WEBVTT 00:00:00.879 --> 00:00:03.700 Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:05.719 taking this journey together to read the Bible 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:08.560 in a year. For the next two days, we're going 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:10.820 to be reading the book of Lamentations, also 00:00:10.820 --> 00:00:13.320 known as the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Today, 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:16.059 we'll be reading Lamentations chapters 1 and 00:00:16.059 --> 00:00:21.260 2. Chapter 1. How lonely sits the city that was 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:24.760 full of people. How like a widow is she who was 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:27.320 great among the nations. The princess among the 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:30.739 provinces has become a slave. she weeps bitterly 00:00:30.739 --> 00:00:33.780 in the night her tears are on her cheeks among 00:00:33.780 --> 00:00:36.899 all her lovers she has none to comfort her all 00:00:36.899 --> 00:00:39.320 her friends have dealt treacherously with her 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:42.759 they have become her enemies judah has gone into 00:00:42.759 --> 00:00:45.619 captivity under affliction and hard servitude 00:00:45.619 --> 00:00:48.560 she dwells among the nations she finds no rest 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:52.159 all her persecutors overtake her in dire straits 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:55.899 the roads to zion mourn because no one comes 00:00:55.899 --> 00:00:58.770 to the set feasts All her gates are desolate, 00:00:58.950 --> 00:01:01.890 her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, 00:01:01.890 --> 00:01:04.629 and she is in bitterness. Her adversaries have 00:01:04.629 --> 00:01:07.769 become the master, her enemies prosper. For the 00:01:07.769 --> 00:01:10.269 Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude 00:01:10.269 --> 00:01:12.930 of her transgressions. Her children have gone 00:01:12.930 --> 00:01:15.549 into captivity before the enemy. And from the 00:01:15.549 --> 00:01:18.329 daughter of Zion all her splendor has departed. 00:01:18.530 --> 00:01:22.109 Her princes have become like deer that find no 00:01:22.109 --> 00:01:25.209 pasture, that flee without strength before the 00:01:25.209 --> 00:01:28.189 pursuer. In the days of her affliction and roaming, 00:01:28.430 --> 00:01:31.430 Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things that 00:01:31.430 --> 00:01:34.409 she had in the days of old. When her people fell 00:01:34.409 --> 00:01:37.230 into the hand of the enemy, with no one to help 00:01:37.230 --> 00:01:40.069 her, the adversaries saw her and mocked at her 00:01:40.069 --> 00:01:43.530 downfall. Jerusalem has sinned gravely, therefore 00:01:43.530 --> 00:01:47.049 she has become vile. All who honored her despise 00:01:47.049 --> 00:01:49.909 her because they have seen her nakedness. Yes, 00:01:49.930 --> 00:01:53.239 she sighs and turns away. Her uncleanness is 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:55.959 in her skirts. She did not consider her destiny. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:58.939 Therefore her collapse was awesome. She had no 00:01:58.939 --> 00:02:01.980 comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction, for 00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:05.000 the enemy is exalted. The adversary has spread 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.159 his hand over all her pleasant things, for she 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:10.900 has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:13.240 whom you commanded not to enter your assembly. 00:02:13.500 --> 00:02:16.710 All her people sigh. They seek bread. They have 00:02:16.710 --> 00:02:19.810 given their valuables for food to restore life. 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:23.250 See, O Lord, and consider, for I am scorned. 00:02:23.449 --> 00:02:26.870 Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold 00:02:26.870 --> 00:02:29.770 and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, 00:02:29.909 --> 00:02:32.490 which has been brought on me, which the Lord 00:02:32.490 --> 00:02:36.030 has inflicted in a day of his fierce anger. From 00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:38.729 above he has sent fire into my bones, and it 00:02:38.729 --> 00:02:42.009 overpowered them. He has spread a net for my 00:02:42.009 --> 00:02:45.490 feet and turned me back. He has made me desolate 00:02:45.490 --> 00:02:49.189 and faint all the day. The yoke of my transgressions 00:02:49.189 --> 00:02:52.810 was bound. They were woven together by his hands 00:02:52.810 --> 00:02:55.909 and thrust upon my neck. He made my strength 00:02:55.909 --> 00:02:58.610 fail. The Lord delivered me into the hands of 00:02:58.610 --> 00:03:01.810 those whom I am not able to withstand. The Lord 00:03:01.810 --> 00:03:04.469 has trampled underfoot all my mighty men. In 00:03:04.469 --> 00:03:07.250 my midst he has called an assembly against me 00:03:07.250 --> 00:03:10.150 to crush my young men. The Lord trampled, as 00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:12.689 in a winepress, the virgin daughter of Judah. 