= DASV: Digital American Standard Version<= br>
= DASV: Lamentations 1 [Alphabetic Acrostic]

¹ א How the city sits all alone,

&nb= sp; that was once so full of people!

She has become lik= e a widow;

&nb= sp; she who was great among the nations!

She was a pr= incess ruling over the provinces,

&nb= sp; now she is forced into slave labor!

² ב She weeps bitterly in the night,

&nb= sp; and her tears flow down her cheeks.

Among all her lovers

&nb= sp; she has no one to comfort her.

All her frie= nds have betrayed her,

&nb= sp; and become her enemies.

³ ג Judah has gone into exile

&nb= sp; under affliction and harsh labor.

She lives scattere= d among the nations;

&nb= sp; she finds no place of rest.

All her purs= uers have overtaken her

&nb= sp; in the midst of her hardships.

⁴ ד The roads to Zion mourn,

&nb= sp; because no one comes to the festivals.

All her gates are = deserted;

&nb= sp; her priests groan,

her young women = cry,

&nb= sp; &= nbsp; and her situation is bitter.

⁵ ה Her adversaries have become her masters;

&nb= sp; her enemies prosper.

The LO= RD has afflicted her

&nb= sp; for the multitude of her rebellions.

Her yo= ung children are led away into captivity

&nb= sp; before the adversary.

⁶ ו All majesty has departed

&nb= sp; from the daughter of Zion.

Her princes have b= ecome

&nb= sp; like deer unable to find pasture.

They flee without strength

&nb= sp; before the hunter.

⁷ ז Jerusalem remembers

&nb= sp; in the days of her poverty and homelessness

&nb= sp; all her treasures owned in days of old.

When h= er people fell into the hand of the enemy,

&nb= sp; and there was none to help her.

The en= emies saw her;

&nb= sp; they mock her downfall.

⁸ ח Jerusalem has sinned so badly

&nb= sp; that she has become unclean.

All who hono= red her despise her,

&nb= sp; because they have seen her exposed nakedness.

She groans a= nd hides her face.

⁹ ט Her filthiness has soiled her skirts;

&nb= sp; she gave no thought to how it would end.

Therefore her downfall was astonishing;

&nb= sp; she has no one to comfort her.

"Look, = O LORD, on my misery,

&nb= sp; for the enemy boasts of his victory."

¹⁰ י The enemy has reached out his hand

&nb= sp; and seized all her treasures;

for she has = had to watch heathen nations

&nb= sp; invade her holy temple,

even t= hose whom you prohibited

&nb= sp; from entering into your assembly.

¹¹ כ All her people groan, they search for food.

<= /span>They have traded their treasures for food

&nb= sp; just to stay alive.

"Look, O LORD, and see, =

&nb= sp; for I am despised."

¹² ל Is it nothing to you,

&nb= sp; all you who pass by?

<= /span>Look, and see if there is any sorrow

&nb= sp; like my sorrow,

= which the LORD brought on me, =

when= he afflicted me

&nb= sp; = in the day of his fierce anger.

¹³ מ From on high he sent down fire

&nb= sp; into my bones.

= He spread a net for my feet;

&nb= sp; he made me turn back.

= He left me desolate;

&nb= sp; I am faint all the day long.

¹⁴ נ My transgressions are strapped on like a yoke,

&nb= sp; tied on by his hand.

= They are lashed on my neck.

&nb= sp; He has sapped my strength.

= The Lord has delivered me into their hands,

&nb= sp; those I cannot withstand.

¹⁵ ס The Lord has rejected

&nb= sp; all my warriors in my midst.

<= /span>He has called an assembly against me

&nb= sp; to crush my young men.

<= /span>The Lord has stomped like in a winepress

&nb= sp; the virgin daughter of Judah.

¹⁶ ע For these things I weep;

&nb= sp; my eyes stream with tears,

<= /span>because any comforter

&nb= sp; who could help is far from me.

<= /span>My children are ravaged

&nb= sp; because the enemy has prevailed.

