He warned the people to leave the city before it was too late, and to surrender themselves to Babylon, rather than face famine, sword and pestilence. Jeremiah was accused of weakening the resolve of the people, and he was lowered by ropes into a dungeon in which there was no water, just mire. Jeremiah sank into the filth, and he, the prophet of the Lord, was left to die of hunger. Jeremiah was later rescued from that dungeon, only to witness the very destruction that he had prophesied. And the sadness, the terrible sadness, that he experiences, is recorded in the Book of Lamentations .
Lamentations is a small book, just five chapters in length.
It is, unquestionably, the saddest book in the entire Word. In Latin its name is Threni , from a Greek word meaning wailing . The Book of Wailing, of Weeping, of Lamentations. And from that very first verse throughout all five chapters, this small book of the Word is filled with the poetry of sadness. In a way it might be said to be a litany of tears.