14 The aged from the gate have ceased, Young men from their song.
And I have caused to cease from cities of Judah, And from streets of Jerusalem, The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, Voice of bridegroom, and voice of bride, For the land doth become a desolation!
`Judges and authorities thou dost make to thee within all thy gates which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, for thy tribes; and they have judged the people -- a righteous judgment.
When I go out to the gate by the city, In a broad place I prepare my seat. Seen me have youths, and they, been hidden, And the aged have risen -- they stood up. Princes have kept in words, And a hand they place on their mouth. The voice of leaders hath been hidden, And their tongue to the palate hath cleaved. For the ear heard, and declareth me happy, And the eye hath seen, and testifieth `to' me. For I deliver the afflicted who is crying, And the fatherless who hath no helper. The blessing of the perishing cometh on me, And the heart of the widow I cause to sing. Righteousness I have put on, and it clotheth me, As a robe and a diadem my justice. Eyes I have been to the blind, And feet to the lame `am' I. A father I `am' to the needy, And the cause I have not known I search out. And I break the jaw-teeth of the perverse, And from his teeth I cast away prey.
And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock.
And my harp doth become mourning, And my organ the sound of weeping.
Mourned hath the new wine, languished the vine, Sighed have all the joyful of heart. Ceased hath the joy of tabrets, Ceased hath the noise of exulting ones, Ceased hath the joy of a harp. With a song they drink not wine, Bitter is strong drink to those drinking it. It was broken down -- a city of emptiness, Shut hath been every house from entrance. A cry over the wine `is' in out-places, Darkened hath been all joy, Removed hath been the joy of the land.
For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing to cease from this place, Before your eyes, and in your days, The voice of joy, and the voice of rejoicing, The voice of bridegroom and voice of bride.
The ways of Zion are mourning, Without any coming at the appointed time, All her gates are desolate, her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted -- and she hath bitterness.
I called for my lovers, they -- they have deceived me, My priests and my elders in the city have expired; When they have sought food for themselves, Then they give back their soul.
And I have caused the noise of thy songs to cease, And the voice of thy harps is heard no more.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Lamentations 5
Commentary on Lamentations 5 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 5
This chapter, though it has the same number of verses with the 1st, 2nd, and 4th, is not alphabetical, as they were, but the scope of it is the same with that of all the foregoing elegies. We have in it,
Some ancient versions call this chapter, "The Prayer of Jeremiah.'
Lam 5:1-16
Is any afflicted? let him pray; and let him in prayer pour out his complaint to God, and make known before him his trouble. The people of God do so here; being overwhelmed with grief, they give vent to their sorrows at the footstool of the throne of grace, and so give themselves ease. They complain not of evils feared, but of evils felt: "Remember what has come upon us, v. 1. What was of old threatened against us, and was long in the coming, has now at length come upon us, and we are ready to sink under it. Remember what is past, consider and behold what is present, and let not all the trouble we are in seem little to thee, and not worth taking notice of,' Neh. 9:32. Note, As it is a great comfort to us, so it ought to be a sufficient one, in our troubles, that God sees, and considers, and remembers, all that has come upon us; and in our prayers we need only to recommend our case to his gracious and compassionate consideration. The one word in which all their grievances are summer up is reproach: Consider, and behold our reproach. The troubles they were in compared with their former dignity and plenty, were a greater reproach to them than they would have been to any other people, especially considering their relation to God and dependence upon him, and his former appearances for them; and therefore this they complain of very sensibly, because, as it was a reproach, it reflected upon the name and honour of that God who had owned them for his people. And what wilt thou do unto thy great name?
Lam 5:17-22
Here,