Participants: Kelly Mowrer
Series Code: HWAL
Program Code: HWAL000668
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00:14 Hello and welcome to "His Words Are Life."
00:17 I'm Kelly Mowrer and today we're reading 00:19 from the book of Lamentations. 00:20 Let's us pray together before we start. 00:23 Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your word 00:27 that You have kept for us 00:29 and how You have brought us to this time to hear it. 00:33 Please send your Holy Spirit now 00:34 to guide our ears as we listen. 00:37 We love You and thank You for loving us, amen. 00:40 I'm reading in Lamentations, Chapter 2 00:44 beginning with verse 11 and this is the King James Version. 00:48 "Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, 00:53 my liver is poured upon the earth, 00:55 for the destruction of the daughter of my people, 00:58 because the children and the suckling swoon 01:00 in the streets of the city. 01:02 They say to their mothers, where is corn and wine? 01:06 When they swooned as the wounded 01:08 in the streets of the city, 01:09 when their soul was poured out into their mothers' bosom. 01:12 What thing shall I take to witness for thee? 01:15 What thing shall I liken to thee, 01:17 O daughter of Jerusalem? 01:18 What shall I equal to thee, 01:20 that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? 01:23 For thy breach is great like the sea, who can heal thee? 01:27 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee, 01:31 and they have not discovered thine iniquity, 01:32 to turn away thy captivity, 01:34 but have seen for thee false burdens 01:37 and causes of banishment. 01:40 All that pass by clap their hands at thee, 01:42 they hiss and wag their head 01:43 at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, 01:45 Is this the city that men call, 01:47 The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth? 01:50 All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee, 01:52 they hiss and gnash the teeth. 01:54 They say, "We have swallowed her up." 01:57 Certainly this is the day that we looked for, 02:00 we have found, we have seen it. 02:03 The Lord hath done that which he had devised. 02:06 He hath fulfilled his word 02:07 that he had commanded in the days of old. 02:10 He hath thrown down, and hath not pitied, 02:12 and He hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee. 02:15 He hath set up the horn of thine adversaries. 02:18 Their heart cried unto the Lord, 02:20 O wall of the daughter of Zion, 02:22 let tears run down like a river day and night, 02:26 give thyself no rest, 02:28 let not the apple of thine eye cease. 02:31 Arise, cry out in the night, 02:33 in the beginning of the watches 02:35 pour out thine heart like water 02:38 before the face of the Lord. 02:39 Lift up thy hands toward him 02:41 for the life of thy young children, 02:43 that faint for hunger in the top of every street. 02:47 Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom thou hast done this. 02:53 Shall the women eat their fruit, 02:55 and children of a span long? 02:57 Shall the priest and the prophet be slain 03:00 in the sanctuary of the Lord? 03:01 The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets, 03:05 my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword. 03:09 Thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger, 03:10 thou hast killed, and not pitied. 03:13 thou hast called as in a solemn day 03:16 my terrors round about, 03:18 so that in the day of the Lord's anger 03:20 none escaped nor remained. 03:22 Those that I have swaddled 03:24 and brought up hath mine enemy consumed." 03:28 Continuing in Lamentations Chapter 3, 03:31 this is the King James Version. 03:34 "I am the man that hath seen affliction 03:37 by the rod of his wrath. 03:39 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, 03:41 but not into light. 03:43 Surely against me is He turned, 03:46 He turneth His hand against me all the day. 03:49 My flesh and my skin hath He made old, 03:51 He hath broken my bones. 03:53 He hath builded against me, 03:55 and compassed me with gall and travail. 03:58 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. 04:02 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out. 04:05 He hath made my chain heavy. 04:08 Also when I cry and shout, He shutteth out my prayer. 04:12 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone. 04:16 He hath made my paths crooked. 04:18 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, 04:20 and as a lion in secret places. 04:23 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces, 04:25 he hath made me desolate. 04:27 He hath bent His bow, 04:29 and set me as a mark for the arrow. 04:31 He hath caused the arrows 04:32 of His quiver to enter into my reins. 04:35 I was a derision to all my people, 04:38 and their song all the day. 04:40 He hath filled me with bitterness, 04:42 he hath made me drunken with wormwood. 04:45 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, 04:48 he hath covered me with ashes. 04:52 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace, 04:55 I forgat prosperity. 