 哀:1.(lam)  [耶肋米亞哀歌]     [Lamentations]   [共 6 章]   [思高聖經]

             小引  以色列被虜充軍以後，耶路撒冷成了一片荒涼，耶肋米亞痛哭流淚的坐著唱了這篇哀歌，憑弔耶路撒冷，嗚咽說：
  
 哀:1.1      [耶城遭浩劫]  怎麼! 這個人煙稠密的京都，卻孤坐獨處! 從前是萬民的主母，現在好像成了寡婦；往日是諸郡的王后，如今竟然成奴僕!
 哀:1.2      她夜間痛哭飲泣，眼淚流滿雙頰；她所有的愛人，卻沒有一個前來安慰她；她的親友都背棄了她，成了她的冤家!
 哀:1.3      猶大已經流亡遠去，備受壓迫奴役；散居在異民中間，再不得安息；她處於絕境之中，所有迫害她的人，盡來相逼!
 哀:1.4      熙雍的到街道悲慘淒涼，因無人前來過節!她的城門零落蕭條，司祭哀嘆，處女惆悵；她已憂苦備嘗!
 哀:1.5      她的敵人得了優勢，仇人獲得勝利，都因她犯罪多端，而遭受了上主的懲罰；她的幼兒被擄去，在敵人面前作囚徒。
 哀:1.6      一切華麗，已經都由熙雍女郎身上消失；她的首長好像找不到牧場的公羊，受追逐者驅使，無力前行。
 哀:1.7      耶路撒冷在困苦和患難的時日，回憶昔日享有的一切榮華；現在呢﹖當她的人民陷入敵人手中時，竟然沒有人來施救!仇人看見了她，都嘲笑她的滅亡。
 哀:1.8      耶路撒冷犯罪作惡，因而成了可憎惡的；昔日尊重她的人，今日一見到她的裸體，都予以輕視；而她自己只有飲泣，轉身退去。
 哀:1.9      她的污穢沾滿了她的衣裙，她從未想到會有如此的結局，以致一落千丈，卻沒有人安慰。「上主，求你憐視我的痛苦，因為敵人正在意氣高揚。
 哀:1.10     暴徒伸手劫掠了她所有的珍寶：你雖然嚴禁異民進入你的集會，她卻眼看著他們闖進聖所。
 哀:1.11     她所有的人民都在嘆息，搜求食糧；而應交出珍寶，換取食物，以維持生活。上主，求你垂視眷顧，我怎樣受人輕慢!」
 哀:1.12     [耶京的哀號]  一切過路的人啊!請你們細細觀察，看看有沒有痛苦能像我所受的痛苦﹖因為上主在他盛怒之日，折磨了我!
 哀:1.13     他從上降下火來，深入我的骨骸；他在我腳下設下羅網，使我陷落；他使我終日孤寂，惆悵不已。
 哀:1.14     上主親手把我罪過的軛，緊縛在我的頸上，使我筋疲力竭；他將我交於我不能抵抗的人手中。
 哀:1.15     上主拋棄了我中間的勇士，召集盛會，與我為敵，粉碎我的精銳；上主好像踐踏酒醡一樣，踐踏原是處女的猶大女郎。
 哀:1.16     我之所以痛苦，滿眼流淚，是因為鼓舞我心靈的安慰者，已經離我遠去；我的子女已經孤獨無援，而敵人卻正在得勢。
 哀:1.17     熙雍雖然伸開雙手，卻無人予以安慰；上主召喚四周的人與雅各伯為敵；耶路撒冷在人眼中，成了可憎的污穢之物。
 哀:1.18     唯有上主是公義的，因為我違背了他的訓示。一切民族!請你們聽一聽，看一看我的痛苦我的處女和壯丁，都已充軍去了。
 哀:1.19     我向愛人求救，但他們都捨棄了我，我的司祭和長老，雖然尋覓食糧以求活命，但他們卻在城中氣絕喪命。
 哀:1.20     上主，求你憐視，因為我實在痛苦：五內恐懼，心如倒懸，因為我常背命頑抗。外邊有刀劍使我喪子，在家裏有人死亡。
 哀:1.21     人們都聽到我嘆息，卻沒有人安慰我；仇人聽到我遭難，無不慶幸你的所為；但是到了你所規定的日子，他們必然與我相同。
 哀:1.22     願他們的罪惡擺在你眼前!你怎麼為了我的各種罪惡，對待了我，也願怎樣對待他們!因為我履次嘆息，我的心已萎靡不振。
  
 哀:2.1      [上主懷怒降罰]  怎麼! 上主竟然發怒，使熙雍女郎暗淡無光! 將以色列的榮華由高天拋在地上! 在他震怒之日，不再想念自己的腳凳!