00:03:12.870 --> 00:03:17.110 For these things I weep, my eye overflows with 00:03:17.110 --> 00:03:20.409 water. Because the Comforter, who should restore 00:03:20.409 --> 00:03:23.969 my life, is far from me. My children are desolate, 00:03:24.150 --> 00:03:27.449 because the enemy prevailed. Zion spreads out 00:03:27.449 --> 00:03:30.310 her hands, but no one comforts her. The Lord 00:03:30.310 --> 00:03:33.090 has commanded concerning Jacob that those around 00:03:33.090 --> 00:03:36.330 him become his adversaries. Jerusalem has become 00:03:36.330 --> 00:03:39.740 an unclean thing among them. The Lord is righteous, 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:42.759 for I rebelled against his commandment. Hear 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:46.219 now, all peoples, and behold my sorrow. My virgins 00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:49.240 and my young men have gone into captivity. I 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:52.120 called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:55.379 priests and my elders breathed their last in 00:03:55.379 --> 00:03:58.240 the city, while they sought food to restore their 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:01.719 life. See, O Lord, that I am in distress. My 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:04.400 soul is troubled, my heart is overturned within 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.280 me, for I have been very rebellious. Outside 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:10.520 the sword bereaves, at home it is like death. 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:14.199 They have heard that I sigh, but no one comforts 00:04:14.199 --> 00:04:16.759 me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble, 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:19.860 they are glad that you have done it. Bring on 00:04:19.860 --> 00:04:22.800 the day you have announced, that they may become 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:25.959 like me. Let all their wickedness come before 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:29.100 you, and do to them as you have done to me. For 00:04:29.100 --> 00:04:31.800 all my transgressions, for my sighs are many, 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:37.579 and my heart is faint. Chapter 2 How the Lord 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:39.879 has covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:42.759 in his anger. He cast down from heaven to the 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:45.879 earth the beauty of Israel, and did not remember 00:04:45.879 --> 00:04:49.060 his footstool in the day of his anger. The Lord 00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:51.939 has swallowed up and has not pitied all the dwelling 00:04:51.939 --> 00:04:55.399 places of Jacob. He has thrown down in his wrath 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:58.519 the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:01.319 has brought them down to the ground. He has profaned 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:04.500 the kingdom and its princes. He has cut off in 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:08.279 fierce anger every horn of Israel. He has drawn 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:11.459 back his mighty hand from before the enemy. He 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:14.000 has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.480 devouring all around. Standing like an enemy, 00:05:17.620 --> 00:05:20.779 he has bent his bow with his right hand like 00:05:20.779 --> 00:05:23.399 an adversary. He has slain all who were pleasing 00:05:23.399 --> 00:05:26.519 to his eye. On the tent of the daughter of Zion, 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:30.379 he has poured out his fury like fire. The Lord 00:05:30.379 --> 00:05:33.019 was like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:36.399 He has swallowed up all her palaces. He has destroyed 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:39.199 her strongholds and has increased mourning and 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:42.300 lamentation in the daughter of Judah. He has 00:05:42.300 --> 00:05:45.420 done violence to his tabernacle as it were a 00:05:45.420 --> 00:05:48.199 garden. He has destroyed his place of assembly. 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:51.000 The Lord has caused the appointed feasts and 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:54.480 Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion. In his burning 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.199 indignation, he has spurned the king and the 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:00.399 priest. The Lord has spurned his altar. He has 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.079 abandoned his sanctuary. He has given up the 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:05.759 walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:08.420 They have made a noise in the house of the Lord 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:12.560 as on the day of a set feast. The Lord has purposed 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:15.160 to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. 00:06:15.660 --> 00:06:18.339 He has stretched out a line. He has not withdrawn 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:21.500 his hand from destroying. Therefore he has caused 00:06:21.500 --> 00:06:24.540 the rampart and wall to lament. They languished 00:06:24.540 --> 00:06:27.759 together. Her gates have sunk into the ground. