The Lord Became like an Enemy

¹The Lord was so angry that he

shrouded the daughter of Zion with shame.

He hurled down to the ground

the splendor of Israel.

He disregarded his footstool

on the day of his anger.

²The Lord has swallowed up without mercy

all the homes of Jacob’s descendants.

In his fury, he tore down

the fortresses of Daughter Judah.

He threw to the ground and brought disgrace

to the kingdom of Judah and her leaders.

³In his burning anger,[#2:3 ’s anger was a release of justice, not an impulsive response.]

he shattered all the might of Israel

as her enemies approached.

He raged among his people like a flaming fire,

which consumes everything near it.

⁴He bent his bow like an enemy[#2:4 Or “He stepped into the bow.” Mighty archers would use their feet to bend the bow.]

and clenched his fist like a foe.

Like an enemy, he slaughtered

all his pride and joy.

He poured out his fury like fire

on the temple of beloved Jerusalem.

⁵The Lord became our enemy;

he destroyed Israel.

He devastated all her palaces

and ruined her strongholds.

He has multiplied weeping and wailing

for Daughter Judah.

⁶He wrecked his temple like a vineyard shack[#2:6 Or “like a thief.” The Hebrew is ambiguous.]

and utterly destroyed his meeting place.

Yahweh erased the memory in Zion

of his appointed feasts and Sabbaths.

In the heat of his anger,

he spurned both king and priest.

⁷The Lord has rejected his own altar

and disowned his sanctuary.

He has given the walls of her fortresses

to her enemies.

When the enemy toppled Yahweh ’s temple,

they shouted for joy like it was a festival day.

⁸Yahweh was determined to destroy

the walls of beloved Zion.

As builders draw a straight line to build a wall ,

he stretched out the line of judgment to break down her walls.

He caused her walls and towers to mourn,

as they tumbled to the ground.

⁹Her gates have collapsed to the ground;

he has wrecked and shattered their bars.

Her king and leaders are captives among the gentiles,

and instruction from the Torah scrolls is no more.

Her prophets, too,

receive no vision from Yahweh .

¹⁰The elders of beloved Zion

sit mute on the ground.

They have thrown dust on their heads

and put on sackcloth.

The young virgins of Jerusalem

bow their heads in sorrow to the ground.

¹¹My eyes have no tears left,

and my stomach is tied in knots.

My heart is spilled out into the dirt

over the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Little toddlers and children collapse

in the streets of the city.

¹²They keep saying,

“Mommy, I’m hungry,”

as they faint like wounded men

in the city streets.

Their souls trickle away, and they breathe their last

in the embrace of their mothers.

¹³With what can I compare you?

What can I say to you, beloved Jerusalem?

To what can I liken you, in order to comfort you,

fair Zion?

For your wound is as deep as the sea.

Who can heal you?

¹⁴The visions your prophets saw for you

were false and deceptive whitewash.

They neither exposed your guilt

nor brought you back in repentance.

The false visions they told you

were nothing but delusions.

¹⁵All who pass your way

applaud in mockery.

They wag their heads with contempt,

saying over beloved Jerusalem,

“Is this really the city called The Perfection of Beauty,

The Joy of All the Earth?”

¹⁶Your enemies are a choir

of scoffers and scolders.

They hatefully sneer and glare at you.

They gleefully exclaim, “We have destroyed her.

This is the day we’ve been waiting for,

and now we have lived to see it!”

¹⁷Yahweh has done everything he planned

and has carried out his word.

As he ordained long ago,

he has destroyed without pity.

He increased the power of your foes

and caused your enemies to rejoice over you.

¹⁸Beloved Zion, let your walls wail

and your heart cry out to Yahweh .

Let a waterfall of tears flow

day and night.

Give your eyes no rest;

let tears keep streaming from your eyes.

¹⁹Arise, cry aloud through the night

as each watch begins.

Pour your heart out like water

before the presence of Yahweh .

Raise your hands toward him;

intercede for the lives of your children,

who faint with hunger

on every street corner.

²⁰“Look, Yahweh , and please consider.

Whom have you ever treated this way?

Should women eat their offspring,

the little ones they have nursed?

Should priests and prophets be slaughtered

in the Lord’s sanctuary?

²¹“Both children and the elderly alike

are lying dead in the dusty streets.

My young men and maidens

have both fallen by the sword.

You have killed them on the day of your anger;

you slaughtered them without mercy.

²²“You invited terror as if to a festival,

to attack me from all sides.

On the day of Yahweh ’s anger,

none escaped and none survived.

All whom I cherished and reared

have been annihilated by the enemy.”