Lamentations 1:5

The Message

Her enemies have become her masters. Her foes are living it up because God laid her low, punishing her repeated rebellions. Her children, prisoners of the enemy, trudge into exile.

Cross References

Jeremiah 12:7

“I will abandon the House of Israel, walk away from my beloved people. I will turn over those I most love to those who are her enemies. She’s been, this one I held dear, like a snarling lion in the jungle, Growling and baring her teeth at me— and I can’t take it anymore. Has this one I hold dear become a preening peacock? But isn’t she under attack by vultures? Then invite all the hungry animals at large, invite them in for a free meal! Foreign, scavenging shepherds will loot and trample my fields, Turn my beautiful, well-cared-for fields into vacant lots of tin cans and thistles. They leave them littered with junk— a ruined land, a land in lament. The whole countryside is a wasteland, and no one will really care. * * *

Lamentations 1:16

“For all this I weep, weep buckets of tears, and not a soul within miles around cares for my soul. My children are wasted, my enemy got his way.”

Lamentations 1:18

“God has right on his side. I’m the one who did wrong. Listen everybody! Look at what I’m going through! My fair young women, my fine young men, all herded into exile!

Lamentations 1:8

Jerusalem, who outsinned the whole world, is an outcast. All who admired her despise her now that they see beneath the surface. Miserable, she groans and turns away in shame.

Lamentations 2:17

God did carry out, item by item, exactly what he said he’d do. He always said he’d do this. Now he’s done it—torn the place down. He’s let your enemies walk all over you, declared them world champions!

Lamentations 3:46

“Our enemies shout abuse, their mouths full of derision, spitting invective. We’ve been to hell and back. We’ve nowhere to turn, nowhere to go. Rivers of tears pour from my eyes at the smashup of my dear people.

Ezekiel 9:9

He said, “The guilt of Israel and Judah is enormous. The land is swollen with murder. The city is bloated with injustice. They all say, ‘God has forsaken the country. He doesn’t see anything we do.’ Well, I do see, and I’m not feeling sorry for any of them. They’re going to pay for what they’ve done.”