HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1091
L AM ENTATIONS 1
page 721
sin in your life and in the lives of others. Then enjoy the peace and security that come
from a close relationship with him.
Key verses in Lamentations
1:1 Jerusalem, once so full of
people, is now deserted. She who
was once great among the nations
now sits alone like a widow. Once
the queen of all the earth, she is
now a slave.
2:9 Jerusalem’s gates have sunk
into the ground. He has smashed
their locks and bars. Her kings and
princes have been exiled to distant
lands; her law has ceased to exist.
Her prophets receive no more
visions from the Lord.
3:22-23 The faithful love of the
Lord never ends! His mercies
never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh
each morning.
3:24 I say to myself, “The Lord
is my inheritance; therefore, I will
hope in him!”
Sorrow in Jerusalem
* 1 Jerusalem, once so full of people,
is now deserted.
She who was once great among the nations
now sits alone like a widow.
Once the queen of all the earth,
she is now a slave.
She sobs through the night;
tears stream down her cheeks.
Among all her lovers,
there is no one left to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her
and become her enemies.
3
Judah has been led away into captivity,
oppressed with cruel slavery.
She lives among foreign nations
and has no place of rest.
Her enemies have chased her down,
and she has nowhere to turn.
4
5
The roads to Jerusalem* are in mourning,
for crowds no longer come to celebrate
the festivals.
The city gates are silent,
her priests groan,
her young women are crying—
how bitter is her fate!
Her oppressors have become her masters,
and her enemies prosper,
for the Lord has punished Jerusalem
for her many sins.
Her children have been captured
and taken away to distant lands.
1 Each of the first four chapters of this book is an acrostic, laid
out in the order of the Hebrew alphabet. The first word of each
verse begins with a successive Hebrew letter. Chapters 1, 2, and
4 have one verse for each of the 22 Hebrew letters. Chapter 3
contains 22 stanzas of three verses each. Though chapter 5 has
22 verses, it is not an acrostic. 1:4 Hebrew Zion; also in 1:17.
1:6 Hebrew of the daughter of Zion.
5:19, 21 But Lord, you remain
the same forever! Your throne
continues from generation to
generation. . . . Restore us, O Lord,
and bring us back to you again!
Give us back the joys we once had!
6
All the majesty of beautiful Jerusalem*
has been stripped away.
Her princes are like starving deer
searching for pasture.
They are too weak to run
from the pursuing enemy.
7
In the midst of her sadness and
wandering,
Jerusalem remembers her ancient
splendor.
But now she has fallen to her enemy,
and there is no one to help her.
Her enemy struck her down
and laughed as she fell.
8
Jerusalem has sinned greatly,
so she has been tossed away like
a filthy rag.
All who once honored her now despise her,
for they have seen her stripped naked
and humiliated.
All she can do is groan
and hide her face.
9
She defiled herself with immorality
and gave no thought to her future.
Now she lies in the gutter
with no one to lift her out.
“Lord, see my misery,” she cries.
“The enemy has triumphed.”
1
2
3:55- 57 But I called on your
name, Lord, from deep within the
pit. You heard me when I cried . . .
Yes, you came when I called; you
told me, “Do not fear.”
10
The enemy has plundered her completely,
taking every precious thing she owns.
She has seen foreigners violate her sacred
Temple,
the place the Lord had forbidden them
to enter.
11
Her people groan as they search for bread.
They have sold their treasures for food to
stay alive.