² “Judah mourns,^(B)
    her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
    and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
³ The nobles send their servants for water;
    they go to the cisterns
    but find no water.^(C)
They return with their jars unfilled;
    dismayed and despairing,
    they cover their heads.^(D)
4 The ground is cracked
    because there is no rain in the land;^(E)
the farmers are dismayed
    and cover their heads.
⁵ Even the doe in the field
    deserts her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.^(F)
6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights^(G)
    and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
    for lack of food.”^(H)

⁷ Although our sins testify^(I) against us,
    do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.^(J)
For we have often rebelled;^(K)
    we have sinned^(L) against you.
⁸ You who are the hope^(M) of Israel,
    its Savior^(N) in times of distress,^(O)
why are you like a stranger in the land,
    like a traveler who stays only a night?
⁹ Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
    like a warrior powerless to save?^(P)
You are among^(Q) us, Lord,
    and we bear your name;^(R)
    do not forsake^(S) us!

“They greatly love to wander;
    they do not restrain their feet.^(T)
So the Lord does not accept^(U) them;
    he will now remember^(V) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.”^(W)

“‘Let my eyes overflow with tears^(AR)
    night and day without ceasing;
for the Virgin^(AS) Daughter, my people,
    has suffered a grievous wound,
    a crushing blow.^(AT)
18 If I go into the country,
    I see those slain by the sword;
if I go into the city,
    I see the ravages of famine.^(AU)
Both prophet and priest
    have gone to a land they know not.^(AV)’”

¹⁹ Have you rejected Judah completely?^(AW)
    Do you despise Zion?
Why have you afflicted us
    so that we cannot be healed?^(AX)
We hoped for peace
    but no good has come,
for a time of healing
    but there is only terror.^(AY)
20 We acknowledge^(AZ) our wickedness, Lord,
    and the guilt of our ancestors;^(BA)
    we have indeed sinned^(BB) against you.
²¹ For the sake of your name^(BC) do not despise us;
    do not dishonor your glorious throne.^(BD)
Remember your covenant^(BE) with us
    and do not break it.
²² Do any of the worthless idols^(BF) of the nations bring rain?^(BG)
    Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
    Therefore our hope is in you,
    for you are the one who does all this.^(BH)

“‘Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;^(BM)
those for starvation, to starvation;^(BN)
those for captivity, to captivity.’^(BO)

⁵ “Who will have pity^(BX) on you, Jerusalem?
    Who will mourn for you?
    Who will stop to ask how you are?
⁶ You have rejected^(BY) me,” declares the Lord.
    “You keep on backsliding.
So I will reach out^(BZ) and destroy you;
    I am tired of holding back.^(CA)
7 I will winnow^(CB) them with a winnowing fork
    at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement^(CC) and destruction on my people,^(CD)
    for they have not changed their ways.^(CE)
8 I will make their widows^(CF) more numerous
    than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer^(CG)
    against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
    anguish and terror.^(CH)
9 The mother of seven will grow faint^(CI)
    and breathe her last.^(CJ)
Her sun will set while it is still day;
    she will be disgraced^(CK) and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword^(CL)
    before their enemies,”^(CM)
declares the Lord.

¹⁰ Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,^(CN)
    a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!^(CO)
I have neither lent^(CP) nor borrowed,
    yet everyone curses^(CQ) me.

“Surely I will deliver you^(CR) for a good purpose;
    surely I will make your enemies plead^(CS) with you
    in times of disaster and times of distress.

¹² “Can a man break iron—
    iron from the north^(CT)—or bronze?

¹³ “Your wealth^(CU) and your treasures
    I will give as plunder,^(CV) without charge,^(CW)
because of all your sins
    throughout your country.^(CX)
14 I will enslave you to your enemies
    in^[b] a land you do not know,^(CY)
for my anger will kindle a fire^(CZ)
    that will burn against you.”

