Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
The people complain about their wretched state, admit their guilt, and ask God to restore their previous glory.

II. Photo
The people cry out in v. 10: “Our skin glows like an oven, With the fever of famine!”

III. Important Verses
vv. 2-3: Our heritage has passed to aliens, Our homes to strangers. We have become orphans, fatherless; Our mothers are like widows.
v. 4: We must pay to drink our own water, Obtain our own kindling at a price.
v. 7: Our fathers sinned and are no more; And we must bear their guilt.
v. 8: Slaves are ruling over us, With none to rescue us from them.
vv. 11-12: They have ravished women in Zion, Maidens in the towns of Judah. Princes have been hanged by them; No respect has been shown to elders.
v. 16: The crown has fallen from our head; Woe to us that we have sinned!

IV. Outline
1. Invocation, initial plea
2-18. Communal complaint
19. Hymnic address
20-22. Petition

V. Comment
No comment today. I hope to revisit this chapter at the end of the cycle. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Gerstenberger, Psalms Part 2 and Lamentations (Forms of Old Testament Literature)
Photo taken from http://peppermintcottage.com/Glowing_Fireplace.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Lamentations 4 is an acrostic lament. The speaker describes Jerusalem in lurid detail, leads a communal prayer, and curses the Edomites.

II. Photo
Verses 3-4 say: “But my poor people has turned cruel, Like ostriches of the desert. The tongue of the suckling cleaves To its palate for thirst. Little children beg for bread; None gives them a morsel.”

III. Important Verses
v. 2: The precious children of Zion; Once valued as gold — Alas, they are accounted as earthen pots, Work of a potter’s hands!
v. 5: Those who feasted on dainties Lie famished in the streets; Those who were reared in purple Have embraced refuse heaps.
vv. 6-8: The guilt of my poor people Exceeded the iniquity of Sodom, Which was overthrown in a moment, Without a hand striking it. Her elect were purer than snow, Whiter than milk; Their limbs were ruddier than coral, Their bodies were like sapphire. Now their faces are blacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin has shriveled on their bones, It has become dry as wood.
v. 10: With their own hands, tenderhearted women Have cooked their children; Such became their fare, In the disaster of my poor people.
v. 12: The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor any of the inhabitants of the world, That foe or adversary could enter The gates of Jerusalem.
v. 16: The LORD’s countenance has turned away from them, He will look on them no more. They showed no regard for priests, No favor to elders.
v. 21: Rejoice and exult, Fair Edom, Who dwell in the land of Uz! To you, too, the cup shall pass, You shall get drunk and expose your nakedness.

IV. Outline
1-16. Descriptive lament
17-20. Communal lament
21-22. Imprecation of Edom

V. Comment
No comment today. I hope to revisit this chapter at the end of the cycle. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Gerstenberger, Psalms Part 2 and Lamentations (Forms of Old Testament Literature)
Photo taken from http://www.orusovo.com/guidebook/images/camelbird.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Lamentations 3 is an acrostic poem, and each letter takes up three verses. The speaker complains about his miserable state, encourages others to turn to God, leads them in a prayer, and begs God to punish his enemies with a vengeance.

II. Photo
The people complain to God in v. 45: “You have made us filth and refuse In the midst of the peoples!”

III. Important Verses
vv. 3-8: On none but me He brings down His hand Again and again, without cease. He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones. All around me He has built Misery and hardship; He has made me dwell in darkness, Like those long dead. He has walled me in and I cannot break out; He has weighed me down with chains. And when I cry and plead, He shuts out my prayer.
vv. 21-23: But this do I call to mind, Therefore I have hope: The kindness of the LORD has not ended, His mercies are not spent. They are renewed every morning — Ample is Your grace!
vv. 24-26: “The LORD is my portion,” I say with full heart; Therefore will I hope in Him. The LORD is good to those who trust in Him, To the one who seeks Him; It is good to wait patiently Till rescue comes from the LORD.
vv. 37-38: Whose decree was ever fulfilled, Unless the Lord willed it? Is it not at the word of the Most High, That weal and woe befall?
vv. 40-41: Let us search and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD; Let us lift up our hearts with our hands To God in heaven.
vv. 55-56:  I have called on Your name, O LORD, From the depths of the Pit. Hear my plea; Do not shut Your ear To my groan, to my cry!

IV. Outline
1-20. Complaint
21-36. Affirmation of confidence
37-54. Communal confession and complaint
55-66. Petition

V. Comment
No comment today. I hope to revisit this chapter at the end of the cycle. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Gerstenberger, Psalms Part 2 and Lamentations (Forms of Old Testament Literature)
Photo taken from  http://www.geofffox.com/MT/images/melrose-trash.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Lamentations 2 is an acrostic lament. The narrator describes Jerusalem’s frightful state and urges its inhabitants to turn to God.

II. Photo
God’s anger is described in v. 4: “He poured out His wrath like fire In the Tent of Fair Zion.”

III. Important Verses
v. 5: The Lord has acted like a foe, He has laid waste Israel, Laid waste all her citadels, Destroyed her strongholds. He has increased within Fair Judah Mourning and moaning.
v. 9: Her gates have sunk into the ground, He has smashed her bars to bits; Her king and her leaders are in exile, Instruction is no more; Her prophets, too, receive No vision from the LORD.
vv. 15-16: All who pass your way Clap their hands at you; They hiss and wag their head At Fair Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called Perfect in Beauty, Joy of All the Earth?” All your enemies Jeer at you; They hiss and gnash their teeth, And cry: “We’ve ruined her! Ah, this is the day we hoped for; We have lived to see it!”
vv. 19-20: Arise, cry out in the night At the beginning of the watches, Pour out your heart like water In the presence of the Lord! Lift up your hands to Him For the life of your infants, Who faint for hunger At every street corner, See, O LORD, and behold, To whom You have done this! Alas, women eat their own fruit, Their new-born babes! Alas, priest and prophet are slain In the Sanctuary of the Lord!

IV. Outline
1-16. Misery described
17-19. Admonitions
20-22. Plea and lament

V. Comment
No comment today. I hope to revisit this chapter at the end of the cycle. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Gerstenberger, Psalms Part 2 and Lamentations (Forms of Old Testament Literature)
Photo taken from  http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/johnston/homehort2/fire_ant/Flames.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Chapter 1 is an acrostic lament. A narrator describes Jerusalem’s abandonment, and personified Jerusalem laments her miserable state.

II. Photo
Jerusalem speaks in v. 16: “For these things do I weep, My eyes flow with tears: Far from me is any comforter Who might revive my spirit; My children are forlorn, For the foe has prevailed.”

III. Important Verses
v. 4: Zion’s roads are in mourning, Empty of festival pilgrims; All her gates are deserted. Her priests sigh, Her maidens are unhappy — She is utterly disconsolate!
v. 5: Her enemies are now the masters, Her foes are at ease, Because the LORD has afflicted her For her many transgressions; Her infants have gone into captivity Before the enemy.
v. 8: Jerusalem has greatly sinned, Therefore she is become a mockery. All who admired her despise her, For they have seen her disgraced; And she can only sigh And shrink back.
v. 18: The LORD is in the right, For I have disobeyed Him. Hear, all you peoples, And behold my agony: My maidens and my youths Have gone into captivity!

IV. Outline
1-11. Jerusalem’s pitiful state
12-22. Jerusalem’s individual lament

V. Comment
No comment today. I hope to revisit this chapter at the end of the cycle. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Gerstenberger, Psalms Part 2 and Lamentations (Forms of Old Testament Literature)

Photo taken from  http://blogs.app.com/saywhat/files/2009/01/tear.jpg