 哀:2.2      上主毫不留情地破壞了雅各伯所有的牧場；他滿含怒氣，夷平了猶大女郎的一切保壘，將她的君王及首長推倒在地，加以侮辱。
 哀:2.3      他怒火炎炎，粉碎了以色列的一切勢力；在仇人前，抽回他的右手；他像吞滅四周的烈火，焚燒了雅各伯；
 哀:2.4      他像敵人一樣，安穩地舉起自己的右手；拉開他的弓。像敵人似的屠殺了一切英俊的少年；在熙雍女郎的帳幕內，發洩了他似火的烈怒。
 哀:2.5      上主好像一個仇人，毀滅了以色列，毀滅了她所有的宮室，蕩平了她的一切保壘，增加猶大女郎的哀號哭泣。
 哀:2.6      上主像破壞園圃一樣，破壞了他自己的帷幔，毀滅了自己的會幕，使人在熙雍忘卻慶節和安息日；他在烈怒下，廢棄了君王和司祭。
 哀:2.7      上主厭棄了自己的祭壇，嫌惡了自己的聖所；將宮殿的牆垣交在敵人手中，讓他們在上主的殿宇內，叫囂喧嚷，好像節日一樣。
 哀:2.8      上主已經決意毀壞熙雍女郎的牆垣，既展開了繩索，決不抽回自己的手，直到將它完全推翻，使城郭和保壘哀哭，一同傾覆。
 哀:2.9      城門已陷於地中，上主已折斷她的門閂，她的君王首長，流落異鄉，再沒有法律；她的眾先知也不再獲得上主的神視。
 哀:2.10     熙雍女郎的眾長老，坐在地上默然不語，頭上撒上灰土，腰間束著麻衣；耶路撒冷的處女都俯首至地。
 哀:2.11     [幼兒的悲慘命運]  我的眼痛哭，至於失明，五內沸騰，肝腦塗地。眼見我的女兒──人民遭受摧殘，眼看著幼童乳兒昏厥在城中的街道上。
 哀:2.12     他們對母親說：「那裏有餅有酒﹖」他們在城中的街道上，正奄奄一息，有如受傷的人，在母親的懷中，氣絕夭折!
 哀:2.13     [痛苦無可比擬]  耶路撒冷女郎! 我可用什麼來譬喻你，拿什麼來比擬你呢﹖處女，熙雍女郎! 我可用什麼來幫助你，拿什麼來安慰你呢﹖因為你的創傷，浩大如海，又有誰能夠治愈你﹖
 哀:2.14     你的眾先知有關你的神視，盡是虛幻欺詐；他們從未揭露你的罪惡，以挽回你的命運；他們關於你所提供的神諭，盡是虛幻和騙局。
 哀:2.15     所有過路的人，都向你鼓掌，向耶路撒冷女郎噓唏，且搖頭說：「難道這就是人人所說美麗無比，全世界的喜悅﹖」
 哀:2.16     你的仇人都向你張開口，噓唏而切齒說：「我們終於吞滅了她!這就是我們所期待的一日，我們終於得到手，終於看見了!」
 哀:2.17     上主實踐了自己的計劃，完成了他昔日所宣告的斷語；實行破壞，毫無憐憫，使仇人幸災樂禍，使敵人高舉他的角。
 哀:2.18     [耶京的哀禱]  處女，熙雍女郎!你應該從心裏呼號上主；白天黑夜，讓眼淚像江河般地湧流，不要歇息也不要讓你的眼睛休息。
 哀:2.19     夜間每到交更時分，你該起來哀禱，像傾水似的，向上主傾訴你心；應為了你嬰兒的性命，向上主舉起你的雙手，因為他們因饑餓而昏迷街頭!