¹⁷ פ Zion reaches out her hands,

&nb= sp; but there is no one to comfort her.

The LORD has given orders against Jacob,

&nb= sp; that his neighbors should become his foes.

<= /span>Jerusalem has become =

&nb= sp; filthy refuse among them.

¹⁸ צ The LORD is righteous,

&nb= sp; but I have rebelled against his command.

Please listen, all you peoples,

&nb= sp; and see my sorrow.

<= /span>My young women and my young men

&nb= sp; have gone into exile.

¹⁹ ק I called for my lovers,

&nb= sp; but they deceived me.

<= /span>My priests and elders perished in the city

&nb= sp; while they searched for food to stay alive.

²⁰ ר Look, O LORD,

&nb= sp; for I am in distress.

= My stomach churns,

&nb= sp; my heart is disturbed within me,

= &= nbsp; for I have been very rebellious.

= Outside the sword bereaves;

&nb= sp; at home there is only death.

²¹ ש They have heard that I was groaning,

&nb= sp; yet there was no one to comfort me.

All my enemies heard of my trouble;

&nb= sp; they are glad that you have done it.

Bring on the day that you have announced,

&nb= sp; let them become like me.

²² ת Let all their wickedness come before you;

&nb= sp; do to them,

&nb= sp; = as you have done to me because of all my sin,

&nb= sp; for my moans are= many,

&nb= sp; &= nbsp; and my heart is faint.

= &nb= sp; DASV: Lamentations 2 [Alphabetic Acrostic]

¹ א<= span dir=3DLTR> How the Lor= d has covered the daughter of Zion

&nb= sp; with a dark cloud in his anger!

He has= thrown down from heaven to the earth

&nb= sp; the beauty of Israel.

= He has not remembered his footstool

&nb= sp; in the day of his anger.

² ב The Lord has swallowed up without mercy

&nb= sp; all the habitations of Jacob,

He has= torn down the strongholds

&nb= sp; of the daughter of Judah in his wrath.

He has brought down to the ground,

&nb= sp; dishonoring the kingdom and its officials.

³ ג He has cut off in fierce anger

&nb= sp; all the might of Israel.

= He has drawn back his right hand

&nb= sp; precisely when the enemy attacked.

= He has burned up Jacob like a blazing fire

&nb= sp; that devours everything around it.

⁴ ד He has bent his bow like an enemy,

&nb= sp; with his right hand ready to shoot like a foe.

He has slain all our impressive youth.

= In the tent of the daughter of Zion

&nb= sp; he has poured out his wrath like fire.

⁵ ה The Lord has become like an enemy,

&nb= sp; he has swallowed up Israel.

= He has swallowed up all her palaces;

&nb= sp; he has destroyed her strongholds.

= He has multiplied mourning and lamentation

&nb= sp; in the daughter of Judah.

⁶ ו He h= as violently destroyed his temple,

&nb= sp; like it was a mere garden hut.

&nb= sp; He has dest= royed his place of sacred assembly.

The LO= RD has abolished the festivals and Sabbath

&nb= sp; in Zion.

He has despised in his fierce rage,

&nb= sp; the king and the priest.

⁷ ז The Lord has rejected his altar,

&nb= sp; he has despised his sanctuary.

He has= given up into the hands of the enemy

&nb= sp; the walls of her palaces.

= The foe has shouted in the house of the LORD,

&nb= sp; as if it were a festival day.

⁸ ח The = LORD was determined to destroy

&nb= sp; the wall of the daughter of Zion.

= He stretched out the measuring line,

&nb= sp; he did not withdraw his hand from destroying it.

= He has made the rampart and wall lament;

&nb= sp; they both crumbled.

⁹ ט Her gates are driven into the ground;

&nb= sp; he has destroyed and broken the bars of her gates.

Her k= ing and officials are exiled among the nations.

= There is no more instruction;

= her prophet= s receive no vision from the LORD.

¹⁰ י The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground

&nb= sp; in silence.

= They have throw dust on their heads.

&nb= sp; They have clothed themselves with sackcloth.

