⁷ The Lord has rejected his altar
    and abandoned his sanctuary.^(A)
He has given the walls of her palaces^(B)
    into the hands of the enemy;
they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
    as on the day of an appointed festival.^(C)

⁸ The Lord determined to tear down
    the wall around Daughter Zion.^(D)
He stretched out a measuring line^(E)
    and did not withhold his hand from destroying.
He made ramparts^(F) and walls lament;
    together they wasted away.^(G)

⁹ Her gates^(H) have sunk into the ground;
    their bars^(I) he has broken and destroyed.
Her king and her princes are exiled^(J) among the nations,
    the law^(K) is no more,
and her prophets^(L) no longer find
    visions^(M) from the Lord.

¹⁰ The elders of Daughter Zion
    sit on the ground in silence;^(N)
they have sprinkled dust^(O) on their heads^(P)
    and put on sackcloth.^(Q)
The young women of Jerusalem
    have bowed their heads to the ground.^(R)

¹¹ My eyes fail from weeping,^(S)
    I am in torment within^(T);
my heart^(U) is poured out^(V) on the ground
    because my people are destroyed,^(W)
because children and infants faint^(X)
    in the streets of the city.

¹² They say to their mothers,
    “Where is bread and wine?”^(Y)
as they faint like the wounded
    in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away^(Z)
    in their mothers’ arms.^(AA)

¹³ What can I say for you?^(AB)
    With what can I compare you,
    Daughter^(AC) Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
    that I may comfort you,
    Virgin Daughter Zion?^(AD)
Your wound is as deep as the sea.^(AE)
    Who can heal you?

¹⁴ The visions of your prophets
    were false^(AF) and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
    to ward off your captivity.^(AG)
The prophecies they gave you
    were false and misleading.^(AH)

¹⁵ All who pass your way
    clap their hands at you;^(AI)
they scoff^(AJ) and shake their heads^(AK)
    at Daughter Jerusalem:^(AL)
“Is this the city that was called
    the perfection of beauty,^(AM)
    the joy of the whole earth?”^(AN)

¹⁶ All your enemies open their mouths
    wide against you;^(AO)
they scoff and gnash their teeth^(AP)
    and say, “We have swallowed her up.^(AQ)
This is the day we have waited for;
    we have lived to see it.”^(AR)

¹⁷ The Lord has done what he planned;
    he has fulfilled^(AS) his word,
    which he decreed long ago.^(AT)
He has overthrown you without pity,^(AU)
    he has let the enemy gloat over you,^(AV)
    he has exalted the horn^[a] of your foes.^(AW)

¹⁸ The hearts of the people
    cry out to the Lord.^(AX)
You walls of Daughter Zion,^(AY)
    let your tears^(AZ) flow like a river
    day and night;^(BA)
give yourself no relief,
    your eyes no rest.^(BB)

¹⁹ Arise, cry out in the night,
    as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart^(BC) like water
    in the presence of the Lord.^(BD)
Lift up your hands^(BE) to him
    for the lives of your children,
who faint^(BF) from hunger
    at every street corner.

²⁰ “Look, Lord, and consider:
    Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,^(BG)
    the children they have cared for?^(BH)
Should priest and prophet be killed^(BI)
    in the sanctuary of the Lord?^(BJ)

²¹ “Young and old lie together
    in the dust of the streets;
my young men and young women
    have fallen by the sword.^(BK)
You have slain them in the day of your anger;
    you have slaughtered them without pity.^(BL)

²² “As you summon to a feast day,
    so you summoned against me terrors^(BM) on every side.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
    no one escaped^(BN) or survived;
those I cared for and reared^(BO)
    my enemy has destroyed.”

3 ^[b]I am the man who has seen affliction^(BP)
    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.^(BQ)
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
    in darkness^(BR) rather than light;
³ indeed, he has turned his hand against me^(BS)
    again and again, all day long.

