Lamentations 2

Lamentations · Chapter 2

Lamentations 2:16

1How hath the LORD covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!2The LORD hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.3He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.4He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.5The LORD was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.6And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.7The LORD hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.8The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.9Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.11Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.12They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers’ bosom.13What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?14Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.15All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?16All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.17The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.18Their heart cried unto the LORD, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.19Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the LORD: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.20Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?21The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.22Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD’s anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
16All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”All thine enemies have opened their mouth wide against thee; They hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, We have swallowed her up; Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
they have openedפָּצ֨וּpa-TZUH6475
to open

פָּצָה (pa.tsah) 1) to part, open, separate, set free 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to open (mouth), utter 1a2) to snatch away, set free

on youעָלַ֤יִךְ'a-LA-yikhH5921A
upon

עַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) …

mouth theirפִּיהֶם֙pi-HEMH6310G
lip

פֶּה (peh) : lip/mouth peh 1) mouth 1a) mouth (of man) 1b) mouth (as organ of speech) 1c) mouth (of animals) 1d) mouth, opening, orifice (of a well, river, etc) 1e) extremity, end pim 2) a weight equal to one third of a shekel, occurs only in 1Sa 13:21

allכָּל־kol-H3605
all

כֹּל (kol) 1) all, the whole 1a) all, the whole of 1b) any, each, every, anything 1c) totality, everything Aramaic equivalent: kol (כֹּל "all" H3606)

enemies yourא֣וֹיְבַ֔יִךְ'oy-VA-yikhH0341
enemy

אֹיֵב (o.yev) 1) (Qal) enemy 1a) personal 1b) national

they have hissedשָֽׁרְקוּ֙sha-re-KUH8319
to whistle

שָׁרַק (sha.raq) 1) to hiss, whistle, pipe 1a) (Qal) to hiss (as a signal)

and they have gnashedוַיַּֽחַרְקוּ־vai-ya-char-ku-H2786
to grind

חָרַק (cha.raq) (Qal) to gnash, grind (the teeth)

a toothשֵׁ֔ןShenH8127G
tooth

שֵׁן (shen) : tooth 1) tooth, ivory 1a) tooth 1a1) of man, lex talionis, beast 1b) tooth, tine (of fork) 1c) ivory 1c1) as material 1c2) of commerce 1d) sharp pointed rock

they saidאָמְר֖וּ'a-me-RUH0559
to say

אָמַר (a.mar) 1) to say, speak, utter 1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend 1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called 1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly 1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)

we have swallowed upבִּלָּ֑עְנוּbi-LA-'e-nuH1104
to swallow up

בָּלַע (ba.la) 1) to swallow down, swallow up, engulf, eat up 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to swallow down 1a2) to swallow up, engulf 1b) (Niphal) to be swallowed up 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to swallow 1c2) to swallow up, engulf 1c3) squandering (fig.) 1d) (Pual) to be swallowed up 1e) (Hithpael) to be ended

surelyאַ֣ךְ'akhH0389
surely

אַךְ (akh) 1) indeed, surely (emphatic) 2) howbeit, only, but, yet (restrictive)

thisזֶ֥הzehH2088
that

דִּי (di) part of relation 1) who, which, that mark of genitive 2) that of, which belongs to, that conj 3) that, because

[is] the dayהַיּ֛וֹםhai-YOMH3117G
day

יוֹם (yom) : day/when/time/period 1) day, time, year 1a) day (as opposed to night) 1b) day (24 hour period) 1b1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1 1b2) as a division of time 1b2a) a working day, a day's journey 1c) days, lifetime (pl.) 1d) time, period (general) 1e) year 1f) temporal references 1f1) today 1f2) yesterday 1f3) tomorrow

that we have waited for itשֶׁקִּוִּינֻ֖הוּshe-ki-vi-NU-huH6960A
to await

קָוָה (qa.vah) 1) to wait, look for, hope, expect 1a) (Qal) waiting (participle) 1b) (Piel) 1b1) to wait or look eagerly for 1b2) to lie in wait for 1b3) to wait for, linger for

we have foundמָצָ֥אנוּma-TZA-nuH4672
to find

מָצָא (ma.tsa) 1) to find, attain to 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to find 1a1a) to find, secure, acquire, get (thing sought) 1a1b) to find (what is lost) 1a1c) to meet, encounter 1a1d) to find (a condition) 1a1e) to learn, devise 1a2) to find out 1a2a) to find out 1a2b) to detect 1a2c) to guess 1a3) to come upon, light upon 1a3a) to happen upon, meet, fall in with 1a3b) to hit 1a3c) to befall 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be found 1b1a) to be encountered, be lighted upon, be discovered 1b1b) to appear, be recognised 1b1c) to be discovered, be detected 1b1d) to be gained, be secured 1b2) to be, be found 1b2a) to be found in …

we have seenרָאִֽינוּ׃ סra-'I-nuH7200G
to see: see

רָאָה (ra.ah) : see/show 1) to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to see 1a2) to see, perceive 1a3) to see, have vision 1a4) to look at, see, regard, look after, see after, learn about, observe, watch, look upon, look out, find out 1a5) to see, observe, consider, look at, give attention to, discern, distinguish 1a6) to look at, gaze at 1a7) to provide, choose 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to appear, present oneself 1b2) to be seen 1b3) to be visible 1c) (Pual) to be seen 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to cause to see, show 1d2) to cause to look intently at, behold, cause to gaze at 1e) (Hophal) …

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.