 哀:2.20     上主，請你迴目憐視!你這樣做，究竟是對付誰呢﹖難道婦女應該吃掉自己的兒子﹖吃掉自己孕育的嬰兒﹖難道在上主的聖所裏，應該殺死司祭和先知﹖
 哀:2.21     街上遍地躺臥的，盡是孩童和老人；喪身刀下的，盡是我的處女和少年；在你震怒之日，你斬殺誅戮，毫不留情。
 哀:2.22     你由四方給我召來施行恐怖的人，好像過節一樣；在上主發怒之日，無人能夠逃脫，或者幸免；我孕育撫養的，我的仇人都殺盡滅絕。
  
 哀:3.1      [天主的懲罰]  在上主盛怒的鞭責下，我成了受盡痛苦的人；
 哀:3.2      他引我走入黑暗，不見光明；
 哀:3.3      且終日再三再四，伸手與我為敵；
 哀:3.4      他使我肌膚枯瘦，折斷我的骨頭；
 哀:3.5      他在我四周築起圍牆，用毒草和痛苦環繞我，
 哀:3.6      讓我居住在黑暗之中，好像久已死去的人。
 哀:3.7      他用垣牆圍困我，不能逃脫；並且加重我的桎梏；
 哀:3.8      我呼籲求救時，他卻掩耳不聽我的祈禱。
 哀:3.9      他用方石堵住了我的去路，阻塞了我的行徑。
 哀:3.10     上主之於我，像是一隻潛伏的狗熊，是一頭藏匿的獅子，
 哀:3.11     他把我拖到路旁，撲捉撕裂，加以摧殘；
 哀:3.12     又拉開他的弓，瞄準我，把我當作眾矢之的。
 哀:3.13     他用箭囊的箭，射殺了我的雙腰；
 哀:3.14     使我成了萬民的笑柄，終日受他們的嘲笑；
 哀:3.15     他使我飽食苦菜，醉飲苦酒。
 哀:3.16     他用砂礫破碎我的牙齒，用灰塵給我充饑。
 哀:3.17     他除去了我心中的平安，我已經忘記了一切幸福；
 哀:3.18     於是我說：「我的光榮已經消逝，對上主的希望也已經幻滅。」
 哀:3.19     [哀求天主憐憫]  我回憶著我的困厄和痛苦，盡是茹苦含辛!
 哀:3.20     我的心越回想，越覺沮喪。
 哀:3.21     但是我必要追念這事，以求獲得希望：
 哀:3.22     上主的慈愛，永無止境；他的仁慈，無窮無盡。
 哀:3.23     你的仁慈，朝朝常新；你的忠信，浩大無垠!
 哀:3.24     我心中知道：上主是我的福分；因此，我必信賴他。
 哀:3.25     上主對信賴他和尋求他的人，是慈善的。
 哀:3.26     最好是靜待上主的救援，
 哀:3.27     最好是自幼背負上主的重軛，
 哀:3.28     默然獨坐，因為是上主加於他的軛；
 哀:3.29     他該把自己的口貼近塵埃，這樣或者還有希望；
 哀:3.30     向打他的人，送上面頰，飽受凌辱。
 哀:3.31     [因人犯罪天主降罰]  因為上主決不會永遠把人遺棄；
 哀:3.32     縱使懲罰，他必按照自己豐厚的慈愛，而加以憐憫。
 哀:3.33     因為他苛待和懲罰世人，原不是出於他的心願。
 哀:3.34     將世上所有的俘虜，都踐踏在腳下，
 哀:3.35     在至上者前剝奪人的權利,　
 哀:3.36     與人爭訟時，欺壓他人：難道上主看不見﹖
 哀:3.37     若非上主有命，誰能言出即成呢﹖
 哀:3.38     吉凶禍福，難道不是出自至上者之口﹖
 哀:3.39     人生在世，為自己的罪受罰，為什麼還叫苦﹖
 哀:3.40     [勸罪人悔改]  我們應檢討考察我們的行為，回頭歸向上主!
 哀:3.41     應向天上的大主，雙手奉上我們的心!
 哀:3.42     正因為我們犯罪背命，你纔沒有寬恕。
 哀:3.43     你藏在盛怒之中，追擊我們，殺死我們，毫不留情。
 哀:3.44     你隱在濃雲深處，哀禱不能上達。
 哀:3.45     你使我們在萬民中，成了塵垢和廢物。
 哀:3.46     我們所有的仇人，都向我們大張其口。
 哀:3.47     為我們只有恐怖和陷阱，破壞和滅亡。
 哀:3.48     為了我女兒──人民的滅亡，我的眼淚湧流如江河。
 哀:3.49     我的眼淚湧流不止，始終不停，
 哀:3.50     直到上主從天垂顧憐視，
 哀:3.51     因我城中的一切女兒，使我觸目傷心。
 哀:3.52     [痛苦中的依靠]  我的仇人無故追捕我，像獵取飛鳥一樣；
 哀:3.53     他們將我投入坑穴之中，把石塊擲在我身上；
 哀:3.54     水淹沒了我的頭頂，我想：「我要死了!」
 哀:3.55     上主，我從坑穴深處，呼號你的聖名；
 哀:3.56     你曾俯聽過我的呼聲，對我的哀禱，不要掩耳不聞。
 哀:3.57     在我呼號你的那一天，願你走近而對我說：「不要害怕!」
 哀:3.58     上主，你辯護了我的案件，贖回我的性命。
 哀:3.59     上主，你見我遭受冤屈，你替我伸了冤，
 哀:3.60     你看見了他們對我的種種仇恨和陰謀。
 哀:3.61     上主，你聽見了他們加於我的種種侮辱和陰謀，
 哀:3.62     你也聽見了反對我者的誹謗，和他們終日對我的企圖。
 哀:3.63     你看!他們或坐或立，我始終是他們嘲笑的對象。
 哀:3.64     上主，求你按照他們雙手的作為，報復他們；
 哀:3.65     求你使他們的心思頑固，並詛咒他們。
 哀:3.66     上主，求你憤怒地追擊他們，將他們由普天之下除掉。
  
 哀:4.1      [撫今追昔憂國憂民]  怎麼!黃金竟暗淡無光，純金竟變了色!聖所的石頭都散亂在街頭!
