Chronological Plan

³⁷Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has authorized and commanded it?

³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both adversity (misfortune) and good (prosperity, happiness) proceed?

³⁹Why should any living mortal, or any man, Complain [of punishment] in view of his sins?

⁴⁰Let us test and examine our ways, And let us return to the LORD.

⁴¹Let us lift up our hearts and our hands [in prayer] Toward God in heaven;

⁴²We have transgressed and rebelled, You have not pardoned.

⁴³You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain [without pity] and have not spared.

⁴⁴You have covered Yourself with a cloud So that no prayer can pass through.

⁴⁵You have made us scum and refuse Among the peoples (Gentile nations).

⁴⁶All our enemies have gaped at us.

⁴⁷Panic and pitfall (traps, danger) have come on us, Devastation and destruction.

⁴⁸My eyes overflow with streams of tears Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people (Jerusalem).

⁴⁹My eyes overflow unceasingly, Without stopping,

⁵⁰Until the LORD looks down And sees from heaven.

⁵¹My eyes [see things that] bring pain to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city.

⁵²Without cause my enemies Hunted me down like a bird;

⁵³They silenced me in the pit And placed a stone over me.

⁵⁴The waters ran down on my head; I said, "I am cut off (destroyed)!"

⁵⁵I called on Your name, O LORD, Out of the lowest pit.

⁵⁶You have heard my voice, "Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help."

⁵⁷You drew near on the day I called to You; You said, "Do not fear."

⁵⁸O Lord, You have pleaded my soul's cause [You have guided my way and protected me]; You have rescued and redeemed my life.

⁵⁹O LORD, You have seen the wrong [done to me]; Judge my case.

⁶⁰You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me.

⁶¹You have heard their reproach, O LORD, And all their schemes against me.

⁶²The lips and whispering of my assailants Are against me all day long.

⁶³Look at their sitting and their rising [their actions and secret counsels]; I am their mocking song [the subject of their ridicule].

⁶⁴You will repay them, O LORD, According to the work of their hands.

⁶⁵You will harden their hearts; Your curse will be upon them.

⁶⁶You will pursue them in anger and destroy them From under the heavens of the LORD.

¹How dark and dim the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones [of the temple] are poured out and scattered At the head of every street.

²The [noble and] precious sons of Zion, [Once] worth their weight in fine gold, How they are regarded [merely] as earthen jars, The work of a potter's hands!

³Even the jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become cruel Like ostriches in the wilderness [that desert their young].

⁴The tongue of the infant clings To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for food, But no one gives it to them.

⁵Those who feasted on delicacies Are perishing in the streets; Those reared in purple [as nobles] Embrace ash heaps.

⁶For the [punishment of the] wickedness of the daughter of my people [Jerusalem] Is greater than the [punishment for the] sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown in a moment, And no hands were turned toward her [to offer help].

⁷Her princes were purer than snow, They were whiter than milk [in appearance]; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, Their polishing was like lapis lazuli (sapphire).

⁸Their appearance is [now] blacker than soot [because of the prolonged famine]; They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin clings to their bones; It is withered, and it has become [dry] like wood.

⁹Those killed with the sword Are more fortunate than those killed with hunger; For the hungry pine and ebb away, For the lack of the fruits of the field.

¹⁰The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people [Judah].

¹¹The LORD has fulfilled His wrath; He has poured out His fierce anger And has kindled a fire in Zion That has consumed her foundations.

¹²The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of the inhabitants of the earth, That the adversary (oppressor) and enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³Because of the sins of her [counterfeit] prophets And the wickedness of her [unfaithful] priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the just and righteous;

¹⁴They wandered, blind, in the streets; They were defiled with blood So that no one could touch their garments.

¹⁵People cried to them, "Go away! Unclean! Depart! Depart! Do not touch!" So they fled, then they wandered [as fugitives]; People among the nations said, "They shall not stay here any longer with us."

¹⁶The presence of the LORD scattered them [among the nations]; He will not continue to look after them. They did not honor the priests; They did not favor the elders.

¹⁷[And as for us,] yet our eyes failed, Looking in vain for help. Watching [from the towers] we watched For a nation that could not save.

¹⁸The enemy hunted our steps, So that we could not walk in our streets; Our end drew near, Our days were finished For our end had come.

¹⁹Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They pursued us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

²⁰The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD [our king], Was captured in their snares, He of whom we had said, "Under his shadow We shall live among the nations."

²¹Rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, Who lives in the land of Uz. But the cup [of the wine of God's wrath] will pass to you as well; You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

²²The punishment of your sin has been completed, O Daughter of Zion; The LORD will no longer send you into exile. But He will punish your sin, O Daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins.

¹O LORD, remember what has come upon us; Look, and see our reproach (national disgrace)!

²Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, Our houses to foreigners.

³We have become orphans without a father; Our mothers are like widows.

⁴We have to pay for our drinking water; Our wood comes to us at a price.

⁵Our pursuers are at our necks; We are worn out, there is no rest for us.

⁶We have given the hand [as a pledge of fidelity and submission] to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.

⁷Our fathers sinned, and are no more; It is we who have carried their sin.

⁸Servants rule over us; There is no one to rescue us out of their hand.

⁹We get our bread at the risk of our lives Because of the sword [of the Arabs] in the wilderness [who may attack if we go out to harvest the crop].

¹⁰Our skin is as hot as [the heat of] an oven Because of the burning heat of [the fever of] famine.

¹¹They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected.

¹³Young men worked at the grinding mill, And boys fell [staggering] under loads of wood.

¹⁴Elders are gone from the gate; Young men from their music.

¹⁵The joy of our hearts has ended; Our dancing has been turned into mourning.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head [our honor is covered with dust]! Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷Because of this our heart is faint, Because of these things our eyes are dim.

¹⁸As for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, Foxes and the jackals prowl over it.

¹⁹But You, O LORD, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to [all] generations.

²⁰Why do You forget us forever? Why do You forsake us so long?

²¹Return us to You, O LORD, so that we may be restored; Renew our days as of old,

²²Unless You have utterly rejected us And are exceedingly angry with us.