Lamentations 1

1'How does the city now sit alone, She who was full of people? She has become like a widow, She who was multiplied among the nations, She who was ruling among the countries. She has become subject to tribute.

2'She weeps bitterly in the night; She sheds tears on her cheeks. Yet among all her lovers there is no one who comforts her. All who love her have dealt treacherously with her. They have become her enemies.

3'Judea has gone into captivity Because of her humiliation and harsh servitude. She dwells among the Gentiles; She finds no rest. All who pursue her overtake her in the midst of her distress.

4'The roads of Zion mourn, Because no one comes to the feast. All her gates are destroyed, Her priests groan, Her virgins are led away, And she is embittered in herself.

5'Her oppressors have become the master, And her enemies prosper; For the Lord humbled her Because of the greatness of her ungodliness. Her infants have gone into captivity in the presence of the oppressor.

6'From the daughter of Zion All her beauty has departed. Her princes have become like rams That find no pasture, And they journey in weakness Before the face of the pursuer.

7'Jerusalem remembers her days of humiliation and rejection. She remembers all her objects of desire, What she had in days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the oppressor, When there was no one to help her.

8When her enemies saw this, they laughed at her deportation. 'Jerusalem sinned grievously; Therefore, she became a storm-tossed sea. All who glorified her have humiliated her, For they saw her shameful acts, And indeed, she groans and turns away.

9'Her uncleanness is at her feet. She did not remember her last things, And she lowered her boasting tone. There is no one who comforts her. 'O Lord, behold my humiliation, For the enemy has been exalted.'

10'The oppressor has spread his hand Over all the objects of her desire, For she sees the Gentiles entering her sanctuary, Those whom You commanded not to enter Your church.

11'All her people groan And seek for bread. They gave the objects of their desire for food To stay alive. 'O Lord, behold, and have regard for me, For I am treated shamefully.

12'All you who pass by, do not turn away, And see if there is any pain like my pain Which has happened to me. The Lord who spoke by me Humiliated me in the day of His fierce anger.

13'From His lofty place He sent fire And brought it into my bones. He spread a net for my feet And turned me back. He caused me to perish And to be in great pain all the day.

14'He kept watch on my profane acts; They are entangled together with my hands; They come up about my neck. My strength weakens, For the Lord has caused my hands to be in pain. I shall be unable to stand.

15'The Lord drove off all my mighty ones from my midst. He summoned an appointed time against me To crush my chosen men. The Lord trod a winepress for the virgin daughter of Judah, And for these I weep.

16'My eyes pour down tears, For He who comforts me And restores my soul Is gone far from me. My children have perished Because the enemy has prevailed.'

17'Zion has spread out her hands, But there is no one who comforts her. The Lord commanded concerning Jacob; His oppressors are around him, And Jerusalem has become as an unclean woman in their midst.

18'The Lord is righteous, For I provoked His mouth. Hear now, all peoples, And behold my pain; For My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.

19'I called my lovers, But they deceived me. My priests and my elders Ended their life in the city, For they sought food for themselves To revive their lives; But they found none.

20'Behold, O Lord, for I am afflicted. My stomach is troubled, And my heart is upset within me; For I have rebelled exceedingly. From without, the sword has deprived me of my children, As death has here at home.

21'Hear now, because I groan; There is no one who comforts me. All my enemies heard of my calamities, And they rejoiced, Because You brought it about. You brought on the day; You set the appointed time, For they have become like me.

22'So let all their evil come before Your face, And do to them as they did to me Concerning all my sins. My groaning is great, And my heart is grieved.'