= The young women of Jerusalem bow their heads

&nb= sp; down to the ground.

¹¹ כ My eyes fail because of the tears,

&nb= sp; my stomach churns.

<= /span>My heart is poured out on the ground,

&nb= sp; because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,

&nb= sp; because the young children and infants

&nb= sp; = faint in the city streets.

¹² ל They say to their mothers,

&nb= sp; "Where is bread and wine?"

= when they faint as the wounded

&nb= sp; in the city streets,

= as their life is fades away

&nb= sp; in their mothers' arms.

¹³ מ What can I tell you?

&nb= sp; To what can I compare you,

&nb= sp; = O daughter of Jerusalem?

<= /span>What can I liken you to,

&nb= sp; so that I might comfort you,

&nb= sp; = O virgin daughter of Zion?

= For your demise is as deep as the sea.

&nb= sp; Who can heal you?

¹⁴ נ Your= prophets have seen

&nb= sp; false and foolish visions for you.

= They have not exposed your sin,

&nb= sp; to turn you from captivity,

but have seen false and misleading oracles

&nb= sp; for you.

¹⁵ ס All who pass by

&nb= sp; clap their hands to mock you.

= They hiss and wag their head

&nb= sp; at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying,

"Is this the city that people called

&nb= sp; 'The perfection of beauty,

&nb= sp; The joy of the whole earth'?"

¹⁶ פ All your enemies gape at you.

&nb= sp; They hiss and gnash their teeth.

They b= rag, "We have swallowed her up.

We've wait= ed a long time for this day.

&nb= sp; Now we have finally found it,

&nb= sp; = we have actually gotten see it."

¹⁷ ע The LORD has done what he purposed;

&nb= sp; he has fulfilled his word that he commanded

&nb= sp; = in the days of old.

He has throw= n down without mercy.

&nb= sp; He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you.

He has stren= gthened the might of your foes.

¹⁸ צ Their heart cried out to the Lord:

<= /span>O wall of the daughter of Zion,

&nb= sp; let tears run down like a river

&nb= sp; = day and night.

= Give yourself no respite;

&nb= sp; let your eyes not rest.

¹⁹ ק Get = up, cry out in the night,

&nb= sp; at the beginning of the night watches.

= Pour out your heart like water

&nb= sp; before the face of the Lord.

= Lift up your hands toward him

&nb= sp; for the life of your young children,

= who faint from hunger

&nb= sp; at the head of every street.

²⁰ ר Look= , O LORD, and think about it!

&nb= sp; Whom have you ever done this to!

= Should women eat their offspring,

&nb= sp; children whom they have cared for?

= Should the priest and the prophet

&nb= sp; be slain in the temple of the Lord?

²¹ ש The youth and the old man are strewn

&nb= sp; on the ground in the streets.

= My young women and men

&nb= sp; are killed by the sword.

= You have slain them

&nb= sp; in the day of your anger.

= You have slaughtered them

&nb= sp; without mercy.

²² ת You = summoned my terrors on every side,

&nb= sp; as if it were a feast day.

No one escaped or survived

&nb= sp; on the day of the LORD's anger.

Those whom I= cared for and brought up,

&nb= sp; my enemy has finished off.

= &nb= sp; DASV: Lamentations 3 [Alphabetic Acrostic]

¹ א<= span dir=3DLTR> I am one wh= o has seen affliction

&nb= sp; by the rod of his wrath.

² א He has driven me away

&nb= sp; and caused me to walk in darkness

&nb= sp; = and not in light.

³ א Sure= ly he has turned his hand against me

&nb= sp; again and again, all day long.

⁴ ב He h= as worn out my flesh and skin;

&nb= sp; he has broken my bones.

⁵ ב He has besieged me,

&nb= sp; and surrounded me with poverty and hardship.

⁶ ב He has made me to dwell in darkness,

&nb= sp; like those who have been long dead.

⁷ ג He has walled me in

&nb= sp; so that I cannot get out.

&nb= sp; = He has made my chains heavy.

