איכה בLamentations 2
א Alas!The Sovereign out of wrathHas shamed Fair Zion,Has cast down from heaven to earthThe majesty of Israel.God’s Footstool was not rememberedOn this day of wrath.
ב The Sovereign has laid waste without pityAll the habitations of Jacob—Has razed in angerFair Judah’s strongholds,Bringing low in dishonorThe kingdom and its leaders.
ג In blazing anger [God] has cut downAll the might of Israel—Withdrawing vital support In the presence of the foe,And ravaging Jacob like flaming fire,Consuming on all sides.
ד [God] bent the bow like an enemy,Poised the right hand like a foe,And slew all who delighted the eye.God’s wrath was poured out like fireIn the Tent of Fair Zion.
ה The Sovereign has acted like a foe—Laying waste Israel,Laying waste all her citadels,Destroying her strongholds,Increasing within Fair JudahMourning and moaning.
ו God’s Booth has been stripped like a garden,And the Tabernacle, destroyed; GOD has ended in ZionFestival and sabbath;And in raging anger has spurnedKing and priest.
ז The Sovereign has rejected the altar,Disdained the Sanctuary,Handing over to the foeThe walls of its citadels;They raised a shout in the House of GOD As on a festival day.
ח GOD resolved to destroyThe wall of Fair Zion—Measuring it with a line, refraining notFrom bringing destruction.Wall and rampart have been made to mourn,Together they languish.
ט Her gates have sunk into the ground,Her bars have been smashed to bits;Her king and her leaders are in exile, Instruction, here priestly instruction; cf. Jer. 18.18; Hag. 2.11; Mal. 2.6. is no more;Her prophets, too, receiveNo vision from GOD.
י Silent sit on the groundThe elders of Fair Zion;They have strewn dust on their headsAnd girded themselves with sackcloth;The maidens of Jerusalem have bowedTheir heads to the ground.
כ My eyes are spent with tears,My heart is in tumult,My being melts away Over the ruin of my poor people, As babes and sucklings languishIn the squares of the city.
ל They keep asking their mothers,“Where is bread and wine?”As they languish like battle-woundedIn the squares of the town,As their life runs outIn their mothers’ bosoms.
מ What can I take as witness or likenTo you, O Fair Jerusalem?What can I match with you to console you,O Fair Maiden Zion?For your ruin is vast as the sea:Who can heal you?
נ Your seers prophesied to youDelusion and folly.They did not expose your iniquitySo as to restore your fortunes,But prophesied to you oraclesOf delusion and deception.
ס All who pass your wayClap their hands at you;They hiss and wag their head At Fair Jerusalem:“Is this the city that was calledPerfect in Beauty,Joy of All the Earth?”
פ All your enemiesJeer at you;They hiss and gnash their teeth,And cry: “We’ve ruined her!Ah, this is the day we hoped for;We have lived to see it!”
ע GOD has done what was purposed,Carrying out the decreeThat had been ordained long ago,And tearing down without pity.[God] has let the foe rejoice over you,Has exalted the might of your enemies.
צ Their heart cried out to the Sovereign.O wall of Fair Zion,Shed tears like a torrentDay and night!Give yourself no respite,Your eyes no rest.
ק Arise, cry out in the nightAt the beginning of the watches,Pour out your heart like waterIn the presence of the Sovereign!Lift up your hands to [God]For the life of your infants,Who faint for hungerAt every street corner.
ר “See, O ETERNAL One, and behold,To whom You have done this!Alas, women eat their own fruit,Their newborn babes!Alas, priest and prophet are slainIn the Sanctuary of the Sovereign!
ש Prostrate in the streets lieBoth young and old.My maidens and youthsAre fallen by the sword;You slew them on Your day of wrath,You slaughtered without pity.
ת You summoned, as on a festival,My neighbors from round about.On the day of GOD’s wrath,None survived or escaped;Those whom I bore and rearedMy foe has consumed.”