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He has withdrawn his right hand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.”
1Sɛdeɛ Awurade de nʼabufuhyeɛ omununkum
akata Ɔbabaa Sion so nie?
Wato Israel animuonyam
firi soro abɛhwe fam;
wankae ne nan ntiasoɔ
wɔ nʼabufuo da no.
2Awurade annya ahummɔborɔ
na wamene Yakob atenaeɛ nyinaa;
nʼabufuhyeɛ mu, wadwiri
Yuda Ɔbabaa aban denden no agu fam.
Wagu nʼahennie ne ne mmapɔmma
ho fi.
3Ɔde abufuhyeɛ atwitwa
Israel mmɛn nyinaa.
Wayi ne banbɔ
wɔ ɛberɛ a atamfoɔ no reba.
Wasɔ wɔ Yakob mu sɛ ogyadɛreɛ
a ɛhye biribiara a atwa ho ahyia.
4Wapoma ne bɛmma te sɛ ɔtamfoɔ;
ne nsa nifa ayɛ krado.
Sɛdeɛ ɔtamfoɔ yɛ no, wakunkum
wɔn a wɔyɛ fɛ wɔ anisoɔ nyinaa;
wahwie nʼabufuhyeɛ sɛ ogya
agu Ɔbabaa Sion ntomadan so.
5Awurade ayɛ sɛ ɔtamfoɔ;
wamene Israel.
Wamene nʼahemfie nyinaa
asɛe nʼabandenden.
Wama awerɛhoɔdie ne agyaadwotwa adɔɔso
ama Yuda Ɔbabaa.
6Wama nʼatenaeɛ ada mpan sɛ turo;
wasɛe ne dwabirem.
Awurade ama Sion werɛ afiri
nʼafahyɛ ne home nna;
wɔ nʼabufuhyeɛ mu no
wabu ɔhene ne ɔsɔfoɔ animtia.
7Awurade apo nʼafɔrebukyia
na wagyae ne kronkronbea mu.
Ɔde nʼahemfie afasuo
ahyɛ nʼatamfoɔ nsa.
Wɔteam wɔ Awurade efie
te sɛ afahyɛ da.
8Awurade sii nʼadwene pi sɛ ɔbɛsɛe
Ɔbabaa Sion ɔfasuo a atwa ne ho ahyia no.
Ɔde susuhoma too ho
na wannyae ɔsɛeɛ no.
Ɔmaa apie ne afasuo dii abooboo;
wɔn nyinaa sɛeɛ.
9Nʼapono amem fam;
wɔn adaban nso, wabubu mu asɛe no.
Ne ɔhene ne ne mmapɔmma, watwa wɔn asuo kɔ amanaman no mu,
mmara nni hɔ bio,
na nʼadiyifoɔ nnnya anisoadehunu a
ɛfiri Awurade hɔ bio.
10Ɔbabaa Sion mpanimfoɔ
tete fam ayɛ komm;
wɔde mfuturo agu wɔn tirim
afirafira ayitoma.
Yerusalem mmabaawa
asisi wɔn tiri ase.
11Mʼani rentumi nnyae nisuteɛ,
me yafunu mu retwa me,
mʼakoma rete atɔ fam,
ɛfiri sɛ wɔasɛe me nkurɔfoɔ,
ɛfiri sɛ mmɔfra ne mmotafowa totɔ piti
wɔ kuropɔn no mmɔntene so.
12Wɔbisa wɔn maamenom sɛ,
“Ɛhe na aduane ne nsã wɔ?”
Ɛberɛ a wɔtotɔ piti sɛ apirafoɔ
wɔ kuropɔn no mmɔntene so,
ɛberɛ a wɔn nkwa resa
wɔ wɔn maamenom abasa so.
13Ɛdeɛn na mɛtumi aka ama woɔ?
Ɛdeɛn ho na mɛtumi de wo atoto,
Ao, Yerusalem Ɔbabaa?
Ɛdeɛn na mɛtumi de asusu woɔ,
de akyekyere wo werɛ,
Ao, Sion Ɔbabaa Bunu?
Wʼapirakuro so sɛ ɛpo.
Hwan na ɔbɛtumi asa ama woɔ?
14Wʼadiyifoɔ anisoadehunu
yɛ atorɔ a ɛho nni mfasoɔ;
wɔanna mo amumuyɛ adi
ansi mo nnommumfa ano.
Nkɔmhyɛ a wɔde maa mo no
yɛ atorɔ ne nnaadaa.
15Wɔn a wɔtwam wo ɛkwan soɔ nyinaa
bobɔ wɔn nsam gu wo so;
wɔdi wo ho fɛ na wɔwoso wɔn tiri
gu Yerusalem Ɔbabaa so ka sɛ,
“Yei ne kuropɔn a na wɔfrɛ no
ahoɔfɛ a ɛdi mu no?
Asase nyinaa anigyedeɛ no nie?”
16Wʼatamfoɔ nyinaa baeɛ wɔn anom
kakraa tia wo;
wɔsere na wɔtwɛre wɔn se
na wɔka sɛ, “Yɛamene no.
Ɛda a na yɛretwɛn no nie;
Yɛatena ase ahunu.”
17Awurade ayɛ deɛ ɔhyehyɛeɛ;
wama nʼasɛm a
ɔhyɛɛ dadaada no aba mu.
Watu wo agu a wanhunu wo mmɔbɔ,
wama ɔtamfoɔ no ani agye
wama wʼatamfoɔ no mmɛn so.
18Nnipa no akoma
su frɛ Awurade.
Ao, Sion Ɔbabaa fasuo,
ma wo nisuo nsene sɛ asubɔnten
awia ne anadwo;
nnye wʼahome
mma wʼani nso nnya ahomeɛ.
19Sɔre, su denden anadwo
ɔdasuom mfitiaseɛ;
hwie wʼakoma mu nsɛm sɛ nsuo
gu Awurade anim.
Ma wo nsa so kyerɛ no
wo mma nkwa enti,
wɔn a ɛkɔm ama wʼatotɔ baha
wɔ mmɔntene so.
20“Hwɛ na dwene ho, Ao, Awurade:
Hwan na wode no afa saa ɛkwan yi so pɛn?
Ɛsɛ sɛ mmaa we wɔn yafunu mma nam anaa,
mma a wɔahwɛ wɔn?
Ɛsɛ sɛ wɔkum ɔsɔfoɔ ne odiyifoɔ
wɔ Awurade kronkronbea anaa?
21“Mmɔfra ne mpanin adeda abɔ mu
mfuturo mu wɔ mmɔntene so,
me mmeranteɛ ne mmabaawa
atotɔ wɔ akofena ano.
Wakum wɔn wɔ wʼabufuo da;
wayam wɔn na wannya ahummɔborɔ.
22“Sɛdeɛ wotoo wo nsa frɛ wɔ apontoɔ da no,
saa ara na wofrɛfrɛɛ
amanehunu firi afanan nyinaa tiaa me.
Awurade abufuo da no,
obiara annwane na obiara anka:
wɔn a mehwɛɛ wɔn na metetee wɔn no,
me ɔtamfoɔ adwerɛ wɔn.”
