(KJV) Lamentations 2¹

⥃God’s Anger over Jerusalem

[1] How² hath the Lord covered³ the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, [and] cast⁴ down from heaven unto the earth the beauty⁵ of Israel, and remembered not his footstool⁶ in the day of his anger! [2] The Lord hath swallowed⁷ up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown⁸ down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought [them] down to⁹ the ground: he hath polluted¹⁰ the kingdom and the princes thereof. [3] He hath cut off in [his] fierce anger all the horn¹¹ of Israel: he hath¹² drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned¹³ against Jacob like a flaming fire, [which] devoureth round about. [4] He hath bent¹⁴ his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all [that were] pleasant to the eye¹⁵ in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured¹⁶ out his fury like fire. [5] The Lord was¹⁷ as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel¹⁸, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning¹⁹ and lamentation. [6] And he hath violently²⁰ taken away his tabernacle²¹, as [if²² it were of] a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the Lord hath caused²³ the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king²⁴ and the priest. [7] The Lord hath cast off²⁵ his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up²⁶ into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have²⁷ made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast. [8] The Lord hath purposed²⁸ to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched²⁹ out a line, he hath not³⁰ withdrawn his hand from destroying³¹: therefore he made³² the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together. [9] Her gates³³ are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king³⁴ and her princes [are] among the Gentiles: the law³⁵ [is] no [more]; her prophets³⁶ also find no vision from the Lord. [10] The elders³⁷ of the daughter of Zion sit³⁸ upon the ground, [and] keep³⁹ silence: they have cast up⁴⁰ dust upon their heads; they have girded⁴¹ themselves with sackcloth: the virgins⁴² of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground. [11] Mine eyes⁴³ do fail with tears, my bowels⁴⁴ are troubled, my liver⁴⁵ is poured upon the earth, for⁴⁶ the destruction of the daughter of my people; because⁴⁷ the children and the sucklings swoon⁴⁸ in the streets of the city. [12] They say to their mothers, Where [is] corn and wine? when they swooned as the⁴⁹ wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul⁵⁰ was poured out into their mothers’ bosom. [13] What thing shall I take⁵¹ to witness for⁵² thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach [is] great like the sea: who can⁵³ heal thee? [14] Thy prophets⁵⁴ have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have⁵⁵ not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false⁵⁶ burdens and causes of banishment. [15] All that pass⁵⁷ by⁵⁸ clap⁵⁹ [their] hands at thee; they⁶⁰ hiss and wag⁶¹ their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, [saying], [Is] this⁶² the city that [men] call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?⁶³ [16] All thine⁶⁴ enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash⁶⁵ the teeth: they say, We have swallowed⁶⁶ [her] up: certainly this [is] the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen⁶⁷ [it]. [17] The Lord hath done⁶⁸ [that] which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown⁶⁹ down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused⁷⁰ [thine] enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries. [18] Their heart⁷¹ cried unto the Lord, O wall⁷² of the daughter of Zion, let tears⁷³ run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple⁷⁴ of thine eye cease. [19] Arise, cry out⁷⁵ in the night: in the beginning of the watches⁷⁶ pour⁷⁷ out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up⁷⁸ thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint⁷⁹ for hunger in the top of every street.

[20] [¶]Behold, O Lord, and consider⁸⁰ to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women⁸¹ eat their fruit, [and] children of a span long⁸²? shall the priest⁸³ and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord? [21] The young⁸⁴ and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins⁸⁵ and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain [them] in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed⁸⁶, [and] not pitied. [22] Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors⁸⁷ round about, so that in the day of the Lord’s anger none escaped nor remained: those⁸⁸ that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.