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The Desolate City

How desolate the city sits
    that was full of people!
She has become like a widow,
    once great among the nations!
Like a woman of nobility in the provinces,
    she has become a forced laborer.
She weeps bitterly in the night,
    her tears are on her cheeks;
she has no comforter
    among all her lovers.
All her friends have been unfaithful to her;
    they have become her enemies.
Judah has gone into exile with misery
    and under hard servitude;
she lives among the nations,
    she has not found a resting place;
all her pursuers have overtaken her
    amidst her distress.

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[a]How deserted(A) lies the city,
    once so full of people!(B)
How like a widow(C) is she,
    who once was great(D) among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
    has now become a slave.(E)

Bitterly she weeps(F) at night,
    tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers(G)
    there is no one to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed(H) her;
    they have become her enemies.(I)

After affliction and harsh labor,
    Judah has gone into exile.(J)
She dwells among the nations;
    she finds no resting place.(K)
All who pursue her have overtaken her(L)
    in the midst of her distress.

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.