The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity

Lamentations 2

1 How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion
With a a cloud in His anger!
b He cast down from heaven to the earth
c The beauty of Israel,
And did not remember d His footstool
In the day of His anger.

2 The Lord has swallowed up and has e not pitied
All the dwelling places of Jacob.
He has thrown down in His wrath
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
He has brought them down to the ground;
f He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.

3 He has cut off in fierce anger
Every 1 horn of Israel;
g He has drawn back His right hand
From before the enemy.
h He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
Devouring all around.

4 i Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow;
With His right hand, like an adversary,
He has slain j all who were pleasing to His eye;
On the tent of the daughter of Zion,
He has poured out His fury like fire.

5 k The Lord was like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel,
He has swallowed up all her palaces;
l He has destroyed her strongholds,
And has increased mourning and lamentation
In the daughter of Judah.

6 He has done violence m to His 2 tabernacle,
n As if it were a garden;
He has destroyed His place of assembly;
The LORD has caused
The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.
In His burning indignation He has o spurned the king and the priest.

7 The Lord has spurned His altar,
He has p abandoned His sanctuary;
He has 3 given up the walls of her palaces
Into the hand of the enemy.
q They have made a noise in the house of the LORD
As on the day of a set feast.

8 The LORD has 4 purposed to destroy
The r wall of the daughter of Zion.
s He has stretched out a line;
He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying;
Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament;
They languished together.

9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
He has destroyed and t broken her bars.
u Her king and her princes are among the 5 nations;
v The Law is no more,
And her w prophets find no 6 vision from the LORD.

10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
x Sit on the ground and keep silence;
7 They y throw dust on their heads
And z gird themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Bow their heads to the ground.

11 a My eyes fail with tears,
My 8 heart is troubled;
b My 9 bile is poured on the ground
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
Because c the children and the infants
Faint in the streets of the city.

12 They say to their mothers,
"Where is grain and wine?"
As they swoon like the wounded
In the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
In their mothers' bosom.

13 How shall I d console 10 you?
To what shall I liken you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is spread wide as the sea;
Who can heal you?

14 Your e prophets have seen for you
False and deceptive visions;
They have not f uncovered your iniquity,
To bring back your captives,
But have envisioned for you false g prophecies and delusions.

15 All who 11 pass by h clap their hands at you;
They hiss i and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
"Is this the city that is called
j 'The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth'?"

16 k All your enemies have opened their mouth against you;
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, l "We have swallowed her up!
Surely this is the m day we have waited for;
We have found it, n we have seen it!#8221;

17 The LORD has done what He o purposed;
He has fulfilled His word
Which He commanded in days of old.
He has thrown down and has not pitied,
And He has caused an enemy to p rejoice over you;
He has exalted the 12 horn of your adversaries.

18 Their heart cried out to the Lord,
"O wall of the daughter of Zion,
q Let tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief;
Give 13 your eyes no rest.

19 "Arise, r cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
s Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him
For the life of your young children,
Who faint from hunger t at the head of every street."

20 "See, O LORD, and consider!
To whom have You done this?
u Should the women eat their offspring,
The children 14 they have cuddled?
Should the priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?

21 "Young v and old lie
On the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the w sword;
You have slain them in the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered and not pitied.

22 "You have invited as to a feast day
x The terrors that surround me.
In the day of the LORD's anger
There was no refugee or survivor.
y Those whom I have borne and brought up
My enemies have z destroyed."