⁴ He has made my skin and my flesh grow old^(BT)
    and has broken my bones.^(BU)
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
    with bitterness^(BV) and hardship.^(BW)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
    like those long dead.^(BX)

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape;^(BY)
    he has weighed me down with chains.^(BZ)
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,^(CA)
    he shuts out my prayer.^(CB)
9 He has barred^(CC) my way with blocks of stone;
    he has made my paths crooked.^(CD)

¹⁰ Like a bear lying in wait,
    like a lion^(CE) in hiding,^(CF)
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled^(CG) me
    and left me without help.
¹² He drew his bow^(CH)
    and made me the target^(CI) for his arrows.^(CJ)

¹³ He pierced^(CK) my heart
    with arrows from his quiver.^(CL)
14 I became the laughingstock^(CM) of all my people;^(CN)
    they mock me in song^(CO) all day long.
¹⁵ He has filled me with bitter herbs
    and given me gall to drink.^(CP)

¹⁶ He has broken my teeth with gravel;^(CQ)
    he has trampled me in the dust.^(CR)
17 I have been deprived of peace;
    I have forgotten what prosperity is.
¹⁸ So I say, “My splendor is gone
    and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”^(CS)

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
    the bitterness^(CT) and the gall.^(CU)
20 I well remember them,
    and my soul is downcast^(CV) within me.^(CW)
21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love^(CX) we are not consumed,^(CY)
    for his compassions never fail.^(CZ)
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.^(DA)
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;^(DB)
    therefore I will wait for him.”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;^(DC)
26 it is good to wait quietly^(DD)
    for the salvation of the Lord.^(DE)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
    while he is young.

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence,^(DF)
    for the Lord has laid it on him.
²⁹ Let him bury his face in the dust^(DG)—
    there may yet be hope.^(DH)
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,^(DI)
    and let him be filled with disgrace.^(DJ)

³¹ For no one is cast off
    by the Lord forever.^(DK)
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
    so great is his unfailing love.^(DL)
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
    or grief to anyone.^(DM)

³⁴ To crush underfoot
    all prisoners in the land,
³⁵ to deny people their rights
    before the Most High,^(DN)
36 to deprive them of justice—
    would not the Lord see such things?^(DO)

³⁷ Who can speak and have it happen
    if the Lord has not decreed it?^(DP)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that both calamities and good things come?^(DQ)
39 Why should the living complain
    when punished for their sins?^(DR)

⁴⁰ Let us examine our ways and test them,^(DS)
    and let us return to the Lord.^(DT)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
    to God in heaven,^(DU) and say:
⁴² “We have sinned and rebelled^(DV)
    and you have not forgiven.^(DW)

⁴³ “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued^(DX) us;
    you have slain without pity.^(DY)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud^(DZ)
    so that no prayer^(EA) can get through.^(EB)
45 You have made us scum^(EC) and refuse
    among the nations.

⁴⁶ “All our enemies have opened their mouths
    wide^(ED) against us.^(EE)
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,^(EF)
    ruin and destruction.^(EG)”
⁴⁸ Streams of tears^(EH) flow from my eyes^(EI)
    because my people are destroyed.^(EJ)

⁴⁹ My eyes will flow unceasingly,
    without relief,^(EK)
50 until the Lord looks down
    from heaven and sees.^(EL)
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
    because of all the women of my city.

⁵² Those who were my enemies without cause
    hunted me like a bird.^(EM)
53 They tried to end my life in a pit^(EN)
    and threw stones at me;
⁵⁴ the waters closed over my head,^(EO)
    and I thought I was about to perish.^(EP)

⁵⁵ I called on your name, Lord,
    from the depths^(EQ) of the pit.^(ER)
56 You heard my plea:^(ES) “Do not close your ears
    to my cry for relief.”
⁵⁷ You came near^(ET) when I called you,
    and you said, “Do not fear.”^(EU)

⁵⁸ You, Lord, took up my case;^(EV)
    you redeemed my life.^(EW)
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.^(EX)
    Uphold my cause!^(EY)
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
    all their plots against me.^(EZ)

⁶¹ Lord, you have heard their insults,^(FA)
    all their plots against me—
⁶² what my enemies whisper and mutter
    against me all day long.^(FB)
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
    they mock me in their songs.^(FC)

⁶⁴ Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
    for what their hands have done.^(FD)
65 Put a veil over their hearts,^(FE)
    and may your curse be on them!
⁶⁶ Pursue^(FF) them in anger and destroy them
    from under the heavens of the Lord.

4 ^[c]How the gold has lost its luster,
    the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
    at every street corner.^(FG)

² How the precious children of Zion,^(FH)
    once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
    the work of a potter’s hands!

