Lamentations — Eikha

1א a Chaps. 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 city Once great with people! She that was great among nations Is become like a widow; The princess among states Is become a thrall.

2ב Bitterly she weeps in the night,Her cheek wet with tears. There is none to comfort her Of all her friends.bfriends Or “lovers,” i.e., political allies. All her allies have betrayed her; They have become her foes.

3ג Judah has gone into exile Because of misery and harsh oppression; When she settled among the nations,She found no rest; All her pursuers overtook her In the narrow places.c In the narrow places Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

4ד 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!

5ה Her enemies are now the masters,Her foes are at ease,Because GOD has afflicted her For her many transgressions; Her infants have gone into captivity Before the enemy.

6ו Gone from Fair Zion are all That were her glory; Her leaders were like stags That found no pasture; They could only walk feebly Before the pursuer.

7ז All that she treasured In the days of old Jerusalem recalled In her days of woe and sorrow,When her people fell by enemy hands With none to help her; When enemies looked on and gloated Over her downfall.

8ח 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 sigh And shrink back.

9ט 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!”

10י The foe has laid hands On everything dear to her. She has seen her Sanctuary Invaded by nations That You have denied admission Into Your community.

11כ All her inhabitants sigh As 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 abjectg How abject Or (ironically) “What a glutton”; cf. Prov. 23.20–21. I have become!”

12ל h A lament by Zion personified. “May it never befall you,i May 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 me When GOD afflicted me On this day of wrath?

13מ From above [God] sent a fire Down into my bones,Then spread a net for my feet And hurled me backward—Leaving me forlorn,In constant misery.

14נ j Meaning 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 hands Of those I cannot withstand.

15ס The Sovereign in my midst has rejected All my heroes,And proclaimed a set time against me To crush my young men. As in a press the Sovereign has trodden Fair Maiden Judah.

16ע For these things do I weep,My eyes flow with tears: Far from me is any comforter Who might revive my spirit; My children are forlorn,For the foe has prevailed.”

17פ Zion spreads out her hands,She has no one to comfort her; GOD has summoned against Jacob His enemies all about him; Jerusalem has become an outcastkan outcast Or “a menstruous woman”; cf. Ezek. 36.17. among them.

18צ l Another 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 youths Have gone into captivity!

19ק I cried out to my friends,mfriends See note at v. 2. But they played me false. My priests and my elders Have perished in the city As they searched for food To keep themselves alive.

20ר See, O ETERNAL One, the distress I am in! My heart is in anguish,I know how wrong I wasn I 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.

21ש 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!o You 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!”

22ת Let all their wrongdoing come before You,And deal with them As You have dealt with me For all my transgressions. For my sighs are many,And my heart is sick.”