  1. Cross References
    Lamentations 3:44
    You have covered Yourself with a cloud, That prayer should not pass through.
  2. Cross References
    Matthew 11:23
    And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
  3. Cross References
    2 Samuel 1:19
    The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!
  4. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 28:2
    Then King David rose to his feet and said, "Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made preparations to build it.
    Psalms 99:5
    Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His footstool - He is holy.
    Ezekiel 43:7
    And He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places.
  5. Cross References
    Psalms 21:9
    You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; The LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath, And the fire shall devour them.
    Lamentations 3:43
    You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and not pitied.
  6. Cross References
    Psalms 89:39
    You have renounced the covenant of Your servant; You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
    Psalms 89:40
    You have broken down all his hedges; You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
    Isaiah 43:28
    Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches.
  7. Cross References
    Psalms 74:11
    Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.
    Jeremiah 21:4
    Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will assemble them in the midst of this city.
    Jeremiah 21:5
    I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 89:46
    How long, LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 63:10
    But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.
  10. Cross References
    Ezekiel 24:25
    And you, son of man - will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters:
  11. Cross References
    Jeremiah 30:14
    All your lovers have forgotten you; They do not seek you; For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, With the chastisement of a cruel one, For the multitude of your iniquities, Because your sins have increased.
  12. Cross References
    2 Kings 25:9
    He burned the house of the LORD and the king's house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire.
    Jeremiah 52:13
    He burned the house of the LORD and the king's house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire.
    Lamentations 2:2
    The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied All the dwelling places of Jacob. He has thrown down in His wrath The strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
  13. Cross References
    Psalms 80:12
    Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
    Psalms 89:40
    You have broken down all his hedges; You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
    Isaiah 5:5
    And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
    Jeremiah 7:14
    Therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:8
    So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.
    Jeremiah 52:13
    He burned the house of the LORD and the king's house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:28
    Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches.
  16. Cross References
    Ezekiel 24:21
    Speak to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.
  17. Cross References
    Psalms 74:3 - 8
    Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations. The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
  18. Cross References
    Jeremiah 52:14
    And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.
  19. Cross References
    2 Kings 21:13
    And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
    Isaiah 34:11
    But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it, Also the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. And He shall stretch out over it The line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.
    Amos 7:7 - 9
    Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand.
  20. Cross References
    Jeremiah 51:30
    The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, They have remained in their strongholds; Their might has failed, They became like women; They have burned her dwelling places, The bars of her gate are broken.
  21. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:36
    The LORD will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods - wood and stone.
    2 Kings 24:15
    And he carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
    2 Kings 25:7
    Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.
    Lamentations 1:3
    Judah has gone into captivity, Under affliction and hard servitude; She dwells among the nations, She finds no rest; All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.
    Lamentations 4:20
    The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, Was caught in their pits, Of whom we said, "Under his shadow We shall live among the nations.
  22. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 15:3
    For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law.
  23. Cross References
    Psalms 74:9
    We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet; Nor is there any among us who knows how long.
    Micah 3:6
    Therefore you shall have night without vision, And you shall have darkness without divination; The sun shall go down on the prophets, And the day shall be dark for them.
  24. Cross References
    Job 2:13
    So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
    Isaiah 3:26
    Her gates shall lament and mourn, And she being desolate shall sit on the ground.
  25. Cross References
    Job 2:12
    And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven.
    Ezekiel 27:30
    They will make their voice heard because of you; They will cry bitterly and cast dust on their heads; They will roll about in ashes.
  26. Cross References
    Isaiah 15:3
    In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth; On the tops of their houses And in their streets Everyone will wail, weeping bitterly.
    Jonah 3:6 - 8
    Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.
  27. Cross References
    Psalms 6:7
    My eye wastes away because of grief; It grows old because of all my enemies.
    Lamentations 3:48
    My eyes overflow with rivers of water For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
  28. Cross References
    Job 16:13
    His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground.
    Psalms 22:14
    I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me.
  29. Cross References
    Lamentations 4:4
    The tongue of the infant clings To the roof of its mouth for thirst; The young children ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.
  30. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:12
    Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see If there is any sorrow like my sorrow, Which has been brought on me, Which the LORD has inflicted In the day of His fierce anger.
    Daniel 9:12
    And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.
  31. Cross References
    Jeremiah 2:8
    The priests did not say, 'Where is the LORD?' A...
