Lamentations 2 Comparison: Wycliffe Bible (1395) vs KJV with Apocrypha

Lamentations 2

¹Aleph. Hou hath the Lord hilid the douyter of Sion with derknesse in his strong veniaunce? he hath caste doun fro heuene in to erthe the noble citee of Israel; and bithouyte not on the stool of hise feet, in the dai of his strong veniaunce.

²Beth. The Lord castide doun, and sparide not alle the faire thingis of Jacob; he distried in his strong veniaunce the strengthis of the virgyn of Juda, and castide doun in to erthe; he defoulide the rewme, and the princes therof.

³Gymel. He brak in the ire of his strong veniaunce al the horn of Israel; he turnede a bak his riyt hond fro the face of the enemy; and he kyndlide in Jacob, as fier of flawme deuowrynge in cumpas.

⁴Deleth. He as an enemye bente his bouwe, he as an aduersarie made stidfast his riyt hond; and he killide al thing that was fair in siyt in the tabernacle of the douytir of Sion; he schedde out his indignacioun as fier.

⁵He. The Lord is maad as an enemy; he castide doun Israel, he castide doun alle the wallis therof; he destriede the strengthis therof, and fillide in the douyter of Juda a man maad low, and a womman maad low.

⁶Vau. And he scateride his tent as a gardyn, he distried his tabernacle; the Lord yaf to foryetyng in Sion a feeste dai, and sabat; and the kyng and prest in to schenschipe, and in to the indignacioun of his strong veniaunce.

⁷Zai. The Lord puttide awei his auter, he curside his halewyng; he bitook in to the hondis of enemy the wallis of the touris therof; thei yauen vois in the hous of the Lord, as in a solempne dai.

⁸Heth. The Lord thouyte to distrie the wal of the douyter of Sion; he stretchide forth his coorde, and turnede not awei his hond fro perdicioun; the forwal, ether the outerward, mourenyde, and the wal was distried togidere.

⁹Teth. The yatis therof ben piyt in the erthe, he loste and al to-brak the barris therof; the kyng therof and the princes therof among hethene men; the lawe is not, and the profetis therof founden not of the Lord a visioun.

¹⁰Joth. Thei saten in erthe, the elde men of the douytir of Sion weren stille; thei bispreynten her heedis with aische, the eldere men of Juda ben girt with hairis; the virgyns of Juda castiden doun to erthe her heedis.

¹¹Caph. Myn iyen failiden for teeris, myn entrails weren disturblid; my mawe was sched out in erthe on the sorewe of the douyter of my puple; whanne a litil child and soukynge failide in the stretis of the citee.

¹²Lameth. Thei seiden to her modris, Where is wheete, and wyn? whanne thei failiden as woundid men in the stretis of the citee; whanne thei senten out her soulis in the bosum of her modris.

¹³Men. To whom schal Y comparisoun thee? ether to whom schal Y licne thee, thou douyter of Jerusalem? to whom schal Y make thee euene, and schal Y coumforte thee, thou virgyn, the douyter of Sion? for whi thi sorewe is greet as the see; who schal do medicyn to thee?

¹⁴Nun. Thi profetis sien to thee false thingis, and fonned; and openyden not thi wickidnesse, that thei schulden stire thee to penaunce; but thei sien to thee false takyngis, and castyngis out.

¹⁵Sameth. Alle men passynge on the weie flappiden with hondis on thee; thei hissiden, and mouyden her heed on the douyter of Jerusalem; and seiden, This is the citee of perfit fairnesse, the ioie of al erthe.

¹⁶Ayn. Alle thin enemyes openyden her mouth on thee; thei hissiden, and gnaistiden with her teeth, and seiden, We schulen deuoure; lo! this is the dai which we abididen, we founden, we sien.

¹⁷Phe. The Lord dide tho thingis whiche he thouyte, he fillide hise word which he hadde comaundid fro elde daies; he distriede, and sparide not; and made glad the enemy on thee, and enhaunside the horn of thin enemyes.

¹⁸Sade. The herte of hem criede to the Lord, on the wallis of the douyter of Syon; leede thou forth teeris as a stronde, bi dai and niyt; yyue thou not reste to thee, nether the appil of thin iye be stille.

¹⁹Coph. Rise thou togidere, herie thou in the nyyt, in the begynnyng of wakyngis; schede out thin herte as watir, bifore the siyt of the Lord; reise thin hondis to hym for the soulis of thi litle children, that failiden for hungur in the heed of alle meetyngis of weies.

²⁰Res. Se thou, Lord, and byholde, whom thou hast maad so bare; therfor whether wymmen schulen ete her fruyt, litle children at the mesure of an hond? for a prest and profete is slayn in the seyntuarie of the Lord.

²¹Syn. A child and an elde man laien on the erthe withoutforth; my virgyns and my yonge men fellen doun bi swerd; thou hast slayn hem in the dai of thi strong veniaunce, thou smotist `and didist no merci.

²²Thau. Thou clepidist, as to a solempne dai, hem that maden me aferd of cumpas; and noon was that ascapide in the dai of the strong veniaunce of the Lord, and was left; myn enemy wastide hem, whiche Y fedde, and nurschide up.

Lamentations 2

¹How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!

²The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.

³He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.

⁴He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.

⁵The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.

⁶And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

⁷The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast.

⁸The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.

⁹Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord.

¹⁰The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

¹¹Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.

¹²They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers’ bosom.

¹³What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?

¹⁴Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.

¹⁵All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?

¹⁶All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.

¹⁷The Lord hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.

¹⁸Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.

¹⁹Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.

²⁰Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

²¹The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.

²²Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the Lord’s anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.