 哀:4.2      熙雍的子女，原比純金尊貴，怎麼現在竟被看作瓦器，被看作陶人的出品!
 哀:4.3      豺狼尚且露出乳房，哺養自己的幼兒；我的女兒──人民，竟然殘暴不仁，好似曠野中的鴕鳥!
 哀:4.4      嬰兒的舌頭，乾渴得緊貼上顎；幼童飢餓求食，卻無人分給他們。
 哀:4.5      昔日飽享山珍海味，今日竟餓死街頭；一向衣飾華麗，而今卻滿身糞土。
 哀:4.6      我的女兒──人民的罪罰，比索多瑪的還重，索多瑪頃刻間傾覆了，並非假手於人。
 哀:4.7      昔日，她的少年，比雪還潔白，比乳還皎潔；他們的皮膚，比珊瑚還紅潤，他們的身體好似一片青玉。
 哀:4.8      而今，他們的容貌，比炭還黑，在街上已辨認不出，皮包骨頭，枯瘦如柴；
 哀:4.9      死於刀下的，比死於饑餓的，即因缺乏田產，日漸衰弱而死的，更為幸運。
 哀:4.10     柔情的婦女竟要親手烹食自己的子女；在我的女兒──人民遭受浩劫時，子女竟成了母親的食物。
 哀:4.11     上主大發震怒，傾洩了他的怒火，火燒熙雍，焚毀了他的基礎。
 哀:4.12     地上的君王和世上的居民，誰也不相信：仇敵能進入耶路撒冷的城門。
 哀:4.13     [不義首領遭受懲罰]  這是由於她先知們的罪惡，和她司祭們的過犯：他們在城中心，傾流了義人的血；
 哀:4.14     他們身染血污，像瞎子一樣，徘徊街頭，叫人不能觸摸他們的衣服。「
 哀:4.15     不潔!退避!」人們喊說：「退避!不可接近!」如果他們逃亡，漂流異邦，異邦人又說：「不要讓他們留居此地。」
 哀:4.16     上主的怒容驅散他們，不再垂顧他們；人也不再尊敬司祭，不再敬重長老。
 哀:4.17     我們還在望眼欲穿，幻想著我們的救援；我們仍在瞭望台上，期望著那不能施救的異邦。
 哀:4.18     敵人正在追蹤我們的足跡，阻止我們在街上行走；我們的結局已近，我們的日子已滿；的確，我們的終期已到。
 哀:4.19     追捕我們的人，比凌空的飛鳥還要快速；他們在山上搜索我們，在曠野裏窺伺我們。
 哀:4.20     連我們的氣息──上主的受傅者，也落在他們的陷阱中：我們原希望在他的福蔭下，生活在異邦人中。
 哀:4.21     住在胡茲地的厄東女郎!你歡欣喜樂罷!苦爵也要輪到你喝，你將要醉倒，而赤身裸體。
 哀:4.22     熙雍女郎! 你的罪債已經償還，上主不再使你流徙；厄東女郎!他必要懲罰你的過犯，揭露你的罪惡。
  
 哀:5.1      [耶肋米亞的祈禱]  上主，求你眷念我們的遭遇，垂顧憐視我們受的恥辱。
 哀:5.2      我們的產業，轉入外人手中；我們的房舍，歸屬了異邦人。
 哀:5.3      我們自己變成了無父的孤兒，我們的母親好像寡婦一樣。
 哀:5.4      我們自己的水，必須用錢買來喝；我們自己的木柴，需要用款換來。
 哀:5.5      重軛加在我們的頸項上，受人折磨迫害；我們困憊疲乏，不得安息。
 哀:5.6      我們向埃及伸手，向亞述乞食充餓。
 哀:5.7      我們的祖先犯了罪，已不存在；我們卻要承擔他們的罪債；
 哀:5.8      原是奴隸的人，竟然統治我們，但沒有人解救我們，脫離他們的手。
 哀:5.9      我們面臨曠野刀劍的威脅，該冒性命的危險，纔能得到食糧。
 哀:5.10     我們的皮膚因飢餓而發炎，發熱有如火爐。
 哀:5.11     婦女們在熙雍被人強姦，處女們在猶大遭人奸污。
 哀:5.12     王臣被人縛手吊起，長老的儀容受人凌辱，
 哀:5.13     青年人應該服役推磨，幼童倒在柴捆之下。
 哀:5.14     長老們不再安坐城門口，青年們不再奏樂高歌。
 哀:5.15     [災禍中的哀鳴]  我們心中已毫無樂趣，我們的歌舞反而變成悲愁。
 哀:5.16     我們頭上的花冠已經墮地。我們犯罪的人，確是有禍的!
