LAMENTATIONS 1

Jeremiah describes Jerusalem's great sins and resultant suffering.

HER SINS (1:8-9):

"Jerusalem has sinned greatly.... She defiled herself with immorality."

HER SUFFERING (1:1-7, 10-11)

Jerusalem sits alone, like a grief-stricken widow (1:1, 4).

She weeps throughout the night with no one to comfort her (1:2).

Judah has been taken into exile (1:3, 5).

Her former beauty and majesty are gone (1:6).

The enemy laughs as she falls (1:7).

The enemy has looted her treasure and violated her Temple (1:10).

Her people are starving (1:11).

HER SPEECH (1:12-22)

The punishment (1:12-15):

She is treated with contempt.

The pain (1:16-21):

She weeps uncontrollably over her people's plight.

The prayer (1:22):

She asks the Lord to punish the enemy as he has punished his own people.

LAMENTATIONS 2

Jeremiah describes the Lord's wrath against Jerusalem-and his own anger over the city's desperate state.

JERUSALEM'S CRISIS (2:1-19):

The city's troubles are recounted.

The agony (2:1-17)

The nation (2:2-5):

The Lord's anger consumes the land like a raging fire.

The city (2:1, 8-9a, 13, 15-17):

The Lord humiliates Jerusalem.

Her walls and ramparts are destroyed (2:8).

Her gates sink into the ground (2:9a).

Her wound is as deep as the sea (2:13).

Her enemies scoff and jeer at her (2:15-17).

The Temple (2:6-7):

It has been broken down as though it were a garden shelter, and the holy festivals are no longer observed.

The people (2:9b-12, 14)

The displacement (2:9b):

The king and princes are in exile.

The darkness (2:9c, 14):

The prophets no longer receive visions from the Lord.

The despair (2:10):

The leaders sit on the ground in silence.

The deaths (2:11-12):

Little children die in the streets.

The anguish (2:18-19):

The city is to cry out in her grief and is to pray for deliverance.

JERUSALEM'S CRY (2:20-22):

In utter anguish, Jerusalem calls out to the Lord, "O LORD, think about this! Should mothers eat their little children? Should priests and prophets die within the Lord's Temple?"

LAMENTATIONS 3

Jeremiah recalls his sufferings but expresses hope in the Lord. He tells the people to repent and asks the Lord to vindicate him by punishing his oppressors.

THE AFFLICTIONS (3:1-20, 43-46, 52-66)

Of Jeremiah (3:1-20, 52-66):

The Lord and the people plague him.

From the Lord (3:1-20)

The Lord brings him into deep darkness (3:2-3).

The Lord makes him old and breaks his bones (3:4).

The Lord walls him in a dark place and chains him down (3:5-7).

The Lord ignores his prayers (3:8).

The Lord blocks his path (3:9).

The Lord attacks him like a bear (3:10-11).

The Lord pierces his heart with arrows (3:12-13).

The Lord makes him the object of ridicule (3:14).

The Lord fills him with bitterness (3:15).

The Lord takes away his peace and prosperity (3:16-20).

From the people (3:52-66):

Mistreated and imprisoned by his own people for preaching against their sins, Jeremiah calls upon the Lord to pay them back.

Of Jerusalem (3:43-46)

From the Lord (3:43-45):

Jeremiah laments that the Lord has treated them in the following ways:

He has chased them down and slaughtered them without mercy (3:43).

He refuses to hear their prayers (3:44).

He has discarded them as garbage (3:45).

From their enemies (3:46):

They speak out against Jerusalem.

THE AGONY (3:47-51):

Jeremiah cries out, "My tears flow down endlessly."

THE ASSURANCE (3:21-24, 31-33):

Despite Jeremiah's groaning, he finds hope in the Lord. He rejoices that the Lord's unfailing love keeps his people from complete destruction.

THE ADMONITION (3:25-30, 34-42):

Jeremiah's threefold advice to the people:

Wait patiently for the Lord to respond (3:25-26).

Accept the Lord's discipline (3:27-30, 34-39).

Repent of your sin (3:40-42).

LAMENTATIONS 4

Jeremiah clarifies the desperate situation in Jerusalem, detailing the causes and events of the city's destruction. He warns Edom not to rejoice, for they, too, will be judged.

JERUSALEM'S CURRENT JUDGMENT (4:1-20)

The consequences (4:1-10):

Various people endure terrible suffering when the Babylonians destroy the city.

Children (4:1-4)

Rich people (4:5-6)

Princes (4:7-9)

Mothers (4:10)

The causes (4:11-20)

The priests' and prophets' sins (4:11-16):

Because they shed innocent blood, the Lord sends his people into exile.

The enemy's strength (4:17-20):

The people can't withstand the Babylonians. They put their trust in man, not God.

EDOM'S COMING JUDGMENT (4:21-22):

Jeremiah says not to laugh at suffering Jerusalem, for Edom, too, will be judged.

SECTION OUTLINE FIVE (LAMENTATIONS 5)

Jeremiah pleads with the Lord to remember his people's desperate situation-and to restore them.

REMEMBER US (5:1-18):

Jeremiah reviews Jerusalem's pitiful condition after the Babylonian destruction and asks the Lord to remember his people.

The suffering (5:2-14):

Jeremiah notes the suffering of

The homeless (5:2)

The fatherless (5:3)

The hungry (5:4, 6-7, 9-10)

The persecuted (5:5, 8)

The women (5:11)

The noble (5:12)

The old and the young (5:13-14)

The sadness (5:15-18):

Jeremiah summarizes the people's plight, declaring that "our dancing has turned to mourning."

RESTORE US (5:19-22):

Jeremiah asserts that the Lord remains the same forever and calls upon him to restore his people once again.