⁸ ג Though I cry out and call for help= ,

&nb= sp; he shuts out my prayer.

⁹ ג He has blocked up my ways with cut stone;

&nb= sp; he has made my paths crooked.

¹⁰ ד He is like a bear lying in wait for me,

&nb= sp; like a lion in an ambush.

¹¹ ד He has pulled me off my paths,

&nb= sp; and tore me in pieces.

&nb= sp; = He has left me ravaged.

¹² ד He has bent his bow,

&nb= sp; and set me as a target for the arrow.

¹³ ה He has caused the shafts of his quiver

&nb= sp; to enter into my heart.

¹⁴ ה I have become a laughingstock to all my people,

&nb= sp; and their mocking song all day long.

¹⁵ ה He has filled me with bitterness;

&nb= sp; he has made me drunk with bitter wormwood.

¹⁶ ו He has ground my teeth with gravel;

&nb= sp; he has covered me with ashes.

¹⁷ ו You = have removed peace from my soul;

&nb= sp; I have forgotten what prosperity is.

¹⁸ ו I said, "My strength is gone, =

&nb= sp; including what I hoped for from the LORD."

¹⁹ ז Remember my poverty and homelessness,

&nb= sp; the bitter wormwood and the poison gall.

²⁰ ז My s= oul continually remembers it,

&nb= sp; and is depressed within me.

²¹ ז But = this is what I call to mind

&nb= sp; and therefore have I hope:

²² ח The = loyal love of the LORD never fails,

&nb= sp; because his compassions never end.

²³ ח They are fresh every morning;

&nb= sp; great is your faithfulness.

²⁴ ח "The LORD is my portion," I tell myself;

&nb= sp; "therefore I will hope in him."

²⁵ ט The = LORD is good to those who expectantly wait for him,

&nb= sp; to the soul that seeks him.

²⁶ ט It is good that a person should hope

&nb= sp; and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

²⁷ ט It is good for a person

&nb= sp; to bear the yoke in his youth.

²⁸ י Let a person sit alone in silence,

&nb= sp; because the LORD has laid it on him.

²⁹ י Let him put his mouth in the dust,

&nb= sp; for then there may be hope.

³⁰ י Let him offer his cheek to the one slapping him;

&nb= sp; let him be filled full of insults.

³¹ כ For the Lord will not cast us away forever.

³² כ For though he causes grief,

&nb= sp; yet he will have compassion

&nb= sp; = according to the abundance of his loyal love.

³³ כ For he does not willingly afflict people

&nb= sp; or grieve anyone.

³⁴ ל To crush underfoot

&nb= sp; all the prisoners of the earth,

³⁵ ל to deprive a person of justice

&nb= sp; in the presence of the Most High,

³⁶ ל to defraud a person in his lawsuit--

&nb= sp; does the Lord not see it?

³⁷ מ Who can speak and have it come to pass

&nb= sp; when the Lord has not ordained it?

³⁸ מ From the mouth of the Most High

&nb= sp; does not come both good and bad?

³⁹ מ Why should anyone living complain

&nb= sp; over the punishment for sins?

⁴⁰ נ Let us inspect and test our ways,

&nb= sp; and return to the LORD.

⁴¹ נ Let us lift up our heart

&nb= sp; along with our hands to God in heaven.

⁴² נ We have sinned and rebelled,

&nb= sp; yet you have not forgiven.

⁴³ ס You = have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us;

&nb= sp; you have killed without pity.

⁴⁴ ס You = have wrapped yourself with a cloud,

&nb= sp; so that no prayer can get through.

⁴⁵ ס You = have made us scum and rubbish

&nb= sp; among the peoples.

⁴⁶ פ All our enemies have opened their mouths wide

&nb= sp; against us.

⁴⁷ פ Pani= c and pitfall have come upon us,

&nb= sp; devastation and destruction.

⁴⁸ פ My eyes flow with streams of water,

&nb= sp; for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹ ע My eyes flow without ceasing,

&nb= sp; without stopping,

⁵⁰ ע unti= l the LORD looks down,

&nb= sp; and sees from heaven.