 哀:5.17     我們的心神所以徬徨，我們的眼睛所以模糊；
 哀:5.18     因為熙雍山已經荒蕪，狐狸成群出沒其間。
 哀:5.19     [祈求復興]  上主，至於你，你永遠常存，你的寶座萬世不替。
 哀:5.20     為什麼你常忘記我們﹖為什麼你常拋棄我們﹖
 哀:5.21     上主，求你叫我們歸向你，我們必定回心轉意；求你重整我們的時代，如同往昔一樣。
 哀:5.22     你豈能完全擯棄我們，豈能向我們憤怒到底﹖　 [哀歌完篇]
 　
 lam1.      [Lamentations]  5 chapters  [哀歌]  [英文版]

 lam:1.1     How lonely she is now, the once crowded city! Widowed is she who was mistress over nations; The princess among the provinces has been made a toiling slave.
 lam:1.1     How the Lord in his wrath has detested daughter Zion! He has cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel, Unmindful of his footstool on the day of his wrath.
 lam:1.2     Bitterly she weeps at night, tears upon her cheeks, With not one to console her of all her dear ones; Her friends have all betrayed her and become her enemies.
 lam:1.3     Judah has fled into exile from oppression and cruel slavery; Yet where she lives among the nations she finds no place to rest: All her persecutors come upon her where she is narrowly confined.
 lam:1.4     The roads to Zion mourn for lack of pilgrims going to her feasts; All her gateways are deserted, her priests groan, Her virgins sigh; she is in bitter grief.
 lam:1.5     Her foes are uppermost, her enemies are at ease; The LORD has punished her for her many sins. Her little ones have gone away, captive before the foe.
 lam:1.6     Gone from daughter Zion is all her glory: Her princes, like rams that find no pasture, Have gone off without strength before their captors.
 lam:1.7     Jerusalem is mindful of the days of her wretched homelessness, When her people fell into enemy hands, and she had no one to help her; When her foes gloated over her, laughed at her ruin.
 lam:1.8     Through the sin of which she is guilty, Jerusalem is defiled; All who esteemed her think her vile now that they see her nakedness; She herself groans and turns away.
 lam:1.9.    Her filth is on her skirt; she gave no thought how she would end. Astounding is her downfall, with no one to console her. Look, O LORD, upon her misery, for the enemy has triumphed!
 lam:1.10.   The foe stretched out his hand to all her treasures; She has seen those nations enter her sanctuary Whom you forbade to come into your assembly.
 lam:1.11.   All her people groan, searching for bread; They give their treasures for food, to retain the breath of life. "Look O LORD, and see how worthless I have become!
 lam:1.12.   "Come, all you who pass by the way, look and see Whether there is any suffering like my suffering, which has been dealt me When the LORD afflicted me on the day of his blazing wrath.
 lam:1.13.   "From on high he sent fire down into my very frame; He spread a net for my feet, and overthrew me. He left me desolate, in pain all the day.
 lam:1.14.   "He has kept watch over my sins; by his hand they have been plaited: They have settled about my neck, he has brought my strength to its knees; The Lord has delivered me into their grip, I am unable to rise.
 lam:1.15.   "All the mighty ones in my midst the Lord has cast away; He summoned an army against me to crush my young men; The LORD has trodden in the wine press virgin daughter Judah.
 lam:1.16.   "At this I weep, my eyes run with tears: Far from me are all who could console me, any who might revive me; My sons were reduced to silence when the enemy prevailed."
 lam:1.17.   Zion stretched out her hands, but there was no one to console her; The LORD gave orders against Jacob for his neighbors to be his foes; Jerusalem has become in their midst a thing unclean.
