¹¹ All her people sigh,
^(A)They ^[a]seek bread;
They have given their ^[b]valuables for food to restore life.
“See, O Lord, and consider,
For I am scorned.”

¹² They say to their mothers,
“Where is grain and wine?”
As they swoon like the wounded
In the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
In their mothers’ bosom.

⁴ The tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth for thirst;
^(A)The young children ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.

⁵ Those who ate delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those who were brought up in scarlet
^(B)Embrace ash heaps.

⁶ The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the punishment of the ^(C)sin of Sodom,
Which was ^(D)overthrown in a moment,
With no hand to help her!

⁷ Her ^[a]Nazirites were ^[b]brighter than snow
And whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in body than rubies,
Like sapphire in their ^[c]appearance.

⁸ Now their appearance is blacker than soot;
They go unrecognized in the streets;
^(E)Their skin clings to their bones,
It has become as dry as wood.

⁹ Those slain by the sword are better off
Than those who die of hunger;
For these ^(F)pine away,
Stricken for lack of the fruits of the ^(G)field.

¹⁰ The hands of the ^(H)compassionate women
Have ^[d]cooked their ^(I)own children;
They became ^(J)food for them
In the destruction of the daughter of my people.

²⁰ “See, O Lord, and consider!
To whom have You done this?
^(A)Should the women eat their offspring,
The children ^[a]they have cuddled?
Should the priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?

¹⁹ “I called for my lovers,
But they deceived me;
My priests and my elders
Breathed their last in the city,
While they sought food
To restore their life.

²⁰ “See, O Lord, that I am in distress;
My ^(A)soul^[a] is troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very rebellious.
^(B)Outside the sword bereaves,
At home it is like death.