04:57 And I said, My strength 04:59 and my hope is perished from the Lord. 05:02 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, 05:05 the wormwood and the gall. 05:07 My soul hath them still in remembrance, 05:11 and is humbled in me. 05:13 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 05:18 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, 05:22 because His compassions fail not. 05:25 They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness. 05:30 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, 05:33 therefore will I hope in Him. 05:35 The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, 05:38 to the soul that seeketh Him. 05:41 It is good that a man should both hope 05:44 and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. 05:49 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 05:52 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, 05:55 because he hath borne it upon him. 05:57 He putteth his mouth in the dust, 06:00 if so be there may be hope. 06:03 He giveth his cheek to Him that smiteth Him, 06:06 He is filled full with reproach. 06:08 For the Lord will not cast off for ever. 06:12 But though he cause grief, 06:15 yet will he have compassion 06:17 according to the multitude of his mercies. 06:20 For he doth not afflict willingly 06:23 nor grieve the children of men. 06:25 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth. 06:27 To turn aside the right of a man 06:29 before the face of the most High. 06:31 To subvert a man in his cause, 06:33 the Lord approveth not. 06:36 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, 06:39 when the Lord commandeth it not? 06:43 Out of the mouth of the Most High 06:45 proceedeth not evil and good? 06:48 Wherefore doth a living man complain, 06:51 a man for the punishment of his sins? 06:54 Let us search and try our ways, 06:57 and turn again to the Lord. 07:00 Let us lift up our heart with our hands 07:02 unto God in the heavens. 07:05 We have transgressed and have rebelled, 07:07 thou hast not pardoned. 07:09 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us, 07:12 thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. 07:16 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, 07:18 that our prayer should not pass through. 07:20 Thou hast made us as the offscouring 07:22 and refuse in the midst of the people. 07:25 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. 07:28 Fear and a snare is come upon us, 07:31 desolation and destruction. 07:33 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water 07:36 for the destruction of the daughter of my people. 07:39 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, 07:42 without any intermission. 07:44 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven. 07:48 Mine eye affecteth mine heart 07:50 because of all the daughters of my city. 07:52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. 07:56 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, 07:58 and cast a stone upon me. 08:01 Waters flowed over mine head, then I said, I am cut off. 08:07 I called upon thy name, O Lord out of the low dungeon. 08:12 Thou hast heard my voice, 08:14 hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. 08:18 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee, 08:21 thou saidst, Fear not. 08:23 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul, 08:27 thou hast redeemed my life. 08:30 O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong, 08:32 judge thou my cause. 08:34 Thou hast seen all their vengeance 08:36 and all their imaginations against me. 08:39 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, 08:41 and all their imaginations against me. 08:43 The lips of those that rose up against me, 08:46 and their device against me all the day. 08:49 Behold their sitting down, 08:51 and their rising up, I am their musick. 08:54 Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, 08:56 according to the work of their hands. 08:58 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse upon them. 09:01 Persecute and destroy them in anger 09:04 from under the heavens of the Lord." 09:07 Continuing in the Book of Lamentations, Chapter 4 09:10 and this is the King James Version. 09:13 How is the gold become dim! 09:16 How is the most fine gold changed! 09:19 The stones of the sanctuary 09:20 are poured out in the top of every street. 09:23 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, 09:26 how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, 09:29 the work of the hands of the potter! 09:32 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, 09:35 they give suck to their young ones. 09:37 The daughter of my people is become cruel, 09:39 like the ostriches in the wilderness. 09:42 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth 09:45 to the roof of his mouth for thirst, 09:47 the young children ask bread, 09:48 and no man breaketh it unto them. 09:50 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets. 09:55 They that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 10:00 For the punishment of the iniquity 10:02 of the daughter of my people is greater 10:04 than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, 10:06 that was overthrown as in a moment, 10:08 and no hands stayed on her. 10:11 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, 10:13 they were whiter than milk, 10:15 they were more ruddy in body than rubies, 10:17 their polishing was of sapphire. 