⁵¹ ע My eyes bring me grief,

&nb= sp; because of all the daughters of my city.

⁵² צ They have hunted me like a bird,

&nb= sp; those who were my enemies without cause.

⁵³ צ They sought to put an end of me in the pit,

&nb= sp; and threw stones at me.

⁵⁴ צ Waters flowed over my head;

&nb= sp; I thought, "I'm done for."

⁵⁵ ק I called upon your name, O LORD,

&nb= sp; from the depths of the pit.

⁵⁶ ק You = heard my voice:

&nb= sp; "Do not close your ears to my cry for help."

⁵⁷ ק You = came near on the day I called on you;

&nb= sp; you said, "Do not be afraid."

⁵⁸ ר O Lord, you have pleaded my case;

&nb= sp; you have redeemed my life.

⁵⁹ ר O LORD, you have seen the wrong I have suffered;

&nb= sp; judge my case.

⁶⁰ ר You = have seen all their vindictiveness,

&nb= sp; all their plots against me.

⁶¹ ש You = have heard their insults, O LORD,

&nb= sp; all their plots against me,

⁶² ש the lips of my assailants whisper and murmur against me

&nb= sp; all day long.

⁶³ ש Whet= her they are sitting or standing, see;

&nb= sp; I am the object of their ridiculing songs.

⁶⁴ ת Pay = them back, O LORD,

&nb= sp; according to the work of their hands.

⁶⁵ ת Give= them an insolent hard heart,

&nb= sp; let your curse come on them.

⁶⁶ ת Purs= ue them in anger,

&nb= sp; and destroy them from under the LORD's heaven.

= &nb= sp; DASV: Lamentations 4 [Alphabetic Acrostic]

¹ א<= span dir=3DLTR> How has gol= d lost its luster,

&nb= sp; how is the pure gold changed!

The sa= cred stones are scattered

&nb= sp; at the head of every street.

² ב The precious sons of Zion,

&nb= sp; are worth their weight in gold.

= How they are treated like clay pots,

&nb= sp; the work of the hands of the potter!

³ ג Even jackals provide their breasts

&nb= sp; to nurse their infants.

<= /span>The daughter of my people has become cruel,

&nb= sp; like ostriches in the desert.

⁴ ד The infant's tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth

&nb= sp; due to thirst.

= The young children beg for bread,

&nb= sp; but no one gives them a piece.

⁵ ה Those who used to feast on delicacies

&nb= sp; now are starved in the streets.

= Those who were brought up in scarlet

&nb= sp; claw through the rubbish heaps.

⁶ ו For the iniquity of the daughter of my people

&nb= sp; is greater than the sin of Sodom,

= that was overthrown in a moment,

&nb= sp; and no helping hand offered to her.

⁷ ז Our = consecrated ones were purer than snow;

&nb= sp; they were whiter than milk.

They w= ere more ruddy than coral,

&nb= sp; their beauty like precious stones.

⁸ ח Now = their faces are blacker than soot;

&nb= sp; they are not recognized in the streets.

= Their skin clings to their bones;

&nb= sp; it has withered like a dry stick.

⁹ ט Those who die by the sword

&nb= sp; are better than those who die from hunger.

For th= ese waste away,

&nb= sp; because of the lack of produce from the field.

¹⁰ י The hands of compassionate women

&nb= sp; have boiled their own children.

= They became their food

&nb= sp; when the daughter of my people was destroyed.

¹¹ כ The = LORD has expended his wrath;

&nb= sp; he has poured out his fierce anger.

= He has kindled a fire in Zion,

&nb= sp; which has consumed its foundations.

¹² ל The kings of the earth did not believe,

&nb= sp; nor all the inhabitants of the world,

that t= he foe and the enemy could ever enter

&nb= sp; the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³ מ It was because of the sins of her prophets,

&nb= sp; and the iniquities of her priests,

who have shed the blood of the just

&nb= sp; in her midst.

