August 15, 2025
The Lord is disciplining Israel as he said he would.
Lamentations 1-2
Karis Smith
Big Book Idea
Sin and rebellion lead to God's wrath and the people's distress, but, eventually, the equation should lead to repentance.
Key Verse | Lamentations 2:17
The LORD has done what he purposed;
he has carried out his word,
which he commanded long ago;
he has thrown down without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the might of your foes.
Lamentations 1-2
Chapter 1
How Lonely Sits the City
1
How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
has become a slave.
2
She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has none to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
3
Judah has gone into exile because of affliction
1
1:3
Or under affliction
and hard servitude;
she dwells now among the nations,
but finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
2
1:3
Or in the narrow passes
4
The roads to Zion mourn,
for none come to the festival;
all her gates are desolate;
her priests groan;
her virgins have been afflicted,
3
1:4
Septuagint, Old Latin dragged away
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5
Her foes have become the head;
her enemies prosper,
because the LORD has afflicted her
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6
From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7
Jerusalem remembers
in the days of her affliction and wandering
all the precious things
that were hers from days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was none to help her,
her foes gloated over her;
they mocked at her downfall.
8
Jerusalem sinned grievously;
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans
and turns her face away.
9
Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she took no thought of her future;
4
1:9
Or end
therefore her fall is terrible;
she has no comforter.
“O LORD, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!”
10
The enemy has stretched out his hands
over all her precious things;
for she has seen the nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade
to enter your congregation.
11
All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
to revive their strength.
“Look, O LORD, and see,
for I am despised.”
12
“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the LORD inflicted
on the day of his fierce anger.
13
From on high he sent fire;
into my bones
5
1:13
Septuagint; Hebrew bones and
he made it descend;
he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
he has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.
14
My transgressions were bound
6
1:14
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
into a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15
The Lord rejected
all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men;
the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16
For these things I weep;
my eyes flow with tears;
for a comforter is far from me,
one to revive my spirit;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.”
17
Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is none to comfort her;
the LORD has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18
“The LORD is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
19
I called to my lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while they sought food
to revive their strength.
20
Look, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21
They heard
7
1:21
Septuagint, Syriac Hear
my groaning,
yet there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
You have brought
8
1:21
Syriac Bring
the day you announced;
now let them be as I am.
22
Let all their evildoing come before you,
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for my groans are many,
and my heart is faint.”
Chapter 2
The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity
1
How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!
He has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2
The Lord has swallowed up without mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath he has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought down to the ground in dishonor
the kingdom and its rulers.
3
He has cut down in fierce anger
all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
4
He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set like a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.
5
The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel;
he has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
mourning and lamentation.
6
He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins his meeting place;
the LORD has made Zion forget
festival and Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7
The Lord has scorned his altar,
disowned his sanctuary;
he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
they raised a clamor in the house of the LORD
as on the day of festival.
8
The LORD determined to lay in ruins
the wall of the daughter of Zion;
he stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to lament;
they languished together.
9
Her gates have sunk into the ground;
he has ruined and broken her bars;
her king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and 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 are spent with weeping;
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out to the ground
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because infants and babies faint
in the streets of the city.
12
They cry to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers' bosom.
13
What can I say for you, to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14
Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen for you oracles
that are false and misleading.
15
All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?”
16
All your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We have swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; we see it!”
17
The LORD has done what he purposed;
he has carried out his word,
which he commanded long ago;
he has thrown down without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the might of your foes.
18
Their heart cried to the Lord.
O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!
19
“Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
20
Look, O LORD, and see!
With whom have you dealt thus?
Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of their tender care?
Should priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21
In the dust of the streets
lie the young and the old;
my young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
you have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering without pity.
22
You summoned as if to a festival day
my terrors on every side,
and on the day of the anger of the LORD
no one escaped or survived;
those whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Lamentations
Timeline
Author and Date
The author of this literary masterpiece is unknown. Lamentations provides eyewitness testimony of Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. in vivid, poetic detail. It was likely written between 586 and 516 B.C., with an early date being more probable.
