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.

3 I am the man who has ^(A)seen misery
Because of the rod of His wrath.
² He has driven me and made me walk
In ^(B)darkness and not in light.
³ Indeed, He has ^(C)turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.

¹⁶ He has also ^(A)made my teeth grind with ^(B)gravel;
He has made me cower in the ^(C)dust.
¹⁷ My soul has been excluded ^(D)from peace;
I have forgotten ^[a]happiness.
¹⁸ So I say, “My ^[b]strength has failed,
And so has my ^(E)hope from the Lord.”

¹⁹ Remember my misery and my homelessness, the ^(F)wormwood and ^[c]bitterness.
^20 (G)My soul certainly remembers,
And ^[d]is ^(H)bent over within me.
²¹ I recall this to my mind,
Therefore I ^[e](I)wait.
^22 [f]The Lord’s ^(J)acts of mercy indeed do not end,
^(K)For His compassions do not fail.
²³ They are new ^(L)every morning;
Great is ^(M)Your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my ^(N)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I ^[g](O)wait for Him.”
²⁵ The Lord is good to those who ^[h](P)await Him,
To the ^[i]person who ^(Q)seeks Him.
²⁶ It is good that he ^(R)waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷ It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.

³¹ For the Lord will ^(A)not reject forever,
³² For if He causes grief,
Then He will have ^(B)compassion
In proportion to His abundant mercy.
³³ For He ^(C)does not ^[a]afflict ^[b]willingly
Or ^[c]grieve the sons of mankind.