¹⁴ נ They wander like the blind through the streets;

&nb= sp; they are so defiled with blood

&nb= sp; = that no one would risk touching their garments.

¹⁵ ס &quo= t;Get away! Unclean!" people shout at them,

&nb= sp; "Get away! Get away! Don't touch us!"

= So they fled away and wandered.

&nb= sp; But the people among the nations say,

&nb= sp; = "They can't stay here anymore."

¹⁶ פ The anger of the LORD has scattered them;

&nb= sp; he protects them no more.

= They did not honor the priests,

&nb= sp; or show favor to the elders.

¹⁷ ע Our eyes failed futilely looking for help;

&nb= sp; from our watchtowers we were expectantly watching

&nb= sp; = for a nation that could not really save us.

¹⁸ צ They hunted down our steps,

&nb= sp; so that we cannot walk in our streets.

= Our end was near,

&nb= sp; our days were numbered,

&nb= sp; = for our end has come.

¹⁹ ק Our pursuers were swifter

&nb= sp; than the eagles in the sky.

= They chased us on the mountains,

&nb= sp; they set ambushes for us in the desert.

²⁰ ר The very life breath of our nostrils,

&nb= sp; the LORD's anointed king,

&nb= sp; = was caught in their pits.

<= /span>Of whom we thought,

&nb= sp; "Under his protective shadow

&nb= sp; = we shall live among the nations."

²¹ ש Rejoice and be glad,

&nb= sp; O daughter of Edom,

&nb= sp; you who li= ves in the land of Uz.

<= /span>The cup will be passed to you too;

&nb= sp; you will get drunk and be stripped naked.

²² ת The punishment of your iniquity is completed,

&nb= sp; O daughter of Zion.

<= /span> &= nbsp; He will no longer keep you in exile.

<= /span>He will punish your sin,

&nb= sp; O daughter of Edom.

&= nbsp; He will expose your sins.

= &nb= sp; = DASV: Lamentations 5

¹O LORD, remember what has happened to us. =

&nb= sp; Look and see our disgrace.

² Our inheritance has been turned ove= r to strangers,

&nb= sp; our houses to foreigners.

³ We have become like fatherless orp= hans;

&nb= sp; our mothers have become like widows.

⁴ We must pay to drink our own water;=

&nb= sp; we are forced to buy our own wood.

⁵ Our pursue= rs are breathing down our necks;

&nb= sp; we are exhausted but have no rest.

⁶ We have ma= de an agreement with the Egyptians,

&nb= sp; and with the Assyrians in order to secure food.

⁷ Our fathers sinned and are gone;

&nb= sp; we have suffered for their sins.

⁸ Servants r= ule over us;

&nb= sp; there is no one to rescue us from their hands.

⁹ We get our bread at the peril of our lives,

&nb= sp; because the sword dominates the wilderness.

¹⁰ Our skin is black as an oven,

&nb= sp; because of the burning fever of famine.

¹¹ They raped= the women in Zion,

&nb= sp; virgins in the towns of Judah.

¹² Officials = were hung up by their hands;

&nb= sp; the elders were disrespected.

¹³ The young = men were forced to grind at the mill;

&nb= sp; the children stumbled under loads of wood.

¹⁴ The elders have deserted the city gate;

&nb= sp; the young men abandoned their music.

¹⁵ The joy of= our heart has ceased;

&nb= sp; our dance has turned to mourning.

¹⁶ The crown = has fallen from our heads.

&nb= sp; Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷ Because of= this our hearts are faint,

&nb= sp; for these things our eyes dim with tears.

¹⁸ The mounta= in of Zion is deserted;

&nb= sp; the jackals prowl around in it.

¹⁹ But you, O= LORD, reign forever;

&nb= sp; your throne lasts from generation to generation.

²⁰ Why do you= always forget us?

&nb= sp; Why have you forsaken us for so long?

²¹ Restore us= to yourself, O LORD,

&nb= sp; and we will come back.

&nb= sp; = Renew our days as of old.

²² But you ha= ve totally rejected us,

&nb= sp; you are still very angry with us.