 lam:1.18.   "The LORD is just; I had defied his command. Listen, all you peoples, and behold my suffering: My maidens and my youths have gone into captivity.
 lam:1.19.   "I cried out to my lovers, but they failed me. My priests and my elders perished in the city; Where they sought food for themselves, they found it not.
 lam:1.20.   "Look, O LORD, upon my distress: all within me is in ferment, My heart recoils within me from my monstrous rebellion. In the streets the sword bereaves, at home death stalks.
 lam:1.21.   "Give heed to my groaning; there is no one to console me. All my enemies rejoice at my misfortune: it is you who have wrought it. Bring on the day you have proclaimed, that they may be even as I.
 lam:1.22.   "Let all their evil come before you; deal with them As you have dealt with me for all my sins; My groans are many, and I am sick at heart."
   
 lam:2.1     How the Lord in His wreth has detested the daughter Zion! He has cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel, unmindful of His footstool on the day of His wrath.
 lam:2.2     The Lord has consumed without pity all the dwellings of Jacob; He has torn down in his anger the fortresses of daughter Judah; He has brought to the ground in dishonor her king and her princes.
 lam:2.3     He broke off, in fiery wrath, the horn that was Israel's whole strength; He withheld the support of his right hand when the enemy approached; He blazed up in Jacob like a flaming fire devouring all about it.
 lam:2.4     Like an enemy he made taut his bow; with his arrows in his right hand He took his stand as a foe, and slew all on whom the eye doted; Over the tent of daughter Zion he poured out his wrath like fire.
 lam:2.5     The Lord has become an enemy, he has consumed Israel: Consumed all her castles and destroyed her fortresses; For daughter Judah he has multiplied moaning and groaning.
 lam:2.6     He has demolished his shelter like a garden booth, he has destroyed his dwelling; In Zion the LORD has made feast and sabbath to be forgotten; He has scorned in fierce wrath both king and priest.
 lam:2.7     The Lord has disowned his altar, rejected his sanctuary; The walls of her towers he has handed over to the enemy, Who shout in the house of the LORD as on a feast day.
 lam:2.8     The LORD marked for destruction the wall of daughter Zion: He stretched out the measuring line; his hand brought ruin, yet he did not relent-- He brought grief on wall and rampart till both succumbed.
 lam:2.9     Sunk into the ground are her gates; he has removed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the pagans; priestly instruction is wanting, And her prophets have not received any vision from the LORD.
 lam:2.10    On the ground in silence sit the old men of daughter Zion; They strew dust on their heads and gird themselves with sackcloth; The maidens of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
 lam:2.11    Worn out from weeping are my eyes, within me all is in ferment; My gall is poured out on the ground because of the downfall of the daughter of my people, As child and infant faint away in the open spaces of the town.
 lam:2.12    They ask their mothers, "Where is the cereal?"--in vain, As they faint away like the wounded in the streets of the city, And breathe their last in their mothers' arms.
 lam:2.13    To what can I liken or compare you, O daughter Jerusalem? What example can I show you for your comfort, virgin daughter Zion? For great as the sea is your downfall; who can heal you?
 lam:2.14    Your prophets had for you false and specious visions; They did not lay bare your guilt, to avert your fate; They beheld for you in vision false and misleading portents.
 lam:2.15    All who pass by clap their hands at you; They hiss and wag their heads over daughter Jerusalem: "Is this the all-beautiful city, the joy of the whole earth?"
 lam:2.16    All your enemies open their mouths against you; They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, "We have devoured her. This at last is the day we hoped for; we have lived to see it!"
 lam:2.17    The LORD has done as he decreed: he has fulfilled the threat He set forth from days of old; he has destroyed and had no pity, Letting the enemy gloat over you and exalting the horn of your foes.
 lam:2.18    Cry out to the Lord; moan, O daughter Zion! Let your tears flow like a torrent day and night; Let there be no respite for you, no repose for your eyes.
 lam:2.19    Rise up, shrill in the night, at the beginning of every watch; Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord; Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your little ones (Who faint from hunger at the corner of every street).
 lam:2.20    "Look, O LORD, and consider: whom have you ever treated thus? Must women eat their offspring, their well-formed children? Are priest and prophet to be slain in the sanctuary of the LORD?
 lam:2.21    "Dead in the dust of the streets lie young and old; My maidens and young men have fallen by the sword; You have slain on the day of your wrath, slaughtered without pity.
 lam:2.22    "You summoned as for a feast day terrors against me from all sides; There was not, on the day of your wrath, either fugitive or survivor; Those whom I bore and reared my enemy has utterly destroyed."
