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 ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Lamentations 1:1-11
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.