Below is a Scriptural overlay or textual comparison, verse-by-verse, between the book of Lamentations and Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. I have found many connections between the two. What can you find?
LAM. 1:1 — How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow is she, who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces has become a slave!
MAT. 3:1 — In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
LAM. 1:2 — She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
MAT. 3:2 — And saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
LAM. 1:3 — Judah has gone into captivity, under affliction and hard servitude; she dwells among the nations, she finds no rest; all her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.
MAT. 3:3 — For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.’”
LAM. 1:4 — The roads to Zion mourn because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
MAT. 3:4 — Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
LAM. 1:5 — Her adversaries have become the master, her enemies prosper; for the Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.
MAT. 3:5 — Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him
LAM. 1:6 — And from the daughter of Zion all her splendor has departed. Her princes have become like deer. That find no pasture, that flee without strength before the pursuer.
MAT. 3:6 — And were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
LAM. 1:7 — In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, with no one to help her, the adversaries saw her and mocked at her downfall.
MAT. 3:7 — But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
LAM. 1:8 — Jerusalem has sinned gravely, therefore she has become vile. All who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness; yes, she sighs and turns away.
MAT. 3:8 — Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
LAM. 1:9 — Her uncleanness is in her skirts; she did not consider her destiny; therefore her collapse was awesome; she had no comforter. “O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy is exalted!”
MAT. 3:9 — And do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
LAM. 1:10 — The adversary has spread his hand over all her pleasant things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom You commanded not to enter Your assembly.
MAT. 3:10 — And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
LAM. 1:11 — All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their valuables for food to restore life. “See, O Lord, and consider, for I am scorned.”
MAT. 3:11 — I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
LAM. 1:12 — “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which has been brought on me, which the Lord has inflicted in the day of His fierce anger.
MAT. 3:12 — His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
LAM. 1:13 — “From above He has sent fire into my bones, and it overpowered them; He has spread a net for my feet and turned me back; He has made me desolate and faint all the day.
MAT. 3:13 — Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
LAM. 1:14 — “The yoke of my transgressions was bound; they were woven together by His hands, and thrust upon my neck. He made my strength fail; the Lord delivered me into the hands of those whom I am not able to withstand.
MAT. 3:14 — And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
LAM. 1:15 — “The Lord has trampled underfoot all my mighty men in my midst; He has called an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord trampled as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.
MAT. 3:15 — But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
LAM. 1:16 — “For these things I weep; my eye, my eye overflows with water; because the comforter, who should restore my life, is far from me. My children are desolate because the enemy prevailed.”
MAT. 3:16 — When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
LAM. 1:17 — Zion spreads out her hands, but no one comforts her; the Lord has commanded concerning Jacob that those around him become his adversaries; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
MAT. 3:17 — And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
LAM. 1:18 — “The Lord is righteous, for I rebelled against His commandment. Hear now, all peoples, and behold my sorrow; my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.
MAT. 4:1 — Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
LAM. 1:19 — “I called for my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and my elders breathed their last in the city, while they sought food to restore their life.
MAT. 4:2 — And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
LAM. 1:20 — “See, O Lord, that I am in distress; my soul is troubled; my heart is overturned within me, for I have been very rebellious. Outside the sword bereaves, at home it is like death.
MAT. 4:3 — Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
LAM. 1:21 — “They have heard that I sigh, but no one comforts me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have done it. Bring on the day You have announced, that they may become like me.
MAT. 4:4 — But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
LAM. 1:22 — “Let all their wickedness come before You, and do to them as You have done to me for all my transgressions; for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.”
MAT. 4:5 — Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
LAM. 2:1 — How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger! He cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, and did not remember His footstool in the day of His anger.
MAT. 4:6 — And said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
LAM. 2:2 — The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied all the dwelling places of Jacob. He has thrown down in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
MAT. 4:7 — Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
LAM. 2:3 — He has cut off in fierce anger every horn of Israel; He has drawn back His right hand from before the enemy. He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire devouring all around.
MAT. 4:8 — Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
LAM. 2:4 — Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow; with His right hand, like an adversary, He has slain all who were pleasing to His eye; on the tent of the daughter of Zion, He has poured out His fury like fire.
MAT. 4:9 — And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
LAM. 2:5 — The Lord was like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel, He has swallowed up all her palaces; He has destroyed her strongholds, and has increased mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah.
MAT. 4:10 — Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
LAM. 2:6 — He has done violence to His tabernacle, as if it were a garden; He has destroyed His place of assembly; the Lord has caused the appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion. In His burning indignation He has spurned the king and the priest.