   
 lam:3.1     I am a man who knows affliction from the rod of his anger,
 lam:3.2     One whom he has led and forced to walk in darkness, not in the light;
 lam:3.3     Against me alone he brings back his hand again and again all the day.
 lam:3.4     He has worn away my flesh and my skin, he has broken my bones;
 lam:3.5     He has beset me round about with poverty and weariness;
 lam:3.6     He has left me to dwell in the dark like those long dead.
 lam:3.7     He has hemmed me in with no escape and weighed me down with chains;
 lam:3.8     Even when I cry out for help, he stops my prayer;
 lam:3.9     He has blocked my ways with fitted stones, and turned my paths aside.
 lam:3.10    A lurking bear he has been to me, a lion in ambush!
 lam:3.11    He deranged my ways, set me astray, left me desolate.
 lam:3.12    He bent his bow, and set me up as the target for his arrow.
 lam:3.13    He pierces my sides with shafts from his quiver.
 lam:3.14    I have become a laughingstock for all nations, their taunt all the day long;
 lam:3.15    He has sated me with bitter food, made me drink my fill of wormwood.
 lam:3.16    He has broken my teeth with gravel, pressed my face in the dust;
 lam:3.17    My soul is deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is;
 lam:3.18    I tell myself my future is lost, all that I hoped for from the LORD.
 lam:3.19    The thought of my homeless poverty is wormwood and gall;
 lam:3.20    Remembering it over and over leaves my soul downcast within me.
 lam:3.21    But I will call this to mind, as my reason to have hope:
 lam:3.22    The favors of the LORD are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent;
 lam:3.23    They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness.
 lam:3.24    My portion is the LORD, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
 lam:3.25    Good is the LORD to one who waits for him, to the soul that seeks him;
 lam:3.26    It is good to hope in silence for the saving help of the LORD.
 lam:3.27    It is good for a man to bear the yoke from his youth.
 lam:3.28    Let him sit alone and in silence, when it is laid upon him.
 lam:3.29    Let him put his mouth to the dust; there may yet be hope.
 lam:3.30    Let him offer his cheek to be struck, let him be filled with disgrace.
 lam:3.31    For the Lord's rejection does not last forever;
 lam:3.32    Though he punishes, he takes pity, in the abundance of his mercies;
 lam:3.33    He has no joy in afflicting or grieving the sons of men.
 lam:3.34    When anyone tramples underfoot all the prisoners in the land,
 lam:3.35    When he distorts men's rights in the very sight of the Most High,
 lam:3.36    When he presses a crooked claim, the Lord does not look on unconcerned.
 lam:3.37    Who commands so that it comes to pass, except the Lord ordains it;
 lam:3.38    Except it proceeds from the mouth of the Most High, whether the thing be good or bad!
 lam:3.39    Why should any living man complain, any mortal, in the face of his sins?
 lam:3.40    Let us search and examine our ways that we may return to the LORD!
 lam:3.41    Let us reach out our hearts toward God in heaven!
 lam:3.42    We have sinned and rebelled; you have not forgiven us.
 lam:3.43    You veiled yourself in wrath and pursued us, you slew us and took no pity;
 lam:3.44    You wrapped yourself in a cloud which prayer could not pierce.
 lam:3.45    You have made us offscourings and refuse among the nations.
 lam:3.46    All our enemies have opened their mouths against us;
 lam:3.47    Terror and the pit have been our lot, desolation and destruction;
 lam:3.48    My eyes run with streams of water over the downfall of the daughter of my people.
 lam:3.49    My eyes flow without ceasing, there is no respite,
 lam:3.50    Till the LORD from heaven looks down and sees.
 lam:3.51    My eyes torment my soul at the sight of all the daughters of my city.
 lam:3.52    Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird;
 lam:3.53    They struck me down alive in the pit, and sealed me in with a stone.
 lam:3.54    The waters flowed over my head, and I said, "I am lost!"
 lam:3.55    I called upon your name, O LORD, from the bottom of the pit;
 lam:3.56    You heard me call, "Let not your ear be deaf to my cry for help!"
 lam:3.57    You came to my aid when I called to you; you said, "Have no fear!"
 lam:3.58    You defended me in mortal danger, you redeemed my life.
 lam:3.59    You see, O LORD, how I am wronged; do me justice!
 lam:3.60    You see all their vindictiveness, all their plots against me.
 lam:3.61    You hear their insults, O LORD, (all their plots against me),
 lam:3.62    The whispered murmurings of my foes, against me all the day;
 lam:3.63    Whether they sit or stand, see, I am their taunt song.
 lam:3.64    Requite them as they deserve, O LORD, according to their deeds;
 lam:3.65    Give them hardness of heart, as your curse upon them;
 lam:3.66    Pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under your heavens!
