1 How^[a] she sits alone,^(A)
the city^(B) once crowded with people!
She who was great among the nations
has become like a widow.^(C)
The princess among the provinces
has been put to forced labor.

² She weeps bitterly during the night,^(D)
with tears on her cheeks.
There is no one to offer her comfort,
not one from all her lovers.^[b](E)
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.

³ Judah has gone into exile
following^[c] affliction and harsh slavery;
she lives among the nations
but finds no place to rest.^(F)
All her pursuers have overtaken her
in narrow places.

⁴ The roads to Zion^(G) mourn,
for no one comes to the appointed festivals.^(H)
All her gates are deserted;
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she herself is bitter.

⁵ Her adversaries have become her masters;^(I)
her enemies are at ease,^(J)
for the Lord has made her suffer
because of her many transgressions.
Her children have gone away
as captives before the adversary.

⁶ All the splendor^(K) has vanished
from Daughter Zion.^(L)
Her leaders are like stags
that find no pasture;
they stumble away exhausted
before the hunter.^(M)

⁷ During the days of her affliction and homelessness^(N)
Jerusalem remembers all her precious belongings
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the adversary’s hand,
she had no one to help.
The adversaries looked at her,
laughing over her downfall.

⁸ Jerusalem has sinned grievously;
therefore, she has become an object of scorn.^[d]
All who honored her now despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness.
She herself groans and turns away.

⁹ Her uncleanness stains her skirts.^(O)
She never considered her end.
Her downfall was astonishing;^(P)
there was no one to comfort her.
Lord, look on my affliction,
for the enemy boasts.