Theme
The key passage in Lamentations is 3:19–24, which affirms that belief in God’s mercy and faithfulness is the key to a restored relationship with God. Forgiveness is possible even for people who have deserved God’s judgment (1:18). Hope, not despair, is the central theme in Lamentations.
Purpose
Lamentations was most likely written to be prayed or sung in worship services devoted to asking God’s forgiveness. Such services began as early as the months after the temple’s destruction in 586 B.C. (Jer. 41:4–5). They continued after the temple was rebuilt during Zechariah’s time (c. 520 B.C.; see Zech. 7:3–5; 8:19). In later years, Lamentations was read and sung as part of annual observances marking the temple’s destruction.
Key Themes
Lamentations presents many key theological realities from an important era in Israel’s history:
- It includes memorable prayers that confess sin, express renewed hope, and declare total dependence on God’s grace.
- It is the only book in the Bible written by a person who actually lived through the divine judgment the Bible often refers to as “the day of the Lord” (see Joel 2:1–2; Amos 5:18; Zeph. 1:14–16).
- It provides great insight into the nature of pain, sin, and redemption.
- Like so many other OT passages, Lamentations teaches that Jerusalem fell:
a. because of the people’s sins (1:18);
b. because they rejected God’s word sent through the prophets (2:8, 14, 17);
c. because their leaders led them astray (4:13).
- It affirms God’s never-ceasing mercy (3:19–24; compare Deut. 30:1–10). Readers can know that God never gives up on his people, even when they sin greatly.
- Lamentations agrees with the Psalms that prayer is the way to restore a broken relationship with God. It also shares the Psalms’ emphasis on God’s sovereignty (see Ps. 103:19).
- Like many of the prophets, Lamentations warns of the “day of the Lord.” This is the day when God judges sin. That day has already occurred in historical events like the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. It will occur again at the end of time as the final “day of the Lord.” People need to take seriously the warnings about such days of judgment.
Outline
Fact: Lamentations
Lamentations contains five poems that mourn the fall of Judah and the sin that caused it. Chapters 1–3 and 4 are acrostic poems. This means that each verse starts with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in alphabetical order. Psalm 119 is another example of an acrostic poem.
Fact: A book named “How”?
A book named “How”? In the Hebrew Bible, the title of the book of Lamentations is actually “How.” This is the first word in the book, and it occurs again at the beginning of chs. 2 and 4. It expresses “how” much Jerusalem has suffered.
Fact: Stretching out the measuring line
Stretching out the measuring line (2:8) is a military action. If the army did not have enough troops to guard a captured city, they might measure out certain lengths of wall to destroy. By doing this, they ensured that the city could not defend itself if it tried to rebel against its new captors.
Parallels between Jeremiah and Lamentations
| Jeremiah | Lamentations |
|---|---|
| I will make this house like Shiloh (chs. 7, 26) | The Lord has scorned . . . his sanctuary (2:7) |
| Let my eyes run down with tears (14:17–22) | my eyes flow with rivers of tears (3:48–51) |
| can I not do with you as this potter has done? (18:6) | regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter’s hands! (4:2) |
| eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters (19:9) | Should women eat the fruit of their womb? (2:20) |
| vain hopes (23:16) | Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions (2:14) |
Lam. 1:1 How. An exclamation often associated with expressions of grief (e.g., Isa. 1:21; Jer. 48:17). Note the contrasts: full of people/lonely; great/widow; princess/slave. Jerusalem’s losses are terrible.
Lam. 1:2 Jerusalem weeps bitterly in the night because of her losses (v. 1). lovers . . . friends. Her former allies (see vv. 16, 17; Jer. 22:20–22).
Lam. 1:3 gone into exile. See Jer. 52:24–30. because of affliction and hard servitude. See Lam. 1:7, 9; 3:1, 19. Exiles were often forced to work constantly. Such labor reminds readers of Israel’s Egyptian bondage (see Ex. 1:1–14; 2:23; 6:6). dwells now among the nations . . . no resting place. A reversal of God’s own promises to Israel (e.g., Deut. 12:10).
