“^(L)My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor ^(M)faint when you are punished by Him;
^6 (N)For ^(O)whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He punishes every son whom He accepts.”

2 “I am the ^[a](A)rose of ^(B)Sharon,
The ^(C)lily of the valleys.”

² “Like a lily among the thorns,
So is ^(D)my darling among the ^[b]young women.”

³ “Like an ^(E)apple tree among the trees of the forest,
So is my beloved among the ^[c]young men.
In his shade I took great delight and sat down,
And his ^(F)fruit was sweet to my ^[d]taste.
⁴ He has ^(G)brought me to his ^[e]banquet hall,
And his ^(H)banner over me is love.
⁵ Refresh me with ^(I)raisin cakes,
Sustain me with ^(J)apples,
Because ^(K)I am lovesick.
^6 (L)His left hand is under my head,
And ^(M)his right hand ^(N)embraces me.”

⁷ “^(O)Swear to me, you ^(P)daughters of Jerusalem,
By the ^(Q)gazelles or by the ^(R)does of the field,
^(S)That you will not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”

⁸ “Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he is coming,
Leaping ^(T)on the mountains,
Jumping on the hills!
⁹ My beloved is like a ^(U)gazelle or a ^(V)young ^[f]stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is peering ^(W)through the lattice.

¹⁴ “^(AB)My dove, ^(AC)in the clefts of the ^[h]rock,
In the hiding place of the mountain pathway,
Let me see ^[i]how you look,
^(AD)Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is pleasant,
And ^[j]you look ^(AE)delightful.”

¹⁵ “^(AF)Catch the ^[k]foxes for us,
The ^[l]little ^[m]foxes that are ruining the vineyards,
While our ^(AG)vineyards are in blossom.”

¹⁶ “^(AH)My beloved is mine, and I am his;
He ^(AI)pastures his flock among the lilies.
^17 (AJ)Until the cool of the day, when the shadows flee,
Turn, my beloved, and be like a ^(AK)gazelle
Or a young stag ^(AL)on the mountains of ^[n]Bether.”

