Lamentations 2

The Lord's Wrath Against Zion

¹How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! He has cast the beauty of Israel down from heaven to the earth, and hasn’t remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.

²The Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob without pity. He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought them down to the ground. He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.

³He has cut off all the horn of Israel in fierce anger. He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy. He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours all around.

⁴He has bent his bow like an enemy. He has stood with his right hand as an adversary. He has killed all that were pleasant to the eye. In the tent of the daughter of Zion, he has poured out his wrath like fire.

⁵The Lord has become as an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces. He has destroyed his strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah.

⁶He has violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were a garden. He has destroyed his place of assembly. The LORD has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion. In the indignation of his anger, he has despised the king and the priest.

⁷The Lord has cast off his altar. He has abhorred his sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have made a noise in the LORD’s house, as in the day of a solemn assembly.

⁸The LORD has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out the line. He has not withdrawn his hand from destroying; He has made the rampart and wall lament. They languish together.

⁹Her gates have sunk into the ground. He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not. Yes, her prophets find no vision from the LORD.

¹⁰The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground. They keep silence. They have cast up dust on their heads. They have clothed themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

The Prophet's Grief and Call to Prayer

¹¹My eyes fail with tears. My heart is troubled. My bile is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the young children and the infants swoon in the streets of the city.

¹²They ask their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” when they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul is poured out into their mothers’ bosom.

¹³What shall I testify to you? What shall I liken to you, daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare to you, that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion? For your breach is as big as the sea. Who can heal you?

¹⁴Your prophets have seen false and foolish visions for you. They have not uncovered your iniquity, to reverse your captivity, but have seen for you false revelations and causes of banishment.

¹⁵All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?”

¹⁶All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found it. We have seen it.”

¹⁷The LORD has done that which he planned. He has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old. He has thrown down, and has not pitied. He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you. He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.

¹⁸Their heart cried to the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief. Don’t let your eyes rest.

¹⁹Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands toward him for the life of your young children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.

Zion's Appeal for Divine Mercy

²⁰“Look, LORD, and see to whom you have done thus! Should the women eat their offspring, the children that they held and bounced on their knees? Should the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?

²¹“The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets. My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger. You have slaughtered, and not pitied.

²²“You have called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side. There was no one that escaped or remained in the day of the LORD’s anger. My enemy has consumed those whom I have cared for and brought up.

Previous Lamentations 1

Next Lamentations 3

Lamentations 2 presents a devastating portrait of God's judgment upon Jerusalem, describing how the Lord has become like an enemy to His own people. The prophet details the complete destruction of the city, temple, and religious life, while expressing profound grief over the suffering of innocent children and the failure of false prophets. The chapter moves from describing divine wrath to the prophet's personal anguish, culminating in Zion's desperate plea for God to witness her unprecedented suffering.

Context

Following chapter 1's personification of Jerusalem as a grieving widow, chapter 2 intensifies the focus on God's active role in the city's destruction before transitioning to the more personal lament of chapter 3.

Key Themes

Outline

1-9
The Lord's Complete Destruction of Zion God systematically destroys Jerusalem's defenses, temple, and leadership in His fierce anger.
10-12
The People's Mourning and Starvation Elders sit in silence wearing sackcloth while children starve in the streets.
13-17
The Prophet's Grief and Jerusalem's Incomparable Suffering The prophet acknowledges Jerusalem's wound is beyond healing, caused by false prophets and enemies' mockery.
18-22
Zion's Cry for Divine Mercy Jerusalem is called to cry out to God day and night, pleading for Him to see her suffering and the slaughter of innocents.

The Lord's Wrath Against Zion

2:1–2:10

poetry lament mournful

A vivid description of God's wrath against Zion, depicting how the Lord has become like an enemy, destroying the temple, kingdom, and people of Israel in divine judgment.

structural

The Hebrew verb "swallowed" (bāla') appears three times in verses 2, 5, and 8, creating a haunting refrain that transforms God from protector into a devouring monster consuming his own people.

The Prophet's Grief and Call to Prayer

2:11–2:19

poetry lament anguished

The prophet expresses overwhelming grief over the destruction of his people, particularly the suffering of children, and calls for earnest prayer and crying out to the Lord.

theme_rarity

Lamentations uniquely combines visceral bodily imagery ("bile poured on the earth") with maternal compassion, creating one of Scripture's most physically intense expressions of communal grief.

Zion's Appeal for Divine Mercy

2:20–2:22

poetry prayer anguished

Zion appeals directly to the Lord to witness the extreme suffering and devastation, including cannibalism and the slaughter of religious leaders, asking for divine mercy in the midst of judgment.

theme_rarity

Lamentations uniquely juxtaposes a mother's plea for divine mercy with the horrific image of maternal cannibalism, creating one of Scripture's most jarring appeals for compassion amid judgment.

Insight Literary Structure

The Hebrew verb "swallowed" (bāla') appears three times in verses 2, 5, and 8, creating a haunting refrain that transforms God from protector into a devouring monster consuming his own people.

Insight Rare Theme

Lamentations uniquely combines visceral bodily imagery ("bile poured on the earth") with maternal compassion, creating one of Scripture's most physically intense expressions of communal grief.

Insight Rare Theme

Lamentations uniquely juxtaposes a mother's plea for divine mercy with the horrific image of maternal cannibalism, creating one of Scripture's most jarring appeals for compassion amid judgment.

Cross-References

Connected passages across Scripture

Lamentations 2:1 2 references

Lexicals 2

Isaiah 66:1 Lexical

The LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will…

Lamentations 2

The Lord's Wrath Against Zion

The Prophet's Grief and Call to Prayer

Zion's Appeal for Divine Mercy

The Lord's Wrath Against Zion

The Prophet's Grief and Call to Prayer

Zion's Appeal for Divine Mercy

Insights

Cross-References

Lamentations 2:1 2 references

Lamentations 2:3 5 references

Lamentations 2:4 5 references

Lamentations 2:5 1 reference

Lamentations 2:7 2 references

Lamentations 2:8 1 reference

Lamentations 2:9 3 references

Lamentations 2:10 3 references

Lamentations 2:11 1 reference

Lamentations 2:13 3 references

Lamentations 2:14 3 references

Lamentations 2:15 4 references

Lamentations 2:16 4 references

Lamentations 2:17 2 references

Lamentations 2:18 5 references

Lamentations 2:19 3 references

Lamentations 2:21 5 references

Lamentations 2:22 1 reference

Interlinear

Historical Context