10:20 Their visage is blacker than a coal. 10:22 They are not known in the streets. 10:24 Their skin cleaveth to their bones, 10:26 it is withered, it is become like a stick. 10:30 They that be slain with the sword 10:32 are better than they that be slain with hunger, 10:34 for these pine away, stricken through 10:37 for want of the fruits of the field. 10:40 The hands of the pitiful women 10:42 have sodden their own children, 10:44 they were their meat in the destruction 10:45 of the daughter of my people. 10:48 The Lord hath accomplished his fury. 10:51 He hath poured out His fierce anger, 10:52 and hath kindled a fire in Zion, 10:54 and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 10:57 The kings of the earth, 10:59 and all the inhabitants of the world, 11:01 would not have believed that the adversary 11:03 and the enemy should have entered 11:04 into the gates of Jerusalem. 11:07 For the sins of her prophets, 11:09 and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed 11:11 the blood of the just in the midst of her. 11:14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, 11:17 they have polluted themselves with blood, 11:19 so that men could not touch their garments. 11:21 They cried unto them, 11:22 Depart ye, it is unclean, depart, depart, touch not, 11:26 when they fled away and wandered, 11:28 they said among the heathen. 11:30 They shall no more sojourn there. 11:33 The anger of the Lord hath divided them. 11:35 He will no more regard them. 11:38 They respected not the persons of the priests, 11:40 they favored not the elders. 11:43 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help, 11:48 in our watching we have watched 11:49 for a nation that could not save us. 11:53 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go 11:55 in our streets, our end is near, 11:58 our days are fulfilled, for our end is come. 12:02 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven, 12:06 they pursued us upon the mountains, 12:07 they laid wait for us in the wilderness. 12:10 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, 12:13 was taken in their pits, of whom we said, 12:16 under His shadow we shall live among the heathen. 12:20 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, 12:23 that dwellest in the land of Uz. 12:25 The cup also shall pass through unto thee, 12:27 thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 12:29 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, 12:32 O daughter of Zion. 12:34 He will no more carry thee away into captivity. 12:37 He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom. 12:40 He will discover thy sins." 12:44 Continuing in Lamentations, Chapter 5, 12:46 and this is the King James Version. 12:49 Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us, 12:52 consider, and behold our reproach. 12:55 Our inheritance is turned 12:56 to strangers, our houses to aliens. 12:59 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. 13:03 We have drunken our water for money, 13:05 our wood is sold unto us. 13:07 Our necks are under persecution, 13:09 we labour, and have no rest. 13:13 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, 13:15 and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. 13:18 Our fathers have sinned, and are not, 13:21 and we have borne their iniquities. 13:22 Servants have ruled over us 13:24 there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. 13:28 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives 13:30 because of the sword of the wilderness. 13:33 Our skin was black like an oven 13:35 because of the terrible famine. 13:37 They ravished the women in Zion, 13:38 and the maids in the cities of Judah. 13:41 Princes are hanged up by their hand, 13:43 the faces of elders were not honored. 13:45 They took the young men to grind, 13:47 and the children fell under the wood. 13:49 The elders have ceased from the gate, 13:52 the young men from their musick. 13:54 The joy of our heart is ceased, 13:55 our dance is turned into mourning. 13:58 The crown is fallen from our head, 14:00 woe unto us, that we have sinned! 14:04 For this our heart is faint, 14:05 for these things our eyes are dim. 14:08 Because of the mountain of Zion, 14:10 which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. 14:13 Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever, 14:16 thy throne from generation to generation. 14:18 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, 14:20 and forsake us so long time? 14:23 Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, 14:26 and we shall be turned, renew our days as of old. 14:31 But thou hast utterly rejected us, 14:34 thou art very wroth against us." 14:38 Please join me again next time 14:39 to read the word of God together. |
Revised 2014-12-17