Lam. 1:4 Devastated Jerusalem lacks worshipers (see Jer. 41:4–5) to travel her roads, enter her gates, and attend any festival. The virgins were women who participated in joyful processions (Ps. 68:24–25) and dances (Jer. 31:4)
Lam. 1:5 her enemies prosper. Babylon has conquered Jerusalem (Jer. 52:1–30) because of her transgressions, that is, she has willfully broken God’s law (see Lam. 1:5, 14, 22; Amos 1:3, 6, 9; etc.). Jerusalem’s sins have harmed her children, that is, her inhabitants.
Lam. 1:7 In exile the people recall the days of David, Solomon, and Josiah (all the precious things) in days of old. These precious things have been replaced with worthless things like the gloating and mocking of enemies.
Lam. 1:9 Her uncleanness. The sins she committed (v. 8) were in her skirts, that is, they clung to her. She took no thought of her future in the sense that she did not expect things to turn out as they had, despite God’s warnings in Lev. 26:14–46, Deut. 28:15–68, and the Prophetic Books. O LORD, behold my affliction. Jerusalem speaks for the first time, asking God to take note of what the enemy has done.
Lam. 1:13 From on high he sent fire. Fire is a common way of describing judgment (Amos 1:3–2:5). The phrase reminds readers of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Gen. 19:23–29; Lam. 4:6). into my bones. The very core of Jerusalem’s being (Jer. 20:9).
Lam. 1:21 no one to comfort me. See vv. 9, 16, 17. the day you announced. The day of judgment promised by Moses and the prophets (see vv. 12–13; Isa. 2:6–22; Jer. 12:3). let them be as I am. Jerusalem asked that God judge her foes; Jer. 27:7 and 46:1–51:64 promise that this will in fact happen.
1:1–22 How Lonely Sits the City. Lamentations begins with a description of Jerusalem’s destruction (vv. 1–11) and reports of her calls for help (vv. 12–22). Jerusalem speaks in vv. 9b, 11b–16, and 18–22. A narrator speaks in vv. 1–9a, 10–11a, and 17.
Lam. 2:1 How. See note on 1:1. the Lord in his anger. Over Judah’s long-term sin (1:9, 14, 18, 20, 22). under a cloud. A symbol for the darkness of God’s punishment (see 2 Sam. 22:12; Jer. 13:16). He has cast down. See Lam. 1:12, 21–22. From heaven to earth describes Israel’s fall from great favor (see Deut. 28:1–14) to terrible devastation (see Deut. 28:15–68). he has not remembered. In contrast to when he mercifully reached out to deliver his people (Ex. 2:23–25). his footstool. Probably a symbol for Jerusalem itself.
Lam. 2:3 God’s right hand, which in times past shattered Pharaoh’s army (Ex. 15:6, 12) was now withdrawn . . . in the face of the enemy.
Lam. 2:6 laid waste his booth. Destroyed the temple, the place where his name and his presence dwell (1 Kings 9:1–9). his meeting place. The temple. forget. The memory of these celebrations is growing dim, for they no longer occur.
Lam. 2:8 The LORD determined. God’s plan (see Jer. 18:11; 29:20; 36:3; 50:45) was to overthrow the rebellious people.
Fact: Stretching out the measuring line
Stretching out the measuring line (2:8) is a military action. If the army did not have enough troops to guard a captured city, they might measure out certain lengths of wall to destroy. By doing this, they ensured that the city could not defend itself if it tried to rebel against its new captors.
Lam. 2:11 my bile. Literally, “my liver,” that is, emotions. daughter of my people. A term of endearment for Jerusalem (3:48; see Jer. 8:19–22; 14:17). infants and babies. Jerusalem’s most helpless people suffer because of their parents’ failures (see Lam. 2:20; 4:10; Deut. 28:41, 53–57; Jer. 10:20).
Lam. 2:14 Judah’s prophets were part of the problem (see Jer. 14:13–22; 23:9–40; Ezek. 13:1–19; Hos. 4:5). They gave false and deceptive visions. See Jer. 27:14–15. not exposed your iniquity. Their sins were the ultimate source of their problems, but the prophets did not urge them to repent (see Jer. 5:30–31).