¹⁵ Lord, you understand;
    remember me and care for me.
    Avenge me on my persecutors.^(DA)
You are long-suffering^(DB)—do not take me away;
    think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.^(DC)
16 When your words came, I ate^(DD) them;
    they were my joy and my heart’s delight,^(DE)
for I bear your name,^(DF)
    Lord God Almighty.
¹⁷ I never sat^(DG) in the company of revelers,
    never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand^(DH) was on me
    and you had filled me with indignation.
¹⁸ Why is my pain unending
    and my wound grievous and incurable?^(DI)
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
    like a spring that fails.^(DJ)

“If you repent, I will restore you
    that you may serve^(DK) me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
    you will be my spokesman.^(DL)
Let this people turn to you,
    but you must not turn to them.
²⁰ I will make you a wall^(DM) to this people,
    a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
    but will not overcome^(DN) you,
for I am with you
    to rescue and save you,”^(DO)
declares the Lord.
²¹ “I will save^(DP) you from the hands of the wicked^(DQ)
    and deliver^(DR) you from the grasp of the cruel.”^(DS)

¹⁹ Lord, my strength and my fortress,
    my refuge^(FL) in time of distress,
to you the nations will come^(FM)
    from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,^(FN)
    worthless idols^(FO) that did them no good.^(FP)
20 Do people make their own gods?
    Yes, but they are not gods!”^(FQ)

²¹ “Therefore I will teach them—
    this time I will teach them
    my power and might.
Then they will know
    that my name^(FR) is the Lord.

17 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,^(FS)
    inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts^(FT)
    and on the horns^(FU) of their altars.
² Even their children remember
    their altars and Asherah poles^[c](FV)
beside the spreading trees
    and on the high hills.^(FW)
3 My mountain in the land
    and your^[d] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,^(FX)
    together with your high places,^(FY)
    because of sin throughout your country.^(FZ)
4 Through your own fault you will lose
    the inheritance^(GA) I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies^(GB)
    in a land^(GC) you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
    and it will burn^(GD) forever.”

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,^(GE)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.^(GF)
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places^(GG) of the desert,
    in a salt^(GH) land where no one lives.

⁷ “But blessed^(GI) is the one who trusts^(GJ) in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
⁸ They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.^(GK)
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought^(GL)
    and never fails to bear fruit.”^(GM)

⁹ The heart^(GN) is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?

¹⁰ “I the Lord search the heart^(GO)
    and examine the mind,^(GP)
to reward^(GQ) each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”^(GR)

¹¹ Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
    are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
    and in the end they will prove to be fools.^(GS)

¹² A glorious throne,^(GT) exalted from the beginning,
    is the place of our sanctuary.
¹³ Lord, you are the hope^(GU) of Israel;
    all who forsake^(GV) you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust^(GW)
    because they have forsaken the Lord,
    the spring of living water.^(GX)

¹⁴ Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;^(GY)
    save^(GZ) me and I will be saved,
    for you are the one I praise.^(HA)
15 They keep saying to me,
    “Where is the word of the Lord?
    Let it now be fulfilled!”^(HB)
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;
    you know I have not desired the day of despair.
    What passes my lips^(HC) is open before you.
¹⁷ Do not be a terror^(HD) to me;
    you are my refuge^(HE) in the day of disaster.^(HF)
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,
    but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
    but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
    destroy them with double destruction.^(HG)

³ Though you probe my heart,^(G)
    though you examine me at night and test me,^(H)
you will find that I have planned no evil;^(I)
    my mouth has not transgressed.^(J)
4 Though people tried to bribe me,
    I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
    through what your lips have commanded.
⁵ My steps have held to your paths;^(K)
    my feet have not stumbled.^(L)

⁶ I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;^(M)
    turn your ear to me^(N) and hear my prayer.^(O)
7 Show me the wonders of your great love,^(P)
    you who save by your right hand^(Q)
    those who take refuge^(R) in you from their foes.
⁸ Keep me^(S) as the apple of your eye;^(T)
    hide me^(U) in the shadow of your wings^(V)
9 from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
    from my mortal enemies who surround me.^(W)

¹⁰ They close up their callous hearts,^(X)
    and their mouths speak with arrogance.^(Y)
11 They have tracked me down, they now surround me,^(Z)
    with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
¹² They are like a lion^(AA) hungry for prey,^(AB)
    like a fierce lion crouching in cover.

¹³ Rise up,^(AC) Lord, confront them, bring them down;^(AD)
    with your sword rescue me from the wicked.
¹⁴ By your hand save me from such people, Lord,
    from those of this world^(AE) whose reward is in this life.^(AF)
May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies;
    may their children gorge themselves on it,
    and may there be leftovers^(AG) for their little ones.

¹⁵ As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face;
    when I awake,^(AH) I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.^(AI)