³ Even jackals offer their breasts
    to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
    like ostriches in the desert.^(FI)

⁴ Because of thirst^(FJ) the infant’s tongue
    sticks to the roof of its mouth;^(FK)
the children beg for bread,
    but no one gives it to them.^(FL)

⁵ Those who once ate delicacies
    are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple^(FM)
    now lie on ash heaps.^(FN)

⁶ The punishment of my people
    is greater than that of Sodom,^(FO)
which was overthrown in a moment
    without a hand turned to help her.

⁷ Their princes were brighter than snow
    and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
    their appearance like lapis lazuli.

⁸ But now they are blacker^(FP) than soot;
    they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;^(FQ)
    it has become as dry as a stick.

⁹ Those killed by the sword are better off
    than those who die of famine;^(FR)
racked with hunger, they waste away
    for lack of food from the field.^(FS)

¹⁰ With their own hands compassionate women
    have cooked their own children,^(FT)
who became their food
    when my people were destroyed.

¹¹ The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;^(FU)
    he has poured out^(FV) his fierce anger.^(FW)
He kindled a fire^(FX) in Zion
    that consumed her foundations.^(FY)

¹² The kings of the earth did not believe,
    nor did any of the peoples of the world,
that enemies and foes could enter
    the gates of Jerusalem.^(FZ)

¹³ But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
    and the iniquities of her priests,^(GA)
who shed within her
    the blood^(GB) of the righteous.

¹⁴ Now they grope through the streets
    as if they were blind.^(GC)
They are so defiled with blood^(GD)
    that no one dares to touch their garments.

¹⁵ “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.
    “Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
When they flee and wander^(GE) about,
    people among the nations say,
    “They can stay here no longer.”^(GF)

¹⁶ The Lord himself has scattered them;
    he no longer watches over them.^(GG)
The priests are shown no honor,
    the elders^(GH) no favor.^(GI)

¹⁷ Moreover, our eyes failed,
    looking in vain^(GJ) for help;^(GK)
from our towers we watched
    for a nation^(GL) that could not save us.

¹⁸ People stalked us at every step,
    so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
    for our end had come.^(GM)

¹⁹ Our pursuers were swifter
    than eagles^(GN) in the sky;
they chased us^(GO) over the mountains
    and lay in wait for us in the desert.^(GP)

²⁰ The Lord’s anointed,^(GQ) our very life breath,
    was caught in their traps.^(GR)
We thought that under his shadow^(GS)
    we would live among the nations.

²¹ Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
    you who live in the land of Uz.^(GT)
But to you also the cup^(GU) will be passed;
    you will be drunk and stripped naked.^(GV)

²² Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion;^(GW)
    he will not prolong your exile.
But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom,
    and expose your wickedness.^(GX)

5 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
    look, and see our disgrace.^(GY)
2 Our inheritance^(GZ) has been turned over to strangers,^(HA)
    our homes^(HB) to foreigners.^(HC)
3 We have become fatherless,
    our mothers are widows.^(HD)
4 We must buy the water we drink;^(HE)
    our wood can be had only at a price.^(HF)
5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;
    we are weary^(HG) and find no rest.^(HH)
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria^(HI)
    to get enough bread.
⁷ Our ancestors^(HJ) sinned and are no more,
    and we bear their punishment.^(HK)
8 Slaves^(HL) rule over us,
    and there is no one to free us from their hands.^(HM)
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives
    because of the sword in the desert.
¹⁰ Our skin is hot as an oven,
    feverish from hunger.^(HN)
11 Women have been violated^(HO) in Zion,
    and virgins in the towns of Judah.
¹² Princes have been hung up by their hands;
    elders^(HP) are shown no respect.^(HQ)
13 Young men toil at the millstones;
    boys stagger under loads of wood.
¹⁴ The elders are gone from the city gate;
    the young men have stopped their music.^(HR)
15 Joy is gone from our hearts;
    our dancing has turned to mourning.^(HS)
16 The crown^(HT) has fallen from our head.^(HU)
    Woe to us, for we have sinned!^(HV)
17 Because of this our hearts^(HW) are faint,^(HX)
    because of these things our eyes^(HY) grow dim^(HZ)
18 for Mount Zion,^(IA) which lies desolate,^(IB)
    with jackals prowling over it.

¹⁹ You, Lord, reign forever;^(IC)
    your throne endures^(ID) from generation to generation.
²⁰ Why do you always forget us?^(IE)
    Why do you forsake^(IF) us so long?
²¹ Restore^(IG) us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
    renew our days as of old
²² unless you have utterly rejected us^(IH)
    and are angry with us beyond measure.^(II)