Book of Lamentations

book of the Bible

The Book of Lamentations (Hebrew: אֵיכָה, ‘Êykhôh, from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem remembers her days of misery and distress; when her people fell into the enemy's clutches there was no one to help her. Her enemies looked on and laughed at her downfall.

Quotes

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Chapter 1

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  • Jerusalem remembers her days of misery and distress; when her people fell into the enemy's clutches there was no one to help her. Her enemies looked on and laughed at her downfall.

Chapter 2

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  • My eyes are worn out with weeping, my inmost being is in ferment, my heart plummets at the destruction of my young people, as the children and babies grow faint in the streets of the city.

Chapter 3

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  • Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love not exhausted;
    Every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness!
  • Yahweh is good to those who trust him, to all who search for him.

Chapter 4

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  • The very jackals give the breast, and suckle their young: but the daughter of my people is as cruel as the ostriches of the desert.
  • For the wickedness of the daughter of my people exceeded the sins of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment without a hand being laid on it.
  • Once her young people were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; rosier than coral their bodies, their hue like sapphire.
    Now their faces are blacker than soot, they are not recognized in the streets, the skin has shrunk over their bones, as dry as a stick.
  • The breath of our nostrils, Yahweh's anointed, was caught in their traps, he of whom we said, 'In his shadow we shall live among the nations.

Chapter 5

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  • Our skin is as hot as an oven, from the scorch of famine.
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