Lamentations 2:20

Grief Prayer

¹⁸ The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. O wall of the Daughter of Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief, and your eyes no rest.

¹⁹ Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street.

Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?

²¹ Both young and old lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger; You have slaughtered them without compassion.

²² You summoned my attackers on every side, as for the day of an appointed feast. In the day of the LORD’s anger no one escaped or survived; my enemy has destroyed those I nurtured and reared.

Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
KJV: Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
WEB: “Look, LORD, and see to whom you have done thus! Should the women eat their offspring, the children that they held and bounced on their knees? Should the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
ASV: See, O Jehovah, and behold to whom thou hast done thus! Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands? Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
DARBY: See, Jehovah, and consider to whom thou hast done this! Shall the women eat their fruit, the infants that they nursed? Shall priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
BLB: See, O YHWH, and consider! To whom have You dealt this [way]? Shall women eat their own fruit, the infants of the tender care? Shall he be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord—priest and prophet?

ÅB: Se, Herre, se! Hvem har du gjort slik med? Skal kvinner spise sin livsfrukt, de spede barn som bæres på armen? Skal prest og profet slås ihjel i Herrens helligdom?
OTB: Se, Herre, og overvei: Hvem har du noen gang behandlet slik? Skal kvinner spise sine avkom, barna de har fostret? Skal prest og profet bli drept i Herrens helligdom?
B1930: Se, Herre, se! Hvem har du gjort således med? Skal kvinner ete sin livsfrukt, de spede barn som bæres på armen? Skal prest og profet slås ihjel i Herrens helligdom?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Lamentations 4:10
The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Read in context
Jeremiah 19:9
I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and distress inflicted on them by their enemies who seek their lives.’
Read in context
Psalms 78:64
His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.
Read in context
Lamentations 4:13
But this was for the sins of her prophets and the guilt of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst.
Read in context
Exodus 32:11
But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
Read in context
Deuteronomy 9:26
And I prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
Read in context
Lamentations 1:19
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.
Read in context
Isaiah 9:14–17
So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day.
Read in context