1 How ^(A)lonely sits the city
That once had ^(B)many people!
She has become like a ^(C)widow
Who was once ^(D)great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the ^[a]provinces
Has become a ^(E)forced laborer!
² She ^(F)weeps bitterly in the night,
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has no one to comfort her
Among all her ^(G)lovers.
All her friends have ^(H)dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
^3 (I)Judah has gone into exile out of affliction
And ^[b]harsh servitude;
She lives ^(J)among the nations,
But she has not found a resting place;
All those who ^(K)pursued her have overtaken her
In the midst of ^[c]distress.
⁴ The roads ^[d]of Zion are in mourning
Because ^(L)no one comes to an appointed feast.
All her gates are ^(M)deserted;
Her priests groan,
Her ^(N)virgins are worried,
And as for Zion herself, it is ^(O)bitter for her.
⁵ Her adversaries have become ^[e]her masters,
Her enemies are ^[f]secure;
For the Lord has ^[g](P)caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her wrongdoings;
Her little ones have gone away
As captives ^[h]led by the enemy.
⁶ All of her ^(Q)splendor
Is gone from the daughter of Zion;
Her leaders have become like deer
That have found no pasture,
And they have ^[i](R)fled without strength
^[j]From the pursuer.
⁷ In the days of her affliction and homelessness
^(S)Jerusalem remembers all her treasures
That were hers since the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary
And ^(T)no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her,
They ^(U)laughed at her ^[k]ruin.
⁸ Jerusalem sinned ^(V)greatly,
Therefore ^(W)she has become an ^[l]object of ridicule.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even ^(X)she herself groans and turns away.
⁹ Her ^(Y)uncleanness was in her garment’s seams;
She ^[m]did not think of her ^(Z)future.
So she has ^[n](AA)fallen in an astonishing way;
^(AB)She has no comforter.
“^(AC)See, Lord, my affliction,
For the enemy has ^[o](AD)honored himself!”
¹⁰ The adversary has stretched out his hand
Over all her precious things,
For she has seen the ^(AE)nations enter her sanctuary,
The ones whom You commanded
That they were ^(AF)not to enter Your congregation.
¹¹ All her people groan, ^(AG)seeking bread;
They have given their treasures for food
To ^(AH)restore their ^[p]lives.
“See, Lord, and look,
For I am ^(AI)despised.”
¹² “Is it ^(AJ)nothing to all you who pass this way?
Look and see if there is any pain like my pain
Which was inflicted on me,
With which the ^(AK)Lord tormented me on the day of His ^(AL)fierce anger.
¹³ From ^[q]the height He sent fire into my ^(AM)bones,
And it dominated them.
He has spread a ^(AN)net for my feet;
He has turned me back;
He has made me ^(AO)desolate,
^[r]Faint all day long.
¹⁴ The ^(AP)yoke of my wrongdoings is bound;
By His hand they are woven together.
They have ^(AQ)come upon my neck;
He has made my strength ^[s]fail.
The Lord ^(AR)has handed me over
To those against whom I am not able to stand.
¹⁵ The ^(AS)Lord has thrown away all my strong men
In my midst;
He has called an appointed ^[t]time against me
To crush my ^(AT)young men;
The Lord has ^(AU)trodden as in a wine press
The virgin daughter of Judah.
¹⁶ For these things I ^(AV)weep;
^[u]My eyes run down with water;
Because far from me is a ^(AW)comforter,
One to restore my soul.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy has prevailed.”
¹⁷ Zion ^(AX)stretches out with her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
The Lord has ^(AY)commanded regarding Jacob
That those around him become his adversaries;
^(AZ)Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
¹⁸ “The Lord is ^(BA)righteous,
For I have ^(BB)rebelled against His ^[v]command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And ^(BC)see my pain;
^(BD)My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
¹⁹ I ^(BE)called to my lovers, but they deserted me;
My ^(BF)priests and my elders perished in the city
While they sought food to ^(BG)restore their ^[w]strength themselves.
²⁰ See, Lord, for I am in distress;
My ^[x](BH)spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very ^(BI)rebellious.
In the street the sword has made women childless;
In the house it is like death.
²¹ They have heard that I ^(BJ)groan;
There is no one to comfort me,
All my enemies have heard of my disaster;
They are ^(BK)joyful that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,
So that they will become ^(BL)like me.
²² May all their wickedness come before You;
And ^(BM)deal with them just as You have dealt with me
For all my wrongdoings.
For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”

