The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity
1 How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion junder a cloud!
kHe has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered lhis footstool
in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord mhas swallowed up nwithout mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath ohe has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought pdown to the ground pin dishonor
the kingdom qand its rulers.
3 He has cut down in rfierce anger
all sthe might of Israel;
the has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
uhe has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
4 vHe has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set wlike a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.
5 wThe Lord has become like an enemy;
xhe has swallowed up Israel;
yhe has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
zmourning and lamentation.
6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins ahis meeting place;
athe Lord has made Zion forget
festival and bSabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7 cThe Lord has scorned his altar,
ddisowned his sanctuary;
ehe has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
fthey raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
as on the day of festival.
8 gThe Lord determined to lay in ruins
hthe wall of the daughter of Zion;
ihe stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
jhe caused rampart and wall to lament;
jthey languished together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
khe has ruined kand broken her bars;
lher king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and mher prophets find
no vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
nsit on the ground oin silence;
pthey have thrown dust on their heads
and qput on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 rMy eyes are spent with weeping;
smy stomach churns;
tmy bile is poured out to the ground
ubecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
vbecause infants and babies wfaint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
x“Where is bread and wine?”
was they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosom.
13 What can I say for you, yto what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
yWhat can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
zFor your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 aYour prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
bthey have not exposed your iniquity
to crestore your fortunes,
dbut have seen for you eoracles
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
fthey hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
gthe perfection of beauty,
gthe joy of all the earth?”
16 hAll your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We ihave swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; jwe see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out khis word,
which he commanded llong ago;
mhe has thrown down nwithout pity;
ohe has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the pmight of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O qwall of the daughter of Zion,
rlet tears stream down like a torrent
sday and night!
tGive yourself no rest,
uyour eyes no respite!
19 “Arise, vcry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
wPour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
xLift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
ywho faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
20 Look, O Lord, and see!
zWith whom have you dealt thus?
aShould women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of btheir tender care?
Should cpriest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 In the dust of the streets
dlie the young and the old;
dmy young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
eyou have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering fwithout pity.
22 You summoned as if to ga festival day
hmy terrors on every side,
iand on the day of the anger of the Lord
no one escaped or survived;
jthose whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed.
In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord
To the choirmaster: according to yJeduthun. A Psalm of zAsaph.
1 I acry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 bIn the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in cthe night my dhand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul erefuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I fmoan;
when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so gtroubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider hthe days of old,
the years long ago.
6 I said,1 “Let me remember my isong in the night;
let me jmeditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord kspurn forever,
and never again lbe favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his mpromises at an end for all time?
9 nHas God forgotten to be gracious?
oHas he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah
10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will qremember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your rwork,
and meditate on your smighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is tholy.
uWhat god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who vworks wonders;
you have wmade known your might among the peoples.
15 You xwith your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 When ythe waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
the skies zgave forth thunder;
your aarrows flashed on every side.
18 bThe crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
cyour lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth dtrembled and shook.
19 Your eway was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints fwere unseen.3
20 You gled your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.