Lamentations 2:1

• The words ‘the beauty of *Israel’ probably refer to *Jerusalem and its magnificent *temple. See Isaiah 64:11.

• ‘He rested his feet’. See Isaiah 60:13.

v2 The *Lord has destroyed all the homes in *Judah without pity. He was so angry that he has broken down *Judah’s strong cities. He has caused shame for the whole country and its leaders.

v3 In his fierce anger, God has broken off the *horn of *Israel. God has refused to protect us from the enemy. He has burned like a great fierce fire that destroyed everything in *Judah.

Verse 3 Some animals use their *horn to fight with. So ‘horn’ is a way to talk about the strength of *Israel.

v4 God has aimed his arrows at us like an enemy. He has killed all those who once pleased him. His anger was like a great fire that destroyed all the homes in *Jerusalem.

v5 Like an enemy, God has destroyed *Israel and all its great houses. He has knocked down its walls of defence. And he has made the people in *Judah so sad and miserable.

v6 God ruined his holy house as somebody might ruin a shed in a garden. God has taken away the place where his people once came together to honour him. He has made Jerusalem’s people forget the special days of their religion. In his anger, he now has no respect for king or priest.

Verse 6 The ‘holy house’ is the place in *Jerusalem where the people of *Israel went to pray. The Bible calls it ‘the *Temple’. King Solomon built the first *temple. See 1 Kings 5:1-5.

v7 God has refused the gifts that the people put on his *altar. He has gone from his *temple. He has allowed the enemy to knock down the walls of the *temple. Foreigners shout with joy where once we praised God.

v8 God decided to destroy the walls of Zion (*Jerusalem). So he carefully measured their exact extent. He did not hesitate to destroy the walls completely. He completely ruined both the inner wall and the outer wall. He threw both walls to the ground. They were like couples whose partners had died. They had no more strength.

v9 Jerusalem’s city gates have fallen to the ground. God has broken into pieces the heavy bars that fastened the gates. Foreign enemies have taken away the king and the royal family. Now priests do not teach God’s laws. *Prophets have no message from the *Lord.

Verse 7 The enemy should not be in the *temple. See Nehemiah 13:1. But God allowed them to ruin it.

Verse 8 First God decided to destroy *Jerusalem’s walls. He measured the walls in order to make sure that all of both walls were included. Finally, he used the enemies to destroy both walls completely.

v10 *Jerusalem’s old people sit on the ground and they are silent. They have scattered dust on their heads. They have dressed themselves in *sackcloth. The young women of *Jerusalem look down to the ground in shame.

Verse 10 In those times, people put dust on their heads and put on clothes of *sackcloth. They did this to show that they were very sad.

v11 My eyes are sore from tears. Miserable feelings have worn me out. My people are suffering so much. Children and babies fall in the street because they are so weak.

v12 The children ask their mothers, ‘Where has all the food and drink gone?’ Then they fall down in pain on the street of the city and die in their mothers’ arms.

v13 People of *Jerusalem, I do not know what I can say to comfort you. Nobody has suffered as you have. The damage to your city is complete. I do not know who can repair it.

v14 Your ‘*prophets’ have promised so many foolish and vain things to you. They have not warned you about your *sins. So that is why your enemies have made you prisoners. They have only told you lies about your future.

Verse 14 God warned the people many times not to listen to these false *prophets. God also told the people how to recognise genuine *prophets who came from him. See Jeremiah 23:16-22; Jeremiah 28:9; Matthew 7:15-23.

v15 All who go by make fun of *Jerusalem. They ask, “Is this really the city that people called ‘most beautiful’ and ‘the joy of the whole world’?”

v16 All your enemies *curse you with delight. They say ‘We have completely destroyed *Jerusalem’s people. We have waited for this day. Now that day has come! Now we have seen it all happen!’

v17 The *Lord has now done what he warned you about. He has done what he warned you about so long ago. He has destroyed without pity. He has caused your enemies to be happy and he has made them strong.

Verse 17 God gave his people clear warning long before this time. See Deuteronomy 30:1-5.

v18 People in *Jerusalem, cry to the *Lord! Wear yourselves out with lots of tears! Let your tears flow like a river round Jerusalem’s walls!

v19 Get up and cry out frequently. As night comes, tell God how miserable you are. Lift up your hands and pray to him. Pray that your young children will not die. These children are falling down in every street. They are weak because of their hunger.

*Jerusalem’s people speak as if the city were a woman.

v20 Look, *Lord. Think whom you have done this to. Must women eat their little children? Should the priests and the *prophets have to die in your holy house?

v21 Both young people and old people lie dead in the streets. Enemies have killed the young men and women with their swords. It was really you who killed them in your anger. You killed them and you did not pity them.

v22 You invited my enemies to come to me as if to a party. Because you were so angry, nobody escaped or remained alive. My enemies have murdered my children whom I looked after. They have killed those whom I brought up.

Verse 20 ‘Think whom you have done this to.’ The writer is reminding God that they are his own people.

Verse 21 Without young men and young women, there would be no people in the future.

Lord ~ a special name for God that his people use. He will do what he has promised them. That is what this name means.
Jerusalem ~ the Jews’ capital city; God told King Solomon to build God’s sacred temple there.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
temple ~ the sacred house in Jerusalem where Israel’s people went to pray.
Israel ~ Israel is the group of people that God chose to be his people.
Israel ~ Israel is the group of people that God chose to be his people.
temple ~ the sacred house in Jerusalem where Israel’s people went to pray.
Jerusalem ~ the Jews’ capital city; God told King Solomon to build God’s sacred temple there.
Israel ~ Israel is the group of people that God chose to be his people.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
Judah ~ a part of the country that God gave to his people.
horn ~ a hard thing with a point which grows on the head of some animals.
temple ~ the sacred house in Jerusalem where Israel’s people went to pray.
Jerusalem ~ the Jews’ capital city; God told King Solomon to build God’s sacred temple there.
Israel ~ Israel is the group of people that God chose to be his people.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
altar ~ a holy table on which to put gifts for God.
prophet ~ a person who hears God’s words, and tells them to other people; a person who spoke God’s words. Some prophets wrote books in the Bible.
sackcloth ~ rough cloth. People used to wear it when they were very sad about something.
prophet ~ a person who hears God’s words, and tells them to other people; a person who spoke God’s words. Some prophets wrote books in the Bible.
sin ~ to do things against God and other people; an bad action that we do against God and other people.
curse ~ to wish bad things for.