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.
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.
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.b
for none come to the festival;
all her gates are desolate;
her priests groan;
her virgins have been afflicted,c
and she herself suffers bitterly.
her enemies prosper,
because the Lord has afflicted her
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
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.
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans
and turns her face away.
she took no thought of her future;d
therefore her fall is terrible;
she has no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!”
over all her precious things;
for she has seen the nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade
to enter your congregation.
as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
to revive their strength.
“Look, O Lord, and see,
for I am despised.”
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.
into my bonese 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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while they sought food
to revive their strength.
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.
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 broughth the day you announced;
now let them be as I am.
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.”
I. УЖАСНОЕ ОПУСТОШЕНИЕ ИЕРУСАЛИМА (1:1−11)
Перед нами предстает картина полного опустошения Иерусалима. Стихи 1−11 написаны от лица наблюдателя. Некогда многолюдный город теперь как вдова, князь, сделался данником — идолы бросили его на произвол судьбы, все друзья предали его (ст. 1−2). Из-за грехов своих отправился в изгнание народ, никто уже не приходит поклониться на Сионе (ст. 3−9). Вавилоняне забрали драгоценные сосуды из святилища (ст. 10), народ страдает от голода (ст. 11).
II. ГОРЕСТНЫЙ ПЛАЧ, РАСКАЯНИЕ И МОЛИТВА НАРОДА (1:12−22)
A. Плач (1:12−17)
Этот отрывок повествует о великом несчастии Иерусалима. Стих 12, который стал «классическим выражением скорби», напоминает нам плач Господа над Иерусалимом из-за его упрямого отвержения своего Мессии. Эти слова также соответствуют той атмосфере, которая царила на Голгофе, где умирал Христос: жестокие солдаты, религиозные вожди и бессердечная чернь, устроившая из ужасной казни забавное зрелище.
Иудеи понимают, что сам Господь (ст. 15) навел на них все это зло. И хотя Сион простирает руки свои, взывая о милости, утешителя нет ему, потому что Иерусалим сделался мерзостью среди них.
Б. Раскаяние (1:18−19)
Иудеи признают, что праведен Господь в том, что наказал их изгнанием, потому что народ непокорен был слову Его. Друзья Сиона — языческие народы — обманули его.
B. Молитва (1:20−22)
Евреи молят Бога — «ибо тяжки стоны мои» — чтобы Он воздал их врагам по их злобе и злорадству, полностью осознавая, при этом, свои грехи.