MAT. 4:11 — Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
LAM. 2:7 — The Lord has spurned His altar, He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has given up the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord as on the day of a set feast.
MAT. 4:12 — Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.
LAM. 2:8 — The Lord has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line; He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying; therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament; they languished together.
MAT. 4:13 — And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali,
LAM. 2:9 — Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; the Law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from the Lord.
MAT. 4:14 — That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
LAM. 2:10 — The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and keep silence; they throw dust on their heads and gird themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
MAT. 4:15 — “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:
LAM. 2:11 — My eyes fail with tears, my heart is troubled; my bile is poured on the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the children and the infants faint in the streets of the city.
MAT. 4:16 — The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”
LAM. 2:12 — They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” As they swoon like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out in their mothers’ bosom.
MAT. 4:17 — From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
LAM. 2:13 — How shall I console you? To what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is spread wide as the sea; who can heal you?
MAT. 4:18 — And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
LAM. 2:14 — Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.
MAT. 4:19 — Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
LAM. 2:15 — All who pass by clap their hands at you; they hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that is called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?”
MAT. 4:20 — They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
LAM. 2:16 — All your enemies have opened their mouth against you; they hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up! Surely this is the day we have waited for; we have found it, we have seen it!”
MAT. 4:21 — Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them,
LAM. 2:17 — The Lord has done what He purposed; He has fulfilled His word which He commanded in days of old. He has thrown down and has not pitied, and He has caused an enemy to rejoice over you; He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
MAT. 4:22 — and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
LAM. 2:18 — Their heart cried out to the Lord, “O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no relief; give your eyes no rest.
MAT. 4:23 — And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
LAM. 2:19 — “Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street.”
MAT. 4:24 — Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
LAM. 2:20 — “See, O Lord, and consider! To whom have You done this? Should the women eat their offspring, the children they have cuddled? Should the priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
MAT. 4:25 — Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
LAM. 2:21 — “Young and old lie on the ground in the streets; my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword; You have slain them in the day of Your anger, You have slaughtered and not pitied.
MAT. 5:1 — And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.
LAM. 2:22 — “You have invited as to a feast day the terrors that surround me. In the day of the Lord’s anger there was no refugee or survivor. Those whom I have borne and brought up my enemies have destroyed.”
MAT. 5:2 — Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
LAM. 3:1 — I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
MAT. 5:3 — “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
LAM. 3:2 — He has led me and made me walk in darkness and not in light.
MAT. 5:4 — Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
LAM. 3:3 — Surely He has turned His hand against me time and time again throughout the day.
MAT. 5:5 — Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
LAM. 3:4 — He has aged my flesh and my skin, and broken my bones.
MAT. 5:6 — Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
LAM. 3:5 — He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and woe.
MAT. 5:7 — Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
LAM. 3:6 — He has set me in dark places like the dead of long ago.
MAT. 5:8 — Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
LAM. 3:7 — He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy.
MAT. 5:9 — Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
LAM. 3:8 — Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer.
MAT. 5:10 — Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
LAM. 3:9 — He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.
MAT. 5:11 — Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
LAM. 3:10 — He has been to me a bear lying in wait, like a lion in ambush.
MAT. 5:12 — Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
LAM. 3:11 — He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; He has made me desolate.
MAT. 5:13 — You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
LAM. 3:12 — He has bent His bow and set me up as a target for the arrow.
MAT. 5:14 — You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
LAM. 3:13 — He has caused the arrows of His quiver to pierce my loins.
MAT. 5:15 — Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
LAM. 3:14 — I have become the ridicule of all my people—their taunting song all the day.
MAT. 5:16 — Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
LAM. 3:15 — He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood.
MAT. 5:17 — Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
LAM. 3:16 — He has also broken my teeth with gravel, and covered me with ashes.
MAT. 5:18 — For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
LAM. 3:17 — You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.
MAT. 5:19 — Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
LAM. 3:18 — And I said, “My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord.”
MAT. 5:20 — For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
LAM. 3:19 — Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall.
MAT. 5:21 — You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’
LAM. 3:20 — My soul still remembers and sinks within me.
MAT. 5:22 — But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.
LAM. 3:21 — This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.
MAT. 5:23 — Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
LAM. 3:22 — Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.
MAT. 5:24 — Leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
LAM. 3:23 — They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
MAT. 5:25 — Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.
LAM. 3:24 — “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”
MAT. 5:26 — Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
LAM. 3:25 — The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
MAT. 5:27 — You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
LAM. 3:26 — It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
MAT. 5:28 — But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
LAM. 3:27 — It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth.