2 How the Lord has ^[y](BN)covered the daughter of Zion
With a cloud in His anger!
He has ^(BO)hurled
The ^(BP)glory of Israel from heaven to earth,
And has not remembered His ^(BQ)footstool
In the day of His anger.
² The Lord has ^[z](BR)destroyed; He has not spared
All the settlements of Jacob.
In His wrath He has ^(BS)overthrown
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah,
He has ^(BT)hurled them down to the ground;
He has ^(BU)profaned the kingdom and its leaders.
³ In fierce anger He has cut off
^[aa]All the ^(BV)strength of Israel;
He has ^(BW)pulled back His right hand
From the enemy.
And He has ^(BX)burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
Consuming on all sides.
⁴ He has bent His ^(BY)bow like an enemy;
His right hand is positioned like an adversary,
And He has killed everything that was ^(BZ)pleasant to the eye.
In the tent of the daughter of Zion
He has ^(CA)poured out His wrath like fire.
⁵ The Lord has become like an ^(CB)enemy.
He has ^(CC)engulfed Israel;
He has engulfed all its ^(CD)palaces,
He has destroyed its strongholds
And ^(CE)caused great mourning and grieving in the daughter of Judah.
⁶ And He has treated His ^[ab]tabernacle violently, like a despised garden;
He has ^(CF)destroyed His appointed ^[ac]meeting place.
The Lord has ^(CG)caused
The appointed feast and Sabbath in Zion to be forgotten,
And He has ^(CH)despised king and priest
In the indignation of His anger.
⁷ The Lord has ^(CI)rejected His altar,
He has ^[ad]repudiated His sanctuary;
He ^(CJ)has handed over
The walls of her palaces to the enemy.
They have made a ^(CK)noise in the house of the Lord
As on the day of an appointed feast.
⁸ The Lord determined to destroy
The wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has ^(CL)stretched out a line,
He has not restrained His hand from ^[ae]destroying,
And He has ^(CM)caused rampart and wall to mourn;
They have languished together.
⁹ Her ^(CN)gates have sunk into the ground,
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her leaders are among the nations;
The ^(CO)Law is gone.
Her prophets, too, find
^(CP)No vision from the Lord.
¹⁰ The elders of the daughter of Zion
^(CQ)Sit on the ground and ^[af](CR)are silent.
They have thrown ^(CS)dust on their heads;
They have put on ^(CT)sackcloth.
The ^(CU)virgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads to the ground.
¹¹ My ^(CV)eyes fail because of tears,
My ^[ag](CW)spirit is greatly troubled;
My ^[ah](CX)heart is poured out on the earth
^(CY)Because of the ^[ai]destruction of the daughter of my people,
When ^(CZ)little ones and infants languish
In the streets of the city.
¹² They say to their mothers,
“^(DA)Where is grain and wine?”
As they faint like a wounded person
In the streets of the city,
As their ^(DB)lives are poured out
^[aj]In their mothers’ arms.
¹³ How shall I admonish you?
What ^(DC)shall I compare to you,
Daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I liken to you as I comfort you,
^(DD)Virgin daughter of Zion?
For your collapse is as vast as the sea;
Who can ^(DE)heal you?
¹⁴ Your ^(DF)prophets have seen for you
Worthless and deceptive visions;
And they have not ^(DG)exposed your wrongdoing
So as to restore you from captivity,
But they have ^(DH)seen for you worthless and misleading pronouncements.
¹⁵ All who pass along the way
^(DI)Clap their hands in ridicule at you;
They ^(DJ)[ak]hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city of which they said,
‘^(DK)Perfect in beauty,
^(DL)A joy to all the earth’?”
¹⁶ All ^(DM)your enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They ^[al]hiss and ^(DN)gnash their teeth.
They say, “We have ^(DO)engulfed her!
This certainly is the ^(DP)day which we awaited;
We have reached it, we have seen it!”
¹⁷ The Lord has ^(DQ)done what He determined;
He has accomplished His word
Which He commanded from days of old.
He has torn down ^(DR)without sparing,
And He has helped the enemy to ^(DS)rejoice over you;
He has ^(DT)exalted the ^[am]might of your adversaries.
¹⁸ Their ^(DU)heart cried out to the Lord:
“You ^(DV)wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let your ^(DW)tears stream down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief,
Let ^[an]your eyes have no rest.
¹⁹ Arise, whimper in the ^(DX)night
At the beginning of the night watches;
^(DY)Pour out your heart like water
Before the presence of the Lord;
Raise your hands to Him
For the ^(DZ)life of your little ones
Who ^(EA)languish because of hunger
At the head of every street.
²⁰ See, Lord, and look!
With ^(EB)whom have You dealt this way?
Should women really ^(EC)eat their ^[ao]children,
The little ones who were ^[ap]born healthy?
Should ^(ED)priest and prophet really be killed
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
²¹ On the ground in the streets
Lie ^(EE)young and old;
My ^(EF)virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the sword.
You have put them to death on the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered, ^(EG)without sparing.
²² You called as on the day of an appointed feast
My ^(EH)terrors on every side;
And there was ^(EI)no one who survived or escaped
On the day of the Lord’s anger.
As for those ^(EJ)whom I brought forth healthy and whom I raised,
My enemy annihilated them.”