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2
Yahweh punished Jerusalem
1 Yahweh was extremely angry with us;
as a result, it was as though [MET] he covered Jerusalem with a dark cloud.
Previously it was a beautiful/glorious city,
but he has caused it to become a ruins.
At the time he punished [MET] Israel,
he even abandoned his temple [MET] in Jerusalem.
2 Yahweh destroyed the homes of the people of [PRS] Judah;
he did not act mercifully.
Because he was very angry,
he broke down the fortresses of Judah.
He has caused our kingdom and our rulers to become disgraced,
and he has gotten rid of them.
3 Because he was extremely angry,
he has caused Israel to not be powerful [MET] any more.
He has refused to assist us
when our enemies attacked us.
He has destroyed Israel
like [SIM] a raging fire destroys everything.
4 He bent his bow to prepare to shoot us, his people,
as though we were his enemies.
He prepared to kill the people whom we love the most [MET],
members of our own families.
He is extremely angry [MTY] with us people of Jerusalem;
his anger is like [SIM] a fire.
5 Yahweh has become like an enemy
to us Israelis;
he has destroyed our palaces
and caused our fortresses to become ruins.
He has gotten rid of many people in Jerusalem,
and caused us to mourn and weep for those who were killed.
6 He has caused his temple to be smashed
as easily as [SIM] if it was a shelter in a garden.
He has caused us, his people, to forget
all our sacred festivals and Sabbath days.
He has caused our kings and priests to be rejected
because he was extremely angry with them.
7 Yahweh has rejected his own altar
and abandoned his temple.
He has allowed our enemies to tear down the walls
of our temple and our palaces.
They shout victoriously in the temple of Yahweh,
like we previously shouted during our sacred festivals.
8 Yahweh was determined
to cause the walls of our city [MTY] to be torn down.
It was as though he measured the walls
and then he completely destroyed [MTY] them.
It was as though he caused the towers and walls to lament/weep,
because they were now ruins.
9 The city gates have collapsed;
the bars that fastened the gates shut have been smashed.
The king and his officials have been forced to go to other countries.
No longer does anyone teach the people the laws that God gave to Moses.
The prophets do not receive any visions
because Yahweh does not give them any.
10 The old men of Jerusalem [MTY] sit on the ground,
and they say nothing.
They wear rough sackcloth
and throw dust on their heads to show that they are sad.
The young girls of Jerusalem bow down sorrowfully,
their faces touching the ground.
11 My eyes are very tired because of my tears;
I am very grieved in my soul.
Because very many of my people have been killed,
I grieve and am exhausted.
Even children and babies are fainting
and dying in the streets because they have no food.
12 They cry out to their mothers,
“We need [RHQ] something to eat and drink!”
They faint like wounded men
in the streets of the city.
They slowly die
in the arms of their mothers.
13 You people of Jerusalem [MTY, DOU],
◄what can I/there is nothing that I can► say to help you.
No people have [RHQ] suffered like you are suffering;
I do not know what I can do to comfort you.
The disaster [MET] that you have experienced is as great
as the ocean is deep;
there is no one [RHQ] who can restore your city.
14 The prophets among you claimed that they had seen visions from Yahweh,
but what they said was false and worthless.
They did not save you from being ◄exiled/forced to go to other countries►,
because they did not proclaim that you had sinned.
Instead, the messages that they gave you deceived you
because they were not true.
15 All those who pass by you
make fun of [IDM] you;
they shake their heads
and they hiss/sneer at you.
They say, “Is this that great city of Jerusalem?
Is it the city that was the most beautiful city in the world,
the city that caused all the people on the earth to be joyful?”
16 Now all our enemies scoff [IDM] at you;
they hiss/sneer at you and gnash their teeth to show that they hate you.
They say, “We have destroyed them!
This is what we longed/waited for,
and now it has happened!”
17 Yahweh has done what he planned;
long ago he threatened to destroy you,
and now he has done it.
He has destroyed your city without acting mercifully toward you;
he has enabled your enemies to he happy about defeating you;
he has enabled your enemies to continually become stronger.
18 I wish/desire that the walls of Jerusalem [APO]
would cry out to Yahweh!
You people of Jerusalem [MET],
Cry day and night!
Let your tears flow like rivers.
Do not stop grieving;
do not stop crying.
19 Get up every night and cry out;
tell Yahweh what you are feeling.
Raise your arms to plead to him
to act mercifully to prevent our children from dying;
they are fainting on the street corners
because they have no food to eat.
20 Yahweh, look, and think about it!
Have you ever [RHQ] caused people to suffer like this before?
It is certainly not right that [RHQ] women are eating the flesh of their own children,
the children whom they have always taken care of!
It is not right that [RHQ] priests and prophets are being killed
in your own temple!
21 The corpses of people of all ages lie in the streets;
there are even corpses of young men and young women who have been killed by our enemies’ swords.
Because you were very angry,
you caused them to be killed;
you have slaughtered them
without pitying them at all.
22 You summoned our enemies to attack us from every direction,
as though you were calling/inviting them to come to a feast.
At that time when you showed that you were very angry,
no one escaped.
Our enemies murdered our little children,
ones whom we took care of and reared/brought up.

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© 2008-2017 Ellis W. Deibler, Jr.