אaChaps. 1–4 are alphabetical acrostics, i.e., the verses begin with the successive letters of the Heb. alphabet. Chap. 3 is a triple acrostic. In chaps. 2–4 the letter pe precedes the ʻayin. Alas!Lonely sits the cityOnce great with people!She that was great among nationsIs become like a widow;The princess among statesIs become a thrall.
ב Bitterly she weeps in the night,Her cheek wet with tears.There is none to comfort herOf all her friends.bfriends Or “lovers,” i.e., political allies. All her allies have betrayed her;They have become her foes.
ג Judah has gone into exileBecause of misery and harsh oppression;When she settled among the nations,She found no rest;All her pursuers overtook herIn the narrow places.cIn the narrow places Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
ד Zion’s roads are in mourning,Empty of festival pilgrims;All her gates are deserted.Her priests sigh,Her maidens are unhappy—She is utterly disconsolate!
ה Her enemies are now the masters,Her foes are at ease,Because GOD has afflicted herFor her many transgressions;Her infants have gone into captivityBefore the enemy.
ז All that she treasuredIn the days of oldJerusalem recalledIn her days of woe and sorrow,When her people fell by enemy handsWith none to help her;When enemies looked on and gloatedOver her downfall.
ח Jerusalem has greatly sinned,Therefore she is become a mockery.All who admired her despise her,For they have seen her disgraced;ddisgraced Lit. “nakedness,” i.e., her shame. And she can only sighAnd shrink back.
ט Her impurityeimpurity I.e., her moral guilt or the impurity of sexual immorality; cf. Jer. 2.22. clings to her skirts.She gave no thought to her future;She has sunk appallingly,With none to comfort her.—“See, O ETERNAL One, my misery;How the enemy jeers!”
כ All her inhabitants sighAs they search for bread;They have bartered their treasuresftreasures i.e., jewels or children; cf. Hos. 9.16. for food,To keep themselves alive.—“See, O ETERNAL One, and behold,How abjectgHow abject Or (ironically) “What a glutton”; cf. Prov. 23.20–21. I have become!”
ל hA lament by Zion personified. “May it never befall you,iMay it never befall you Meaning of Heb. uncertain. All who pass along the road—Look about and see:Is there any agony like mine,Which was dealt out to meWhen GOD afflicted meOn this day of wrath?
נ jMeaning of parts of vv. 14 and 15 uncertain. The yoke of my offenses is bound fast,Lashed tight by God’s hand;Imposed upon my neck,It saps my strength;The Sovereign has delivered me into the handsOf those I cannot withstand.
ס The Sovereign in my midst has rejectedAll my heroes,And proclaimed a set time against meTo crush my young men.As in a press the Sovereign has troddenFair Maiden Judah.
ע For these things do I weep,My eyes flow with tears:Far from me is any comforterWho might revive my spirit;My children are forlorn,For the foe has prevailed.”
פ Zion spreads out her hands,She has no one to comfort her;
GOD
has summoned against JacobHis enemies all about him;Jerusalem has become an outcastkan outcast Or “a menstruous woman”; cf. Ezek. 36.17. among them.
צ lAnother lament by Zion personified. “GOD is in the right,For I have been disobedient.Hear, all you peoples,And behold my agony:My maidens and my youthsHave gone into captivity!
ק I cried out to my friends,mfriends See note at v. 2. But they played me false.My priests and my eldersHave perished in the cityAs they searched for foodTo keep themselves alive.
ר See, O ETERNAL One, the distress I am in!My heart is in anguish,I know how wrong I wasnI know how wrong I was Lit. “My heart has turned over within me”; cf. Exod. 14.5; Hos. 11.8. To disobey.Outside the sword deals death;Indoors, the plague.
ש When they heard how I was sighing,There was none to comfort me;All my foes heard of my plight and exulted.For it is Your doing:You have brought on the day that You threatened.Oh, let them become like me!oYou have brought on the day that You threatened. / Oh, let them become like me! Emendation yields “Oh, bring on them what befell me, / And let them become like me!”
ת Let all their wrongdoing come before You,And deal with themAs You have dealt with meFor all my transgressions.For my sighs are many,And my heart is sick.”