The Sorrows of Zion
1How asolitary and lonely sits the city JerusalemThat was once bfull of people!How like a cwidow she has become.She who was dgreat among the nations!The princess among the provinces,Has become a eforced laborer!The writings of the prophets are not only valuable contributions to Old Testament history, but the reader is also enriched by familiarity with the forecasts of events which have been fulfilled, thus revealing the divine inspiration of the books and the wisdom and power of the God who prompted their writings.Is 3:26Is 22:2Is 54:41 Kin 4:21; Ezra 4:20; Jer 31:72 Kin 23:35; Jer 40:92 She aweeps bitterly in the nightAnd her tears are constantly on her cheeks;Among all her blovers She has no one to comfort her.All her friends have cdealt treacherously with her;They have become her enemies. Jer 3:1; 4:30Ps 6:6; 77:2-6; Lam 1:16Jer 2:25; 3:1; 22:20-22Job 19:13, 14; Ps 31:11; Mic 7:53 aJudah has gone into exile under afflictionAnd under harsh servitude;She dwells bamong the pagan nations,But she has found no rest;All cher pursuers have overtaken herIn the midst of her distress.Jer 13:19Lev 26:39; Deut 28:64-672 Kin 25:4, 54 The roads to Zion are in mourningBecause ano one comes to the appointed feasts.All her gates are bdesolate;Her priests are groaning,Her cvirgins are grieved and suffering,And she suffers dbitterly.Is 24:4-6; Lam 2:6, 7Jer 9:11; 10:22Lam 2:10, 21Joel 1:8-135 Her adversaries have become her masters,Her enemies prosper;For the LORD has acaused her griefBecause of the multitude of her transgressions;Her young children have goneInto captivity before the enemy. Jer 30:14, 15; 52:28; Dan 9:7-14Ps 90:7, 8; Ezek 8:17, 18; 9:9, 106 All her abeauty and majestyHave departed from the Daughter of Zion .Her princes have become like deerThat have found no pasture;They have bfled without strengthBefore the pursuer.Jer 13:182 Kin 25:4, 57 In the days of her affliction and homelessnessaJerusalem remembers all her precious thingsThat she had from the days of old,When her people fell into the hand of the adversary,And bno one helped her,The enemy saw her,They cmocked at her downfall.Ps 42:4; 77:5-9Jer 37:7; Lam 4:17Ps 79:4; Jer 48:278 Jerusalem sinned agreatly;Therefore bshe has become an unclean thing and has been removed.All who honored her now despise herBecause they have seen her nakedness;Even cshe herself groans and turns her face away.Is 59:2-13; Lam 1:5, 20Lam 1:17Lam 1:11, 21, 229 Her auncleanness was on her skirts;She did not seriously consider her bfuture.Therefore she has ccome down from throne to slavery in an astonishing manner;dShe has no comforter.“O LORD” cries Jerusalem, “elook at my affliction,For the enemy has fmagnified himself in triumph!”Jer 2:34; Ezek 24:13Deut 32:29; Is 47:7Is 3:8; Jer 13:17, 18Eccl 4:1; Jer 16:7Ps 25:18; 119:153Ps 74:23; Zeph 2:1010 The adversary has spread out his handOver all her precious and desirable things;For she has seen the Gentile anations enter her sanctuary —1The ones whom You commandedThat they should bnot enter into Your congregation not even in the outer courts. Deut 23:3; Jer 51:51; Ezek 44:7, 9The Ammonites and Moabites, descendants of Lot and related to Israel, were forbidden to enter the congregation of the Lord, “even to their tenth generation,” because they refused to assist the sons of Israel when they were escaping from Egypt, and because they hired Balaam to curse Israel (Deut 23:3, 4). The Israelites never assembled any closer to the sanctuary of the temple than in the court outside its door. No Jew, not even David was authorized to enter the sanctuary proper except for certain Levites to whom such service was assigned. But now, Jeremiah says, the forbidden pagan nations enter the Holy of Holies to vandalize.Ps 74:4-8; Is 64:10, 11; Jer 51:51Deut 23:311 All her people groan, aseeking bread;They have exchanged their desirable and precious things for foodTo brestore their lives.“See, O LORD, and considerHow cdespised and repulsive I have become!”Jer 38:9; 52:61 Sam 30:12Jer 15:1912 “Is ait nothing to you, all you who pass this way?Look and see if there is any pain like my painWhich was severely dealt out to me,Which the bLORD has inflicted on me on the day of His cfierce anger.Jer 18:16; 48:27Jer 30:23, 24Is 13:13; Jer 4:813 “From on high He sent fire into my abones,And it prevailed over them.He has spread a bnet for my feet;He has turned me back.He has made me cdesolate and hopelessly miserable,Faint all the day long.Job 30:30; Ps 22:14; Hab 3:16Job 19:6; Ps 66:11Jer 44:614 “The ayoke of my transgressions is bound;By His hand they are knit and woven together.They have bcome upon my neck.He has made my strength fail;The Lord chas put me into the handOf those against whom I cannot stand. Deut 28:48Prov 5:22; Is 47:6Jer 28:13, 14Jer 32:3, 5; Ezek 25:4, 715 “The aLord has rejected all the strong menIn my midst;He has proclaimed an established time against meTo crush my byoung men.The Lord has ctrampled down as in a wine pressThe Virgin Daughter of Judah.Is 41:2; Jer 13:24; 37:10Jer 6:11; 18:21Mal 4:316 “I aweep for these things;My eyes overflow with tears,Because a bcomforter,One who could restore my soul, is far away from me.My children are desolate and perishing,For the enemy has prevailed.” Lam 1:21Jer 14:17; Lam 2:11, 18; 3:48, 49Ps 69:20; Eccl 4:1; Lam 1:217 Zion astretches out her hands,But there is no comforter for her.The LORD has bcommanded concerning JacobThat his neighbors should be his enemies;cJerusalem has become a filthy thing an object of contempt among them.Is 1:15; Jer 4:312 Kin 24:2-4; Jer 12:9Lam 1:818 “The LORD is arighteous and just;For I have brebelled against His commandment .Hear now, all you peoples,And clook at my pain;dMy virgins and my young menHave gone into captivity.Ps 119:75; Jer 12:11 Sam 12:14, 15; Jer 4:17Lam 1:12Deut 28:32, 4119 “I Jerusalem acalled to my lovers , but they deceived me.My bpriests and my elders perished in the cityWhile they looked for food to crestore their strength.Job 19:13-19; Lam 1:2Jer 14:15; Lam 2:20Lam 1:1120 “See, O LORD, how distressed I am!My aspirit is deeply disturbed;My heart is overturned within me and cannot rest,For I have been very brebellious.In the street the sword kills and bereaves;In the house there is famine, disease and death!Is 16:11; Lam 2:11Jer 14:2021 “People have heard that I agroan,That I have no comforter in You.All my enemies have heard of my desperation;They are bdelighted O LORD that You have done it.Oh, that You would bring the day of judgment which You have proclaimedSo that they will become clike me. Is 14:5, 6; Jer 30:16Lam 1:4, 8, 22Ps 35:15; Jer 50:11; Lam 2:15Is 14:5, 6; 47:6, 11; Jer 30:1622 “Let all their wickedness come before You;And adeal with them as You have dealt with meBecause of all my transgressions;For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”Neh 4:4, 5; Ps 137:7, 8