    Jeremiah 23:25 - 29
    "I have heard what the prophets have said who p...
    Jeremiah 29:8
    For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Isr...
    Jeremiah 29:9
    For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I ...
    Jeremiah 37:19
    Where now are your prophets who prophesied to y...
    Ezekiel 13:2
    "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of I...
  32. Cross References
    Isaiah 58:1
    Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.
    Ezekiel 23:36
    The LORD also said to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
    Micah 3:8
    But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, And of justice and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel his sin.
  33. Cross References
    Jeremiah 23:33 - 36
    So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, 'What is the oracle of the LORD?' you shall then say to them, 'What oracle?' I will even forsake you," says the LORD.
    Ezekiel 22:25
    The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.
    Ezekiel 22:28
    Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD had not spoken.
  34. Cross References
    1 Kings 9:8
    "And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss, and say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?'
    Job 27:23
    Men shall clap their hands at him, And shall hiss him out of his place.
    Jeremiah 18:16
    To make their land desolate and a perpetual hissing; Everyone who passes by it will be astonished And shake his head.
    Ezekiel 25:6
    For thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your disdain for the land of Israel.
    Nahum 3:19
    Your injury has no healing, Your wound is severe. All who hear news of you Will clap their hands over you, For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?
  35. Cross References
    2 Kings 19:21
    This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him: 'The virgin, the daughter of Zion, Has despised you, laughed you to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem Has shaken her head behind your back!
    Psalms 44:14
    You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples.
  36. Cross References
    Psalms 48:2
    Beautiful in elevation, The joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, The city of the great King.
    Psalms 50:2
    Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.
    Ezekiel 16:14
    Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you," says the Lord GOD.
  37. Cross References
    Job 16:9
    He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me.
    Job 16:10
    They gape at me with their mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against me.
    Psalms 22:13
    They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion.
    Lamentations 3:46
    All our enemies Have opened their mouths against us.
  38. Cross References
    Psalms 56:2
    My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
    Psalms 124:3
    Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us.
    Jeremiah 51:34
    Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon Has devoured me, he has crushed me; He has made me an empty vessel, He has swallowed me up like a monster; He has filled his stomach with my delicacies, He has spit me out.
  39. Cross References
    Lamentations 1:21
    They have heard that I sigh, But no one comforts me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; They are glad that You have done it. Bring on the day You have announced, That they may become like me.
  40. Cross References
    Psalms 35:21
    They also opened their mouth wide against me, And said, "Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it.
  41. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:16
    I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
  42. Cross References
    Psalms 38:16
    For I said, "Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.
  43. Cross References
    Jeremiah 14:17
    Therefore you shall say this word to them: 'Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.
    Lamentations 1:16
    "For these things I weep; My eye, my eye overflows with water; Because the comforter, who should restore my life, Is far from me. My children are desolate Because the enemy prevailed."
  44. Cross References
    Psalms 119:147
    I rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in Your word.
  45. Cross References
    1 Samuel 1:15
    But Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.
    Psalms 42:4
    When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
    Psalms 62:8
    Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah
  46. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:20
    Your sons have fainted, They lie at the head of all the streets, Like an antelope in a net; They are full of the fury of the LORD, The rebuke of your God.
  47. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:29
    You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.
    Deuteronomy 28:53
    You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you.
    Jeremiah 19:9
    "And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair."'
    Lamentations 4:10
    The hands of the compassionate women Have cooked their own children; They became food for them In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
    Ezekiel 5:10
    Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments among you, and all of you who remain I will scatter to all the winds.
  48. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 36:17
    Therefore He brought 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, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand.
    Jeremiah 6:11
    Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD. I am weary of holding it in. "I will pour it out on the children outside, And on the assembly of young men together; For even the husband shall be taken with the wife, The aged with him who is full of days.
  49. Cross References
    Jeremiah 18:21
    Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, And pour out their blood By the force of the sword; Let their wives become widows And bereaved of their children. Let their men be put to death, Their young men be slain By the sword in battle.
  50. Cross References
    Psalms 31:13
    For I hear the slander of many; Fear is on every side; While they take counsel together against me, They scheme to take away my life.
    Isaiah 24:17
    Fear and the pit and the snare Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
    Jeremiah 6:25
    Do not go out into the field, Nor walk by the way. Because of the sword of the enemy, Fear is on every side.
  51. Cross References
    Hosea 9:12
    Though they bring up their children, Yet I will bereave them to the last man. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!
  52. Cross References
    Jeremiah 16:2 - 4
    "You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place."
    Jeremiah 44:7
    Now therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving none to remain.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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