52 (A)“I have been hunted (B)like a bird
    by those who were my enemies (C)without cause;
53 (D)they flung me alive into the pit
    (E)and cast stones on me;
54 (F)water closed over my head;
    I said, (G)‘I am lost.’

55 (H)“I called on your name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
56 (I)you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!’
57 (J)You came near when I called on you;
    you said, (K)‘Do not fear!’

58 “You have (L)taken up my cause, (M)O Lord;
    you have (N)redeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, (O)O Lord;
    judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
    all (P)their plots against me.

61 (Q)“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
    all (R)their plots against me.
62 The lips and thoughts (S)of my assailants
    are against me all the day long.
63 (T)Behold their sitting and their rising;
    (U)I am the object of their taunts.

64 (V)“You will repay them,[a] O Lord,
    (W)according to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them[b] dullness of heart;
    your curse will be[c] on them.
66 You will pursue them[d] in anger and (X)destroy them
    from under (Y)your heavens, O Lord.”[e]

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

(Z)How the gold has grown dim,
    how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
    (AA)at the head of every street.

The precious sons of Zion,
    worth their weight in (AB)fine gold,
how they are regarded as (AC)earthen pots,
    the work of a potter's hands!

Even jackals offer the breast;
    they nurse their young;
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
    like the ostriches in the wilderness.

The tongue of the nursing infant (AD)sticks
    to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
(AE)the children beg for food,
    but no one gives to them.

Those who once feasted on delicacies
    perish in the streets;
(AF)those who were brought up in purple
    embrace ash heaps.

(AG)For the chastisement[f] of the daughter of my people has been greater
    than the punishment[g] of Sodom,
(AH)which was overthrown in a moment,
    and no hands were wrung for her.[h]

Her princes were purer than snow,
    whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
    the beauty of their form[i] was like sapphire.[j]

(AI)Now their face is blacker than soot;
    they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones;
    it has become as dry as wood.

Happier were the victims of the sword
    than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
    by lack of the fruits of the field.

10 (AJ)The hands of (AK)compassionate women
    (AL)have boiled their own children;
(AM)they became their food
    during the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11 (AN)The Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
    he poured out his hot anger,
and (AO)he kindled a fire in Zion
    that consumed its foundations.

12 (AP)The kings of the earth did not believe,
    nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
    the gates of Jerusalem.

13 This was for (AQ)the sins of her prophets
    and (AR)the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
    the blood of the righteous.

14 (AS)They wandered, blind, through the streets;
    they were so defiled with blood
(AT)that no one was able to touch
    their garments.

15 “Away! (AU)Unclean!” people cried at them.
    “Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
    people said among the nations,
    “They shall stay with us no longer.”

16 (AV)The Lord himself[k] has scattered them;
    he will regard them no more;
(AW)no honor was shown to the priests,
    (AX)no favor to the elders.

17 (AY)Our eyes failed, ever watching
    (AZ)vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
    for (BA)a nation which could not save.

18 (BB)They dogged our steps
    so that we could not walk in our streets;
(BC)our end drew near; our days were numbered,
    for our end had come.

19 Our pursuers were (BD)swifter
    than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
    they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

20 (BE)The breath of our nostrils, (BF)the Lord's anointed,
    was captured (BG)in their pits,
of whom we said, (BH)“Under his shadow
    we shall live among the nations.”

21 (BI)Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
    you who dwell in (BJ)the land of Uz;
but to you also (BK)the cup shall pass;
    you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.

22 (BL)The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
    he will keep you in exile no longer;[l]
but (BM)your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
    he will uncover your sins.

Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord

(BN)Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
    look, and see (BO)our disgrace!
(BP)Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
    our homes to foreigners.
We have become orphans, fatherless;
    our mothers are like widows.
We must pay for the water we drink;
    the wood we get must be bought.
(BQ)Our pursuers are at our necks;
    we are weary; we are given no rest.
We have given the hand to (BR)Egypt, and to (BS)Assyria,
    to get bread enough.

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 3:64 Or Repay them
  2. Lamentations 3:65 Or Give them
  3. Lamentations 3:65 Or place your curse
  4. Lamentations 3:66 Or Pursue them
  5. Lamentations 3:66 Syriac (compare Septuagint, Vulgate); Hebrew the heavens of the Lord
  6. Lamentations 4:6 Or iniquity
  7. Lamentations 4:6 Or sin
  8. Lamentations 4:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  9. Lamentations 4:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  10. Lamentations 4:7 Hebrew lapis lazuli
  11. Lamentations 4:16 Hebrew The face of the Lord
  12. Lamentations 4:22 Or he will not exile you again

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