   
 lam:4.1     How tarnished is the gold, how changed the noble metal; How the sacred stones lie strewn at every street corner!
 lam:4.2     Zion's precious sons, fine gold their counterpart, Now worth no more than earthen jars made by the hands of a potter!
 lam:4.3     Even the jackals bare their breasts and suckle their young; The daughter of my people has become as cruel as the ostrich in the desert.
 lam:4.4     The tongue of the suckling cleaves to the roof of its mouth in thirst; The babes cry for food, but there is no one to give it to them.
 lam:4.5     Those accustomed to dainty food perish in the streets; Those brought up in purple now cling to the ash heaps.
 lam:4.6     The punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than the penalty of Sodom, Which was overthrown in an instant without the turning of a hand.
 lam:4.7     Brighter than snow were her princes, whiter than milk, More ruddy than coral, more precious than sapphire.
 lam:4.8     Now their appearance is blacker than soot, they are unrecognized on the streets; Their skin shrinks on their bones, as dry as wood.
 lam:4.9     Better for those who perish by the sword than for those who die of hunger, Who waste away, as though pierced through, lacking the fruits of the field!
 lam:4.10    The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children, To serve them as mourners' food in the downfall of the daughter of my people.
 lam:4.11    The LORD has spent his anger, poured out his blazing wrath; He has kindled a fire in Zion that has consumed her foundations.
 lam:4.12    The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the world's inhabitants, That enemy or foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
 lam:4.13    Because of the sins of her prophets and the crimes of her priests, Who shed in her midst the blood of the just!--
 lam:4.14    They staggered blindly in the streets, soiled with blood, So that people could not touch even their garments:
 lam:4.15    "Away you unclean!" they cried to them, "Away, away, do not draw near!" If they left and wandered among the nations, nowhere could they remain.
 lam:4.16    The LORD himself has dispersed them, he regards them no more; He does not receive the priests with favor, nor show kindness to the elders.
 lam:4.17    Our eyes ever wasted away, looking in vain for aid; From our watchtower we watched for a nation that could not save us.
 lam:4.18    Men dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; Our end drew near, and came; our time had expired.
 lam:4.19    Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the air, They harassed us on the mountains and waylaid us in the desert.
 lam:4.20    The anointed one of the LORD, our breath of life, was caught in their snares, He in whose shadow we thought we could live on among the nations.
 lam:4.21    Though you rejoice and are glad, O daughter Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz, To you also shall the cup be passed; you shall become drunk and naked.
 lam:4.22    Your chastisement is completed, O daughter Zion, he will not prolong your exile; But your wickedness, O daughter Edom, he will punish, he will lay bare your sins.
   
 lam:5.1     Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us, look, and see our disgrace:
 lam:5.2     Our inherited lands have been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners.
 lam:5.3     We have become orphans, fatherless; widowed are our mothers.
 lam:5.4     The water we drink we must buy, for our own wood we must pay.
 lam:5.5     On our necks is the yoke of those who drive us; we are worn out, but allowed no rest.
 lam:5.6     To Egypt we submitted, and to Assyria, to fill our need of bread.
 lam:5.7     Our fathers, who sinned, are no more; but we bear their guilt.
 lam:5.8     Slaves rule over us; there is no one to rescue us from their hands.
 lam:5.9     At the peril of our lives we bring in our sustenance, in the face of the desert heat;
 lam:5.10    Our skin is shriveled up, as though by a furnace, with the searing blasts of famine.
 lam:5.11    The wives in Zion were ravished by the enemy, the maidens in the cities of Judah;
 lam:5.12    Princes were gibbeted by them, elders shown no respect.
 lam:5.13    The youths carry the millstones, boys stagger under their loads of wood;
 lam:5.14    The old men have abandoned the gate, the young men their music.
 lam:5.15    The joy of our hearts has ceased, our dance has turned into mourning;
 lam:5.16    The garlands have fallen from our heads: woe to us, for we have sinned!
 lam:5.17    Over this our hearts are sick, at this our eyes grow dim:
 lam:5.18    That Mount Zion should be desolate, with jackals roaming there!
 lam:5.19    You, O LORD, are enthroned forever; your throne stands from age to age.
 lam:5.20    Why, then, should you forget us, abandon us so long a time?
 lam:5.21    Lead us back to you, O LORD, that we may be restored: give us anew such days as we had of old.
 lam:5.22    For now you have indeed rejected us, and in full measure turned your wrath against us. [end of Lamentations]

