11 How lonely sits the city That was full of people ! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the nations ! She who was a princess among the [1]provinces Has become a forced laborer ! 2 She weeps bitterly in the night And her tears are on her cheeks ; She has none to comfort her Among all her lovers . All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies . 3 Judah has gone into exile [2]under affliction And [2]under [4]harsh servitude ; She dwells among the nations , But she has found no rest ; All her pursuers have overtaken her In the midst of [5]distress . 4 The roads [6]of Zion are in mourning Because e no one comes to the appointed feasts . All her gates are desolate ; Her priests are groaning , Her virgins are afflicted , And she herself [7]is bitter . 5 Her adversaries have become [8]her masters , Her enemies [9]prosper ; For the Lord has caused her grief Because of the multitude of her transgressions ; Her little ones have gone away As captives before the adversary . 6 All her majesty Has departed from the daughter of Zion ; Her princes have become like deer That have found no pasture ; And they have [10] fled without strength Before the pursuer . 7 In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her precious things That were from the days of old , When her people fell into the hand of the adversary And no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, They mocked at her [11]ruin . 8 Jerusalem sinned greatly , Therefore e she has become an unclean thing . All who honored her despise her Because they have seen her nakedness ; Even she herself groans and turns away . 9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts ; She [12]did not consider her future . Therefore she has [13] fallen astonishingly ; She has no comforter . " See , O Lord , my affliction , For the enemy has magnified himself!" 10 The adversary has stretched out his hand Over all her precious things , For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary , The ones whom You commanded That they should not enter into Your congregation . 11 All her people groan seeking bread ; They have given their precious things for food To restore their [14]lives themselves. "See , O Lord , and look , For I am despised ."
12 "Is it nothing to all you who pass this way ? Look and see if there is any [15]pain like my [15]pain Which was severely dealt out to me, Which the Lord inflicted on the day of His fierce anger . 13 "From on high He sent fire into my bones , And it [17]prevailed over them. He has spread a net for my feet ; He has turned me back ; He has made me desolate , [18]Faint all day long. 14 "The yoke of my transgressions is bound ; By His hand they are knit together . They have come upon my neck ; He has made my strength [19]fail . The Lord has given me into the hands Of those against whom I am not able to stand . 15 "The Lord has rejected all my strong men In my midst ; He has called an appointed [20]time against me To crush my young men ; The Lord has trodden as in a wine press The virgin daughter of Judah . 16 "For these things I weep ; [21]My eyes run down with water ; Because far from me is a comforter , One who restores my soul . My children are desolate Because the enemy has prevailed ." 17 Zion stretches out her hands ; There is no one to comfort her; The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob That the ones round about him should be his adversaries ; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them. 18 "The Lord is righteous ; For I have rebelled against His [22]command ; Hear now , all peoples , And behold my [23]pain ; My virgins and my young men Have gone into captivity .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Lamentations 1:1-18
Commentary on Lamentations 1:1-11
(Read Lamentations 1:1-11)
The prophet sometimes speaks in his own person; at other times Jerusalem, as a distressed female, is the speaker, or some of the Jews. The description shows the miseries of the Jewish nation. Jerusalem became a captive and a slave, by reason of the greatness of her sins; and had no rest from suffering. If we allow sin, our greatest adversary, to have dominion over us, justly will other enemies also be suffered to have dominion. The people endured the extremities of famine and distress. In this sad condition Jerusalem acknowledged her sin, and entreated the Lord to look upon her case. This is the only way to make ourselves easy under our burdens; for it is the just anger of the Lord for man's transgressions, that has filled the earth with sorrows, lamentations, sickness, and death.
Commentary on Lamentations 1:12-22
(Read Lamentations 1:12-22)
Jerusalem, sitting dejected on the ground, calls on those that passed by, to consider whether her example did not concern them. Her outward sufferings were great, but her inward sufferings were harder to bear, through the sense of guilt. Sorrow for sin must be great sorrow, and must affect the soul. Here we see the evil of sin, and may take warning to flee from the wrath to come. Whatever may be learned from the sufferings of Jerusalem, far more may be learned from the sufferings of Christ. Does he not from the cross speak to every one of us? Does he not say, Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Let all our sorrows lead us to the cross of Christ, lead us to mark his example, and cheerfully to follow him.