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.
⁵ Her adversaries have become ^[e]her masters,
Her enemies are ^[f]secure;
For the Lord has ^[g](P)caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her wrongdoings;
Her little ones have gone away
As captives ^[h]led by the enemy.
⁶ All of her ^(Q)splendor
Is gone from the daughter of Zion;
Her leaders have become like deer
That have found no pasture,
And they have ^[i](R)fled without strength
^[j]From the pursuer.
⁷ In the days of her affliction and homelessness
^(S)Jerusalem remembers all her treasures
That were hers since the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary
And ^(T)no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her,
They ^(U)laughed at her ^[k]ruin.
⁸ Jerusalem sinned ^(V)greatly,
Therefore ^(W)she has become an ^[l]object of ridicule.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even ^(X)she herself groans and turns away.
⁹ Her ^(Y)uncleanness was in her garment’s seams;
She ^[m]did not think of her ^(Z)future.
So she has ^[n](AA)fallen in an astonishing way;
^(AB)She has no comforter.
“^(AC)See, Lord, my affliction,
For the enemy has ^[o](AD)honored himself!”
¹⁰ The adversary has stretched out his hand
Over all her precious things,
For she has seen the ^(AE)nations enter her sanctuary,
The ones whom You commanded
That they were ^(AF)not to enter Your congregation.
¹¹ All her people groan, ^(AG)seeking bread;
They have given their treasures for food
To ^(AH)restore their ^[p]lives.
“See, Lord, and look,
For I am ^(AI)despised.”
¹² “Is it ^(AJ)nothing to all you who pass this way?
Look and see if there is any pain like my pain
Which was inflicted on me,
With which the ^(AK)Lord tormented me on the day of His ^(AL)fierce anger.
¹³ From ^[q]the height He sent fire into my ^(AM)bones,
And it dominated them.
He has spread a ^(AN)net for my feet;
He has turned me back;
He has made me ^(AO)desolate,
^[r]Faint all day long.
¹⁴ The ^(AP)yoke of my wrongdoings is bound;
By His hand they are woven together.
They have ^(AQ)come upon my neck;
He has made my strength ^[s]fail.
The Lord ^(AR)has handed me over
To those against whom I am not able to stand.
¹⁵ The ^(AS)Lord has thrown away all my strong men
In my midst;
He has called an appointed ^[t]time against me
To crush my ^(AT)young men;
The Lord has ^(AU)trodden as in a wine press
The virgin daughter of Judah.
¹⁶ For these things I ^(AV)weep;
^[u]My eyes run down with water;
Because far from me is a ^(AW)comforter,
One to restore my soul.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy has prevailed.”
¹⁷ Zion ^(AX)stretches out with her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
The Lord has ^(AY)commanded regarding Jacob
That those around him become his adversaries;
^(AZ)Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
¹⁸ “The Lord is ^(BA)righteous,
For I have ^(BB)rebelled against His ^[v]command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And ^(BC)see my pain;
^(BD)My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
¹⁹ I ^(BE)called to my lovers, but they deserted me;
My ^(BF)priests and my elders perished in the city
While they sought food to ^(BG)restore their ^[w]strength themselves.
²⁰ See, Lord, for I am in distress;
My ^[x](BH)spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very ^(BI)rebellious.
In the street the sword has made women childless;
In the house it is like death.
²¹ They have heard that I ^(BJ)groan;
There is no one to comfort me,
All my enemies have heard of my disaster;
They are ^(BK)joyful that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,
So that they will become ^(BL)like me.
²² May all their wickedness come before You;
And ^(BM)deal with them just as You have dealt with me
For all my wrongdoings.
For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”

137 By the ^(A)rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and ^(B)wept,
When we remembered Zion.
² Upon the ^[a](C)willows in the midst of it
We ^(D)hung our ^[b]harps.
³ For there our captors ^[c](E)demanded of us ^[d]songs,
And ^(F)our tormentors, jubilation, saying,
“Sing for us one of the songs of Zion!”