'Lament' in the Bible

David sang the following lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,

and the king sang a lament for Abner:Should Abner die as a fool dies?

You turned my lament into dancing;You removed my sackclothand clothed me with gladness,

His priests fell by the sword,but the widows could not lament.

Our cattle will be well fed.There will be no breach in the walls,no going into captivity,and no cry of lament in our public squares.

At the end of your life, you will lamentwhen your physical body has been consumed,

Then her gates will lament and mourn;deserted, she will sit on the ground. >

Then the fishermen will mourn.All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament,and those who spread nets on the water will shrivel up.

My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart,but you will cry out from an anguished heart,and you will lament out of a broken spirit.

My dear people, dress yourselves in sackclothand roll in the dust.Mourn as you would for an only son,a bitter lament,for suddenly the destroyer will come on us.

I will raise weeping and a lamentover the mountains,a dirge over the wilderness grazing land,for they have been so scorchedthat no one passes through.The sound of cattle is no longer heard.From the birds of the sky to the animals,everything has fled—they have gone away.

Let them come quickly to raise a lament over usso that our eyes may overflow with tears,our eyelids soaked with weeping.

Now hear the word of the Lord, you women.Pay attention to the word of His mouth.Teach your daughters a lamentand one another a dirge,

“For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place. Don’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed My peace from these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“as well as My faithful love and compassion.

Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.

This is what the Lord says:A voice was heard in Ramah,a lament with bitter weeping—Rachel weeping for her children,refusing to be comforted for her childrenbecause they are no more.

you will die peacefully. There will be a burning ceremony for you just like the burning ceremonies for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you. ‘Our king is dead!’ will be the lament for you, for I have spoken this word.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated;cry out, daughters of Rabbah!Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and lament;run back and forth within your walls,because Milcom will go into exiletogether with his priests and officials.

“Now, lament for the princes of Israel

Fire has gone out from its main branchand has devoured its fruit,so that it no longer has a strong branch,a scepter for ruling.This is a lament and should be used as a lament.”

“Son of man, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you with a fatal blow. But you must not lament or weep or let your tears flow.

Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not lament or weep but will waste away because of your sins and will groan to one another.

Then they will lament for you and say of you:How you have perished, city of renown,you who were populated from the seas!She who was powerful on the sea,she and all of her inhabitantsinflicted their terror.

“Now, son of man, lament for Tyre.

In their wailing they lament for you,mourning over you:Who was like Tyre,silenced in the middle of the sea?

“Son of man, lament for the king of Tyre and say to him: This is what the Lord God says:You were the seal of perfection,full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

“Son of man, lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:You compare yourself to a lion of the nations,but you are like a monster in the seas.You thrash about in your rivers,churn up the waters with your feet,and muddy the rivers.”

“This is a lament that will be chanted; the women of the nations will chant it. They will chant it over Egypt and all its hordes.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Dress in sackcloth and lament, you priests;wail, you ministers of the altar.Come and spend the night in sackcloth,you ministers of my God,because grain and drink offeringsare withheld from the house of your God.

Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel:

Because of this I will lament and wail;I will walk barefoot and naked.I will howl like the jackalsand mourn like ostriches.

In that day one will take up a taunt against you,and lament mournfully, saying,“We are totally ruined!He measures out the allotted land of my people.How He removes it from me!He allots our fields to traitors.”

We played the flute for you,but you didn’t dance;we sang a lament,but you didn’t mourn!

They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other:We played the flute for you,but you didn’t dance;we sang a lament,but you didn’t weep!