This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. 1How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion
with the cloud of his anger2:1 Or How the Lord in his anger / has treated Daughter Zion with contempt!
He has hurled down the splendor of Israel
from heaven to earth;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2Without pity the Lord has swallowed up
all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has torn down
the strongholds of Daughter Judah.
He has brought her kingdom and its princes
down to the ground in dishonor.
3In fierce anger he has cut off
every horn2:3 Or off / all the strength; or every king2:3 Horn here symbolizes strength. of Israel.
He has withdrawn his right hand
at the approach of the enemy.
He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything around it.
4Like an enemy he has strung his bow;
his right hand is ready.
Like a foe he has slain
all who were pleasing to the eye;
he has poured out his wrath like fire
on the tent of Daughter Zion.
5The Lord is like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
and destroyed her strongholds.
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation
for Daughter Judah.
6He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden;
he has destroyed his place of meeting.
The Lord has made Zion forget
her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths;
in his fierce anger he has spurned
both king and priest.
7The Lord has rejected his altar
and abandoned his sanctuary.
He has given the walls of her palaces
into the hands of the enemy;
they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.
8The Lord determined to tear down
the wall around Daughter Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line
and did not withhold his hand from destroying.
He made ramparts and walls lament;
together they wasted away.
9Her gates have sunk into the ground;
their bars he has broken and destroyed.
Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations,
the law is no more,
and her prophets no longer find
visions from the Lord.
10The elders of Daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have sprinkled dust on their heads
and put on sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11My eyes fail from weeping,
I am in torment within;
my heart is poured out on the ground
because my people are destroyed,
because children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.
12They say to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away
in their mothers’ arms.
13What can I say for you?
With what can I compare you,
Daughter Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
that I may comfort you,
Virgin Daughter Zion?
Your wound is as deep as the sea.
Who can heal you?
14The visions of your prophets
were false and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
to ward off your captivity.
The prophecies they gave you
were false and misleading.
15All who pass your way
clap their hands at you;
they scoff and shake their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?”
16All your enemies open their mouths
wide against you;
they scoff and gnash their teeth
and say, “We have swallowed her up.
This is the day we have waited for;
we have lived to see it.”
17The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled his word,
which he decreed long ago.
He has overthrown you without pity,
he has let the enemy gloat over you,
he has exalted the horn2:17 Horn here symbolizes strength. of your foes.
18The hearts of the people
cry out to the Lord.
You walls of Daughter Zion,
let your tears flow like a river
day and night;
give yourself no relief,
your eyes no rest.
19Arise, cry out in the night,
as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint from hunger
at every street corner.
20“Look, Lord, and consider:
Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,
the children they have cared for?
Should priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21“Young and old lie together
in the dust of the streets;
my young men and young women
have fallen by the sword.
You have slain them in the day of your anger;
you have slaughtered them without pity.
22“As you summon to a feast day,
so you summoned against me terrors on every side.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped or survived;
those I cared for and reared
my enemy has destroyed.”
1Sɛnea Awurade de nʼabufuwhyew mununkum
akata Ɔbabea Sion so ni?
Watow Israel anuonyam
afi ɔsoro abɛhwe fam;
wankae ne nan ntiaso
wɔ nʼabufuw da no.
2Awurade annya ahummɔbɔ
na wamene Yakob atenae nyinaa;
nʼabufuwhyew mu, wadwiriw
Yuda Babea abandennen no agu fam.
Wagu nʼahenni ne ne mmapɔmma
ho fi.
3Ɔde abufuwhyew atwitwa
Israel mmɛn nyinaa.
Wayi ne bammɔ
wɔ bere a atamfo no reba.
Wasɔ wɔ Yakob mu sɛ ogyatannaa
a ɛhyew biribiara a atwa ho ahyia.
4Wapema ne bɛmma sɛ ɔtamfo;
ne nsa nifa ayɛ krado.
Te sɛ ɔtamfo no, wakunkum
wɔn a wɔyɛ fɛ wɔ ani so nyinaa;
wahwie nʼabufuwhyew sɛ ogya
agu Ɔbabea Sion ntamadan so.
5Awurade ayɛ sɛ ɔtamfo;
wamene Israel.
Wamene nʼahemfi nyinaa
asɛe nʼabandennen.
Wama awerɛhowdi ne agyaadwotwa adɔɔso
ama Yuda Babea.
6Wama nʼatenae ada mpan sɛ turo;
wasɛe nʼaguabɔbea.
Awurade ama Sion werɛ afi
nʼafahyɛ ne homenna;
nʼabufuwhyew mu no
wabu ɔhene ne ɔsɔfo animtiaa.
7Awurade apo nʼafɔremuka
na wagyaa ne kronkronbea mu.