Lam. 2:17 what he purposed. See 1:18 and 2:8. God sent the people away because of their sins (see Lev. 26:14–39; Deut. 28:64–68). God carried out his word, which he delivered through Moses and the prophets (2 Kings 17:7–23).
Lam. 2:18–19 Now Jerusalem (daughter of Zion) must cry out to God, just as the speaker (v. 11) has cried out for Jerusalem. She must turn to God for the sake of her children, who are fainting for hunger (see v. 12).
Lam. 2:20 With whom have you dealt thus? Jerusalem was God’s chosen city (1 Kings 9:1–9), yet God has judged her (Jer. 7:1–8:3). eat the fruit of their womb. Cannibalism of this type occurred in wartime (see 2 Kings 6:24–31). Moses had warned that such things would happen if Israel broke her covenant with God (see Lev. 26:29; Deut. 28:52–57; Jer. 19:1–9; Ezek. 5:10).
Lam. 2:1–22 God Has Set Zion under a Cloud. This chapter emphasizes the completeness of God’s judgment on Jerusalem. The verses unfold in three parts, each of which has a different main speaker. In vv. 1–10 the speaker describes the effects of God’s punishment. In vv. 11–19 a prophetic voice like Jeremiah’s grieves the city’s losses and counsels her to cry out to God. In vv. 20–22 Jerusalem again asks God to see what she has suffered and to act on her behalf.
Lam. 2:22 a festival day. The old festivals (see 1:4, 15; 2:6, 7) have been replaced by a new “festival”: the day of the anger of the LORD.
Listen to the Podcast
Listen NowDive Deeper | Lamentations 1-2
Lamentations is a book of, you guessed it, laments to the Lord. The author and Jerusalem herself tell of the current state of the city: she has been plundered, lies in ruins, and is the scorn of all who observe her. Her people have been either taken captive into exile or remain in destitution and starvation. Lamentations is her honest conversation with God about her pain.
Why did this happen? Judah tolerated, then accepted, and finally practiced the sinful lifestyles the Lord instructed the people against. As Steven Smith explains in The Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary, there is instructive discipline and corrective discipline. Instructive discipline is not related to specific sin, but is allowed for God to be glorified to bring us closer to him and to make us look more like him. Corrective discipline, however, "is suffering the consequences of our sin."
There is no questioning which discipline is occurring for Jerusalem. "[H]er enemies prosper, because the LORD has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions." (Lamentations 1:5) God is disciplining his people. Because of their behavior and lifestyle choices, he purposefully allowed pain. "The LORD has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago; he has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes." (Lamentations 2:17)
Although it is tempting to be disheartened by Lamentations, there is reason to be encouraged by Jerusalem's distress. This is not a story of God abandoning his people; this is continued proof of God pursuing his children and his love for them.
"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives." (Hebrews 12: 5-6)
Pain is not equivalent to abandonment. In the believer's life, pain is often proof of God's presence.
This cycle repeats throughout history. People stray from God. Discipline occurs. Then the people see God. One day, this cycle will end. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we will see him "face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
This month's memory verse
"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
– Lamentations 3:21-23
Discussion Questions
1. How do you view the pain occurring in your life?
2. Is there any pain in your life that you deem "corrective discipline" or the consequences of your actions? If so, are you believing that you need to muscle yourself through it? Are you believing that, because it was your fault anyway, God does not need to hear about it from you?
3. Based on the observations that instructive and corrective discipline are both from God himself and that an entire book about a people crying to God about the corrective discipline they are suffering has been included in the eternal Word of God, do you still believe God does not care about or want to hear about your pain? Does the evidence support the notion that it is not worth bringing your pain to him?
4. Is there currently or has any "instructive discipline" occurred in your life? What did your interactions with the Lord look like during that time? How did that experience cause you to view the Lord?
5. Regardless of the type of discipline you have experienced, have you seen God's kindness and felt his love through it? Have there been ways this pain has drawn you closer to him?