Lamentations 1:1-8

New International Reader's Version

1 The city of Jerusalem is so empty!
    She used to be full of people.
But now she’s like a woman whose husband has died.
    She used to be great among the nations.
She was like a queen among the kingdoms.
    But now she is a slave.

² Jerusalem weeps bitterly at night.
    Tears run down her cheeks.
    None of her friends comforts her.
All those who were going to help her
    have turned against her.
    They have become her enemies.

³ After Judah’s people had suffered greatly,
    they were taken away as prisoners.
Now they live among the nations.
    They can’t find any place to rest.
All those who were chasing them have caught up with them.
    And they can’t get away.

⁴ The roads to Zion are empty.
    No one travels to her appointed feasts.
All the public places near her gates are deserted.
    Her priests groan.
Her young women are sad.
    And Zion herself weeps bitterly.

⁵ Her enemies have become her masters.
    They have an easy life.
The Lord has brought suffering to Jerusalem
    because her people have committed so many sins.
Her children have been taken away as prisoners.
    Her enemies have forced her people to leave their homes.

⁶ The city of Zion used to be full of glory.
    But now her glory has faded away.
Her princes are like deer.
    They can’t find anything to eat.
They are almost too weak to get away
    from those who hunt them down.

⁷ Jerusalem’s people are suffering and wandering.
    They remember all the treasures
    they used to have.
But they fell into the hands of their enemies.
    And no one was there to help them.
Their enemies looked at them.
    They laughed because Jerusalem had been destroyed.

⁸ Her people have committed many sins.
    They have become impure.
All those who honored Jerusalem now look down on her.
    They all look at her as if she were a naked woman.
    The city groans and turns away in shame.