MAT. 5:29 — If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
LAM. 3:28 — Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him;
MAT. 5:30 — And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
LAM. 3:29 — Let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope.
MAT. 5:31 — Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’
LAM. 3:30 — Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, and be full of reproach.
MAT. 5:32 — But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
LAM. 3:31 — For the Lord will not cast off forever.
MAT. 5:33 — Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’
LAM. 3:32 — Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.
MAT. 5:34 — But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
LAM. 3:33 — For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
MAT. 5:35 — Nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
LAM. 3:34 — To crush under one’s feet all the prisoners of the earth,
MAT. 5:36 — Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
LAM. 3:35 — To turn aside the justice due a man before the face of the Most High,
MAT. 5:37 — But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
LAM. 3:36 — Or subvert a man in his cause—the Lord does not approve.
MAT. 5:38 — You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
LAM. 3:37 — Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it?
MAT. 5:39 — But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
LAM. 3:38 — Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed?
MAT. 5:40 — If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
LAM. 3:39 — Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
MAT. 5:41 — And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
LAM. 3:40 — Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord;
MAT. 5:42 — Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
LAM. 3:41 — Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
MAT. 5:43 — You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
LAM. 3:42 — We have transgressed and rebelled; you have not pardoned.
MAT. 5:44 — But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
LAM. 3:43 — You have covered Yourself with anger and pursued us; You have slain and not pitied.
MAT. 5:45 — That you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
LAM. 3:44 — You have covered Yourself with a cloud, that prayer should not pass through.
MAT. 5:46 — For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
LAM. 3:45 — You have made us an offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.
MAT. 5:47 — And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
LAM. 3:46 — All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
MAT. 5:48 — Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
LAM. 3:47 — Fear and a snare have come upon us, desolation and destruction.
MAT. 6:1 — “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
LAM. 3:48 — My eyes overflow with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
MAT. 6:2 — Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
LAM. 3:49 — My eyes flow and do not cease, without interruption,
MAT. 6:3 — But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
LAM. 3:50 — Till the Lord from heaven looks down and sees.
MAT. 6:4 — That your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
LAM. 3:51 — My eyes bring suffering to my soul because of all the daughters of my city.
MAT. 6:5 — And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
LAM. 3:52 — My enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird.
MAT. 6:6 — But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
LAM. 3:53 — They silenced my life in the pit and threw stones at me.
MAT. 6:7 — And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
LAM. 3:54 — The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!”
MAT. 6:8 — Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
LAM. 3:55 — I called on Your name, O Lord, from the lowest pit.
MAT. 6:9 — In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
LAM. 3:56 — You have heard my voice: “Do not hide Your ear from my sighing, from my cry for help.”
MAT. 6:10 — Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
LAM. 3:57 — You drew near on the day I called on You, and said, “Do not fear!”
MAT. 6:11 — Give us this day our daily bread.
LAM. 3:58 — O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.
MAT. 6:12 — And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
LAM. 3:59 — O Lord, You have seen how I am wronged; judge my case.
MAT. 6:13 — And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
LAM. 3:60 — You have seen all their vengeance, all their schemes against me.
MAT. 6:14 — For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
LAM. 3:61 — You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their schemes against me,
MAT. 6:15 — But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
LAM. 3:62 — The lips of my enemies and their whispering against me all the day.
MAT. 6:16 — Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
LAM. 3:63 — Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I am their taunting song.
MAT. 6:17 — But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
LAM. 3:64 — Repay them, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.
MAT. 6:18 — So that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
LAM. 3:65 — Give them a veiled heart; Your curse be upon them!
MAT. 6:19 — Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
LAM. 3:66 — In Your anger, pursue and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.
MAT. 6:20 — But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
LAM. 4:1 — How the gold has become dim! How changed the fine gold! The stones of the sanctuary are scattered at the head of every street.
MAT. 6:21 — For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
LAM. 4:2 — The precious sons of Zion, valuable as fine gold, how they are regarded as clay pots, the work of the hands of the potter!
MAT. 6:22 — The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.
LAM. 4:3 — Even the jackals present their breasts to nurse their young; but the daughter of my people is cruel, like ostriches in the wilderness.
MAT. 6:23 — But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
LAM. 4:4 — The tongue of the infant clings to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the young children ask for bread, but no one breaks it for them.
MAT. 6:24 — No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
LAM. 4:5 — Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets; those who were brought up in scarlet embrace ash heaps.
