Sin Swallows Up The Sinner - Lamentations 2:10-16

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Yodh

¹⁰ The elders of the daughter of Zion
Sit on the ground; they are silent.
They have thrown dust up on their heads;
They have girded themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads down to the ground.

Kaph

¹¹ My eyes fail because of tears;
My inmost being is greatly disturbed;
My heart is poured out on the earth
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
When infants and nursing babies faint
In the open squares of the city.

Lamedh

¹² They say to their mothers,
“Where is grain and wine?”
As they faint like a wounded man
In the open squares of the city,
As their life is poured out
On their mothers’ bosom.

Mem

¹³ What shall I testify about you?
To what shall I equate you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
To what shall I liken you as I comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your destruction is as vast as the sea;
Who can heal you?

Nun

¹⁴ Your prophets have beheld for you
Worthless and ineffective visions;
And they have not uncovered your iniquity
So as to return you from captivity,
But they have beheld for you worthless and misleading oracles.

Samekh

¹⁵ All who pass along the way
Clap their hands in derision at you;
They hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem,
“Is this the city of which they said,
‘The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth’?”

Pe

¹⁶ All your enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, “We have swallowed her up!
Surely this is the day for which we have hoped;
We have found it, we have seen it.”

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