Ɔde nʼahemfi afasu
ahyɛ nʼatamfo nsa.
Wɔteɛ mu wɔ Awurade fi
te sɛ afahyɛ da.
8Awurade sii nʼadwene pi sɛ ɔbɛsɛe
Ɔbabea Sion fasu a atwa ne ho ahyia no.
Ɔde susuhama too ho
na wannyae ɔsɛe no.
Ɔmaa pie ne afasu dii abooboo;
wɔn nyinaa sɛee.
9Nʼapon amem fam;
wɔn adaban nso, wabubu mu asɛe no.
Ne hene ne ne mmapɔmma, watwa wɔn asu kɔ amanaman no mu,
mmara nni hɔ bio,
na nʼadiyifo nnya anisoadehu a
efi Awurade hɔ bio.
10Ɔbabea Sion mpanyimfo
tete fam ayɛ komm;
wɔde mfutuma agu wɔn tirim
afurafura atweaatam.
Yerusalem mmabaa
asisi wɔn ti ase.
11Mʼani rentumi nnyae nisutew,
me yafunu mu retwa me,
me koma retew atɔ fam,
efisɛ wɔasɛe me nkurɔfo,
efisɛ mmofra ne mmotafowa totɔ piti
wɔ kuropɔn no mmɔnten so.
12Wobisa wɔn nanom se,
“Ɛhe na brodo ne nsa wɔ?”
Bere a wɔtotɔ beraw sɛ apirafo
wɔ kuropɔn no mmɔnten so,
bere a wɔn nkwa resa
wɔ wɔn nanom abasa so.
13Asɛm bɛn na metumi aka ama wo?
Dɛn ho na metumi de wo atoto,
Ɔbabea Yerusalem?
Dɛn na metumi de asusuw wo,
de akyekye wo werɛ,
Sion Babea Ɔbabun?
Wʼapirakuru so sɛ po.
Hena na obetumi asa wo yare?
14Wʼadiyifo anisoadehu
yɛ atoro a so nni mfaso;
wɔanna mo amumɔyɛ adi
ansiw mo nnommumfa ano.
Nkɔmhyɛ a wɔde maa mo no
yɛ atoro ne nnaadaa.
15Wɔn a wotwa mu wo kwan so nyinaa
bobɔ wɔn nsam gu wo so;
wodi wo ho fɛw na wɔwosow wɔn ti
gu Yerusalem Babea so ka se,
“Eyi ne kuropɔn a na wɔfrɛ no
ahoɔfɛ a edi mu no?
Asase nyinaa anigyede no ni?”
16Wʼatamfo nyinaa baa wɔn anom
tɛtrɛɛ tia wo;
wɔserew na wɔtwɛre wɔn se
na wɔka se, “Yɛamene no.
Da a na yɛretwɛn no ni;
Yɛatena ase ahu.”
17Awurade ayɛ nea ɔhyehyɛe;
wama nʼasɛm a
ɔhyɛɛ dedaada no aba mu.
Watu wo agu a wanhu wo mmɔbɔ,
wama ɔtamfo no ani agye
wama wʼatamfo no mmɛn so.
18Nnipa no koma
su frɛ Awurade.
Ɔbabea Sion afasu,
momma mo nusu nsen sɛ asubɔnten
awia ne anadwo;
munnye mo ahome
momma mo ani nso nnya ɔhome.
19Sɔre, su dennen anadwo,
ɔdasu mu mfiase;
hwie wo koma mu nsɛm sɛ nsu
gu Awurade anim.
Ma wo nsa so kyerɛ no
wo mma nkwa nti,
wɔn a ɔkɔm ama wɔatotɔ beraw
wɔ mmɔnten so.
20“Hwɛ na dwene ho, Awurade:
Hena na wode no afa saa ɔkwan yi so pɛn?
Ɛsɛ sɛ mmea we wɔn yafunumma nam ana,
mma a wɔahwɛ wɔn?
Ɛsɛ sɛ wokunkum ɔsɔfo ne odiyifo
wɔ Awurade kronkronbea ana?
21“Mmofra ne mpanyin da adabum
wɔ mmɔnten so mfutuma mu so,
me mmerante ne mmabaa
atotɔ wɔ afoa ano.
Woakum wɔn wɔ wʼabufuwda;
woayam wɔn na woannya ahummɔbɔ.
22“Sɛnea wotoo wo nsa frɛ wɔ aponto da no,
saa ara na wofrɛfrɛɛ
amanehunu fii afanan nyinaa tiaa me.
Awurade abufuw da no,
obiara anguan na anka obiara:
wɔn a mehwɛɛ wɔn na metetew wɔn no,
me tamfo adwerɛw wɔn.”