MAT. 6:25 — Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
LAM. 4:6 — The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, with no hand to help her!
MAT. 6:26 — Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
LAM. 4:7 — Her Nazirites were brighter than snow and whiter than milk; they were more ruddy in body than rubies, like sapphire in their appearance.
MAT. 6:27 — Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
LAM. 4:8 — Now their appearance is blacker than soot; they go unrecognized in the streets; their skin clings to their bones, it has become as dry as wood.
MAT. 6:28 — So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
LAM. 4:9 — Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger; for these pine away, stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.
MAT. 6:29 — And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
LAM. 4:10 — The hands of the compassionate women have cooked their own children; they became food for them in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
MAT. 6:30 — Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
LAM. 4:11 — The Lord has fulfilled His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, and it has devoured its foundations.
MAT. 6:31 — Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
LAM. 4:12 — The kings of the earth, and all inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem—
MAT. 6:32 — For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
LAM. 4:13 — Because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in her midst the blood of the just.
MAT. 6:33 — But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
LAM. 4:14 — They wandered blind in the streets; they have defiled themselves with blood, so that no one would touch their garments.
MAT. 6:34 — Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
LAM. 4:15 — They cried out to them, “Go away, unclean! Go away, go away, do not touch us!” When they fled and wandered, those among the nations said, “They shall no longer dwell here.”
MAT. 7:1 — “Judge not, that you be not judged.
LAM. 4:16 — The face of the Lord scattered them; He no longer regards them. The people do not respect the priests nor show favor to the elders.
MAT. 7:2 — For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
LAM. 4:17 — Still our eyes failed us, watching vainly for our help; in our watching we watched for a nation that could not save us.
MAT. 7:3 — And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
LAM. 4:18 — They tracked our steps so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near; our days were over, for our end had come.
MAT. 7:4 — Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
LAM. 4:19 — Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens. They pursued us on the mountains and lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
MAT. 7:5 — Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
LAM. 4:20 — The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was caught in their pits, of whom we said, “Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.”
MAT. 7:6 — Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
LAM. 4:21 — Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz! The cup shall also pass over to you and you shall become drunk and make yourself naked.
MAT. 7:7 — Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
LAM. 4:22 — The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; He will no longer send you into captivity. He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will uncover your sins!
MAT. 7:8 — For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
LAM. 5:1 — Remember, O Lord, what has come upon us; look, and behold our reproach!
MAT. 7:9 — Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
LAM. 5:2 — Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, and our houses to foreigners.
MAT. 7:10 — Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
LAM. 5:3 — We have become orphans and waifs, our mothers are like widows.
MAT. 7:11 — If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
LAM. 5:4 — We pay for the water we drink, and our wood comes at a price.
MAT. 7:12 — Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
LAM. 5:5 — They pursue at our heels; we labor and have no rest.
MAT. 7:13 — Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
LAM. 5:6 — We have given our hand to the Egyptians and the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
MAT. 7:14 — Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
LAM. 5:7 — Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their iniquities.
MAT. 7:15 — Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
LAM. 5:8 — Servants rule over us; there is none to deliver us from their hand.
MAT. 7:16 — You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
LAM. 5:9 — We get our bread at the risk of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness.
MAT. 7:17 — Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
LAM. 5:10 — Our skin is hot as an oven, because of the fever of famine.
MAT. 7:18 — A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
LAM. 5:11 — They ravished the women in Zion, the maidens in the cities of Judah.
MAT. 7:19 — Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
LAM. 5:12 — Princes were hung up by their hands, and elders were not respected.
MAT. 7:20 — Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
LAM. 5:13 — Young men ground at the millstones; boys staggered under loads of wood.
MAT. 7:21 — Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
LAM. 5:14 — The elders have ceased gathering at the gate, and the young men from their music.
MAT. 7:22 — Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
LAM. 5:15 — The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning.
MAT. 7:23 — And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
LAM. 5:16 — The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
MAT. 7:24 — Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
LAM. 5:17 — Because of this our heart is faint; because of these things our eyes grow dim;
MAT. 7:25 — And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
LAM. 5:18 — Because of Mount Zion which is desolate, with foxes walking about on it.
MAT. 7:26 — But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
LAM. 5:19 — You, O Lord, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation.
MAT. 7:27 — And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.
LAM. 5:20 — Why do You forget us forever, and forsake us for so long a time?
MAT. 7:28 — And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
LAM. 5:21 — Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; renew our days as of old,
MAT. 7:29 — For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
LAM. 5:22 — Unless You have utterly rejected us, and are very angry with us!