² She weeps bitterly in the night,
    with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
    she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
    they have become her enemies.

³ Judah has gone into exile with suffering
    and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations,
    and finds no resting-place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
    in the midst of her distress.

⁴ The roads to Zion mourn,
    for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate,
    her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,^[a]
    and her lot is bitter.

⁵ Her foes have become the masters,
    her enemies prosper,
because the Lord has made her suffer
    for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
    captives before the foe.

⁶ From daughter Zion has departed
    all her majesty.
Her princes have become like stags
    that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
    before the pursuer.

¹⁹ The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
    is wormwood and gall!
²⁰ My soul continually thinks of it
    and is bowed down within me.
²¹ But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,^[a]
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
    ‘therefore I will hope in him.’

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul that seeks him.
²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.