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.959 He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:33.699 and her princes are among the nations. The law 00:06:33.699 --> 00:06:37.240 is no more, and her prophets find no vision from 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:40.100 the Lord. The elders of the daughter of Zion 00:06:40.100 --> 00:06:43.089 sit on the ground and keep silence. They throw 00:06:43.089 --> 00:06:45.610 dust on their heads and gird themselves with 00:06:45.610 --> 00:06:48.610 sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem bow their 00:06:48.610 --> 00:06:51.509 heads to the ground. My eyes fail with tears, 00:06:51.750 --> 00:06:55.209 my heart is troubled. My bile is poured on the 00:06:55.209 --> 00:06:57.730 ground because of the destruction of the daughter 00:06:57.730 --> 00:07:00.629 of my people, because the children and the infants 00:07:00.629 --> 00:07:04.009 faint in the streets of the city. They say to 00:07:04.009 --> 00:07:06.910 their mothers, where is grain and wine? as they 00:07:06.910 --> 00:07:09.110 swoon like the wounded in the streets of the 00:07:09.110 --> 00:07:12.589 city, as their life is poured out in their mother's 00:07:12.589 --> 00:07:15.889 bosom. How shall I console you? To what shall 00:07:15.889 --> 00:07:18.629 I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall 00:07:18.629 --> 00:07:21.230 I compare with you, that I may comfort you, O 00:07:21.230 --> 00:07:24.290 virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is spread 00:07:24.290 --> 00:07:27.970 wide as the sea. Who can heal you? Your prophets 00:07:27.970 --> 00:07:30.819 have seen for you. false and deceptive visions. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.779 They have not uncovered your iniquity to bring 00:07:33.779 --> 00:07:36.600 back your captives, but have envisioned for you 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:39.439 false prophecies and delusions. All who pass 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:42.379 by clap their hands at you. They hiss and shake 00:07:42.379 --> 00:07:45.019 their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem. In 00:07:45.019 --> 00:07:47.740 this city that is called the perfection of beauty, 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:51.019 the joy of the whole earth, all your enemies 00:07:51.019 --> 00:07:53.480 have opened their mouth against you. They hiss 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:56.319 and gnash their teeth. They say, we have swallowed 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.699 her up. Surely this is the day we have waited 00:07:59.699 --> 00:08:02.819 for, we have found it, we have seen it. The Lord 00:08:02.819 --> 00:08:05.399 has done what he purposed, he has fulfilled his 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:08.579 word, which he commanded in days of old. He has 00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:11.660 thrown down and has not pitied, and he has caused 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:14.399 an enemy to rejoice over you, he has exalted 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:16.939 the horn of your adversaries. Their heart cried 00:08:16.939 --> 00:08:19.839 out to the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, 00:08:20.060 --> 00:08:23.339 let tears run down like a river day and night, 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:26.759 give yourself no relief. Give your eyes no rest. 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:30.500 Arise, cry out in the night. At the beginning 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:33.059 of the watches, pour out your heart like water 00:08:33.059 --> 00:08:35.480 before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:38.460 toward him. For the life of young children who 00:08:38.460 --> 00:08:40.779 faint from hunger at the head of every street. 00:08:41.460 --> 00:08:44.120 See, O Lord, and consider, to whom have you done 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:47.100 this? Should the women eat their offspring, the 00:08:47.100 --> 00:08:49.659 children they have cuddled? Should the priest 00:08:49.659 --> 00:08:51.840 and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:55.299 Lord? Young and old lie on the ground in the 00:08:55.299 --> 00:08:58.379 streets. My virgins and my young men have fallen 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:00.799 by the sword. You have slain them in the day 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:03.200 of your anger. You have slaughtered and not pitied. 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:07.059 You have invited as to a feast day the terrors 00:09:07.059 --> 00:09:09.799 that surround me. In the day of the Lord's anger, 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:13.200 there was no refugee or survivor. Those whom 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:16.679 I have born and brought up, my enemies have destroyed. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:24.039 I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:26.159 I did and I look forward to seeing you again 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:28.600 tomorrow to continue on our journey. God bless 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:29.659 you and have a great day.