Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.
  51. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:16
    "For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed."
  52. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:1
    Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
  53. Cross References
    1 Samuel 12:14 - 15
    If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.
  54. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:41
    You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity.
  55. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:2
    She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
  56. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:11
    All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. "Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.
  57. Cross References
    Lamentations 2:11
    My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city.
    Job 30:27
    My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me.
    Isaiah 16:11
    Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab, and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.
  58. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:25
    Outdoors the sword shall bereave, and indoors terror, for young man and woman alike, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
    Ezekiel 7:15
    The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. He who is in the field dies by the sword, and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour.
    Jeremiah 15:2
    And when they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord : "'Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.
  59. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:4
    The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.
    Lamentations 1:8
    Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away.
    Lamentations 1:11
    All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. "Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.
  60. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:2
    She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
    Lamentations 1:16 - 17
    "For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed."
  61. Cross References
    Lamentations 4:21
    Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
    Jeremiah 50:11
    Though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my heritage, though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture, and neigh like stallions.
  62. Cross References
    Lamentations 4:21
    Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
    Jeremiah 50:11
    Though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my heritage, though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture, and neigh like stallions.
  63. Cross References
    Psalms 109:14 - 15
    May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
  64. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:12
    Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.
    Lamentations 2:20
    Look, O Lord, and see! With whom have you dealt thus? Should women eat the fruit of their womb, the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
  65. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:21
    They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am.
  66. Cross References
    Jeremiah 8:18
    My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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