Lamentationes, 2

1. ALEPH. Quomodo obtexit caligine in furore suo Dominus filiam Sion! Proiecit de caelo in terram gloriam Israel et non est recordatus scabelli pedum suorum in die furoris sui.

1. How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud! He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.

2. BETH. Praecipitavit Dominus nec pepercit omnia pascua Iacob; destruxit in furore suo munitiones filiae Iudae; deiecit in terram, polluit regnum et principes eius.

2. The Lord has destroyed without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers.

3. GHIMEL. Confregit in ira furoris sui omne cornu Israel; avertit retrorsum dexteram suam a facie inimici et succendit in Iacob quasi ignem flammae devorantis in gyro.

3. He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of Israel; he has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy; he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all around.

4. DALETH. Tetendit arcum suum quasi inimicus, firmavit dexteram suam quasi hostis et occidit omne, quod pulchrum erat visu, in tabernaculo filiae Sion; effudit quasi ignem indignationem suam.

4. He has bent his bow like an enemy, with his right hand set like a foe; and he has slain all the pride of our eyes in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he has poured out his fury like fire.

5. HE. Factus est Dominus velut inimicus, deglutivit Israel, deglutivit omnia moenia eius, dissipavit munitiones eius et multiplicavit in filia Iudae maerorem et maestitiam.

5. The Lord has become like an enemy, he has destroyed Israel; he has destroyed all its palaces, laid in ruins its strongholds; and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.

6. VAU. Et dissipavit quasi hortum saepem suam, demolitus est tabernaculum suum; oblivioni tradidit Dominus in Sion festivitatem et sabbatum et despexit in indignatione furoris sui regem et sacerdotem.

6. He has broken down his booth like that of a garden, laid in ruins the place of his appointed feasts; the LORD has brought to an end in Zion appointed feast and sabbath, and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.

7. ZAIN. Reppulit Dominus altare suum, maledixit sanctuario suo; tradidit in manu inimici muros domorum eius: vocem dederunt in domo Domini sicut in die sollemni.

7. The Lord has scorned his altar, disowned his sanctuary; he has delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; a clamor was raised in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.

8. HETH. Cogitavit Dominus dissipare murum filiae Sion; tetendit funiculum, non avertit manum suam a perditione; et in luctum redegit antemurale et murum: pariter elanguerunt.

8. The LORD determined to lay in ruins the wall of the daughter of Zion; he marked it off by the line; he restrained not his hand from destroying; he caused rampart and wall to lament, they languish together.

9. TETH. Defixae sunt in terra portae eius; perdidit et contrivit vectes eius. Rex eius et principes eius in gentibus; non est lex, et prophetae eius non invenerunt visionem a Domino.

9. Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her bars; her king and princes are among the nations; the law is no more, and her prophets obtain no vision from the LORD.

10. IOD. Sederunt in terra, conticuerunt senes filiae Sion, consperserunt cinere capita sua, accincti sunt ciliciis; abiecerunt in terram capita sua virgines Ierusalem.

10. The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have cast dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; the maidens of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.

11. CAPH. Defecerunt prae lacrimis oculi mei, efferbuerunt viscera mea; effusum est in terra iecur meum super contritione filiae populi mei, cum deficeret parvulus et lactans in plateis oppidi.

11. My eyes are spent with weeping; my soul is in tumult; my heart is poured out in grief because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babes faint in the streets of the city.

12. LAMED. Matribus suis dixerunt: “Ubi est triticum et vinum?”, cum deficerent quasi vulnerati in plateis civitatis, cum exhalarent animas suas in sinu matrum suarum.

12. They cry to their mothers, "Where is bread and wine?" as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers' bosom.

13. MEM. Cui comparabo te vel cui assimilabo te, filia Ierusalem? Cui exaequabo te et consolabor te, virgo filia Sion? Magna est enim velut mare contritio tua; quis medebitur tui?

13. What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For vast as the sea is your ruin; who can restore you?

14. NUN. Prophetae tui viderunt tibi falsa et stulta nec aperiebant iniquitatem tuam, ut converterent sortem tuam; viderunt autem tibi oracula mendacii et seductionis.

14. Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles false and misleading.

15. SAMECH. Plauserunt super te manibus omnes transeuntes per viam; sibilaverunt et moverunt caput suum super filiam Ierusalem: “Haeccine est urbs, quam vocabant perfectum decorem, gaudium universae terrae?”.

15. All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem; "Is this the city which was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?"

16. PHE. Aperuerunt super te os suum omnes inimici tui; sibilaverunt et fremuerunt dentibus et dixerunt: “Devoravimus; en ista est dies, quam exspectabamus: invenimus, vidimus”.

16. All your enemies rail against you; they hiss, they gnash their teeth, they cry: "We have destroyed her! Ah, this is the day we longed for; now we have it; we see it!"

17. AIN. Fecit Dominus, quae cogitavit; complevit sermonem suum, quem praeceperat a diebus antiquis: destruxit et non pepercit. Et laetificavit super te inimicum et exaltavit cornu hostium tuorum.

17. The LORD has done what he purposed, has carried out his threat; as he ordained long ago, he has demolished without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you, and exalted the might of your foes.

18. SADE. Clamet cor tuum ad Dominum super muros filiae Sion; deduc quasi torrentem lacrimas per diem et noctem. Non des requiem tibi, neque taceat pupilla oculi tui.

18. Cry aloud to the Lord! O daughter of Zion! Let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite!

19. COPH. Consurge, lamentare in nocte in principio vigiliarum, effunde sicut aquam cor tuum ante conspectum Domini; leva ad eum manus tuas pro anima parvulorum tuorum, qui defecerunt in fame in capite omnium compitorum.

19. Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.

20. RES. “Vide, Domine, et considera, cui feceris ita; ergone comedent mulieres fructum suum, parvulos diligenter fovendos? Num occidetur in sanctuario Domini sacerdos et propheta?

20. Look, O LORD, and see! With whom hast thou dealt thus? Should women eat their offspring, the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

21. SIN. Iacuerunt in terra foris puer et senex; virgines meae et iuvenes mei ceciderunt in gladio: interfecisti in die furoris tui, percussisti nec misertus es.

21. In the dust of the streets lie the young and the old; my maidens and my young men have fallen by the sword; in the day of thy anger thou hast slain them, slaughtering without mercy.

22. THAU. Vocasti quasi ad diem sollemnem, qui terrerent me de circuitu, et non fuit in die furoris Domini, qui effugeret et relinqueretur: quos fovi et enutrivi, inimicus meus consumpsit eos”.

22. Thou didst invite as to the day of an appointed feast my terrors on every side; and on the day of the anger of the LORD none escaped or survived; those whom I dandled and reared my enemy destroyed.