Lamentations 2:9

⁷ The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.

⁸ The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together they waste away.

Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.

¹⁰ The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.

¹¹ My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
KJV: Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.
WEB: Her gates have sunk into the ground. He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not. Yes, her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
ASV: Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not; Yea, her prophets find no vision from Jehovah.
DARBY: Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations: the law is no [more]; her prophets also find no vision from Jehovah.
BLB: Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes [are] among the nations; the law [is] no more, and her prophets cannot find vision from YHWH.

ÅB: Dets porter er sunket i jorden, han har ødelagt og sprengt dets bommer; dets konge og dets høvdinger bor blant hedningene, så der ikke er noen lov; heller ikke har dets profeter fått noe syn fra Herren.
OTB: Hennes porter har sunket i jorden; han har knust og brutt hennes stenger. Hennes konge og hennes fyrster er i landflyktighet blant nasjonene; loven er ikke mer, og hennes profeter mottar ingen syner fra Herren.
B1930: Dets porter er sunket i jorden, han har ødelagt og sprengt dets bommer; dets konge og dets høvdinger bor blandt hedningene, så der ikke er nogen lov; heller ikke har dets profeter fått noget syn fra Herren.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Ezekiel 7:26
Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.
Read in context
Hosea 3:4
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.
Read in context
Psalms 74:9
There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
Read in context
Nehemiah 1:3
And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
Read in context
Micah 3:6–7
Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 15:3
For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a priest to instruct them, and without the law.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 28:36
The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.
Read in context
Jeremiah 51:30
The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.
Read in context