Dusk over Jerusalem on its ridge, seen from the Mount of Olives: roofless stone houses and the broken temple height, not one lamp lit anywhere, under a wide darkening sky.

The lonely city

Lamentations 1

Have you ever looked around and found no one to comfort you?

22 verses≈ 6 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1The lonely cityZion weeps, and no one comforts herChapter 1
2The Lord’s angerWalls, altar and gates thrown down
3New every morningThe afflicted man finds hope in the LORD
4The gold grown dimSiege and famine, the king taken, Edom warned
5Restore us, O LORDThe people’s prayer from the ruins

How Lonely Lies the City!

The poet

Morning in an empty stone-paved square inside Jerusalem’s gate: a stone well-head with no rope, a clay water jar on its side, bare market-stall poles and weeds between the paving stones.

How lonely lies the city,

once so full of people!

She who was great among the nations

has become a widow.

The princess of the provinces

has become a slave.

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The poet

The poet

She weeps aloud in the night,

with tears upon her cheeks.

Among all her lovers

there is no one to comfort her.

All her friends have betrayed her;

they have become her enemies.

The poet

The poet

Judah has gone into exile

under affliction and harsh slavery;

she dwells among the nations

but finds no place to rest.

All her pursuers have overtaken her

in the midst of her distress.

The poet

Gray morning on the empty pilgrim road climbing the Judean hills to Jerusalem: grass grown in its worn ruts, the city gate far above standing open with no one in it.

The roads to Zion mourn,

because no one comes to her appointed feasts.

All her gates are deserted;

her priests groan,

her maidens grieve,

and she herself is bitter with anguish.

The poet

Her foes have become her masters;

her enemies are at ease.

For the LORD has brought her grief

because of her many transgressions.

Her children have gone away

as captives before the enemy.

The poet

The poet

All the splendor has departed

from the Daughter of Zion.

Her princes are like deer

that find no pasture;

they lack the strength to flee

in the face of the hunter.

The poet

Question

Quick question

The poet does not only describe the ruins. He says why they came. Read verse 5 again before you answer.

Why does the poet say grief has come on Jerusalem?

The poet

Jerusalem has sinned greatly;

therefore she has become an object of scorn.

All who honored her now despise her,

for they have seen her nakedness;

she herself groans and turns away.

The poet

Her uncleanness stains her skirts;

she did not consider her end.

Her downfall was astounding;

there was no one to comfort her.

Daughter Zion

Look, O LORD, on my affliction,

for the enemy has triumphed!

The poet

The poet

The adversary has seized

all her treasures.

The poet

For she has seen the nations

enter her sanctuary—

those You had forbidden

to enter Your assembly.

The poet

The poet

All her people groan

as they search for bread.

They have traded their treasures for food

to keep themselves alive.

Daughter Zion

Look, O LORD, and consider,

for I have become despised.

Daughter Zion

Afternoon on the road below Jerusalem’s broken wall: two small travelers with bundles and a donkey walk on past without turning, the scorched gateway above them.

Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by?

Look around and see!

Is there any sorrow like mine,

which was inflicted on me,

which the LORD made me suffer

on the day of His fierce anger?

0:12

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Daughter Zion

Daughter Zion

He sent fire from on high,

and it overpowered my bones.

He spread a net for my feet

and turned me back.

He made me desolate,

faint all the day long.

Daughter Zion

Close on a worn stone threshold: a heavy wooden yoke of two thick bars, wound round and round with many knotted, twisted cords.

My transgressions are bound into a yoke,

knit together by His hand;

they are draped over my neck,

and the Lord has broken my strength.

He has delivered me into the hands

of those I cannot withstand.

Daughter Zion

The Lord has rejected

all the mighty men in my midst;

He has summoned an army against me

to crush my young warriors.

Like grapes in a winepress,

the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah.

Daughter Zion

For these things I weep;

my eyes flow with tears.

For there is no one nearby to comfort me,

no one to revive my soul.

My children are destitute

because the enemy has prevailed.

No one to comfort

Whiteboard

Five times the poem says no one comforts. The book leaves the silence open for God to answer.

The poet

Zion stretches out her hands,

but there is no one to comfort her.

The LORD has decreed against Jacob

that his neighbors become his foes.

Jerusalem has become

an unclean thing among them.

Daughter Zion

The LORD is righteous,

yet I rebelled against His command.

Lamentations 1:18

Daughter Zion

Listen, all you people;

look upon my suffering.

My young men and maidens

have gone into captivity.

Daughter Zion

I called out to my lovers,

but they have betrayed me.

My priests and elders

perished in the city

while they searched for food

to keep themselves alive.

Daughter Zion

See, O LORD, how distressed I am!

I am churning within;

my heart is pounding within me,

for I have been most rebellious.

Outside, the sword bereaves;

inside, there is death.

Daughter Zion

Let all their wickedness come before You,

and deal with them

as You have dealt with me

because of all my transgressions.

For my groans are many,

and my heart is faint.

Pray

Pray it plainly

Zion names her sin and her sorrow to the LORD in the same breath: “The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled.” Tell Him both today, and leave nothing out.

You’ve experienced

Lamentations 1

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A verse to carry with you

The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against His command.

Lamentations 1:18

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