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Lamentations Chapter 2 (NIV)

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undefined How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zionwith the cloud of his anger!He has hurled down the splendor of Israelfrom heaven to earth;he has not remembered his footstoolin the day of his anger.
undefined Without pity the Lord has swallowed upall the dwellings of Jacob;in his wrath he has torn downthe strongholds of the Daughter of Judah.He has brought her kingdom and its princesdown to the ground in dishonor.
undefined In fierce anger he has cut offevery horn of Israel.He has withdrawn his right handat the approach of the enemy.He has burned in Jacob like a flaming firethat consumes everything around it.
undefined Like an enemy he has strung his bow;his right hand is ready.Like a foe he has slainall who were pleasing to the eye;he has poured out his wrath like fireon the tent of the Daughter of Zion.
undefined The Lord is like an enemy;he has swallowed up Israel.He has swallowed up all her palacesand destroyed her strongholds.He has multiplied mourning and lamentationfor the Daughter of Judah.
undefined He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden;he has destroyed his place of meeting.The Lord has made Zion forgether appointed feasts and her Sabbaths;in his fierce anger he has spurnedboth king and priest.
undefined The Lord has rejected his altarand abandoned his sanctuary.He has handed over to the enemythe walls of her palaces;they have raised a shout in the house of the Lordas on the day of an appointed feast.
undefined The Lord determined to tear downthe wall around the Daughter of Zion.He stretched out a measuring lineand did not withhold his hand from destroying.He made ramparts and walls lament;together they wasted away.
undefined Her gates have sunk into the ground;their bars he has broken and destroyed.Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations,the law is no more,and her prophets no longer findvisions from the Lord.
undefined The elders of the Daughter of Zionsit on the ground in silence;they have sprinkled dust on their headsand put on sackcloth.The young women of Jerusalemhave bowed their heads to the ground.
undefined My eyes fail from weeping,I am in torment within,my heart is poured out on the groundbecause my people are destroyed,because children and infants faintin the streets of the city.
undefined They say to their mothers,“Where is bread and wine?”as they faint like wounded menin the streets of the city,as their lives ebb awayin their mothers’ arms.
undefined What can I say for you?With what can I compare you,O Daughter of Jerusalem?To what can I liken you,that I may comfort you,O Virgin Daughter of Zion?Your wound is as deep as the sea.Who can heal you?
undefined The visions of your prophetswere false and worthless;they did not expose your sinto ward off your captivity.The oracles they gave youwere false and misleading.
undefined All who pass your wayclap their hands at you;they scoff and shake their headsat the Daughter of Jerusalem:“Is this the city that was calledthe perfection of beauty,the joy of the whole earth?”
undefined All your enemies open their mouthswide against you;they scoff and gnash their teethand say, “We have swallowed her up.This is the day we have waited for;we have lived to see it.”
undefined The Lord has done what he planned;he has fulfilled his word,which he decreed long ago.He has overthrown you without pity,he has let the enemy gloat over you,he has exalted the horn of your foes.
undefined The hearts of the peoplecry out to the Lord.O wall of the Daughter of Zion,let your tears flow like a riverday and night;give yourself no relief,your eyes no rest.
undefined Arise, cry out in the night,as the watches of the night begin;pour out your heart like waterin the presence of the Lord.Lift up your hands to himfor the lives of your children,who faint from hungerat the head of every street.
undefined “Look, O Lord, and consider:Whom have you ever treated like this?Should women eat their offspring,the children they have cared for?Should priest and prophet be killedin the sanctuary of the Lord?
undefined “Young and old lie togetherin the dust of the streets;my young men and maidenshave fallen by the sword.You have slain them in the day of your anger;you have slaughtered them without pity.
undefined “As you summon to a feast day,so you summoned against me terrors on every side.In the day of the Lord’s angerno one escaped or survived;those I cared for and reared,my enemy has destroyed.”

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