Lamentations 1:1-9

Modern English Version

² She weeps sorely in the night,
    her tears are on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
    she has none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
    they have become her enemies.

³ Judah has gone into captivity,
    under affliction and great servitude;
she dwells among the nations,
    she finds no rest;
all her persecutors overtook her
    in the midst of distress.

⁴ The roads to Zion mourn
    because no one comes to the solemn feasts.
All her gates are desolate;
    her priests sigh,
her virgins are afflicted,
    and she herself suffers bitterly.

⁵ Her adversaries have become her masters,
    her enemies prosper;
for the Lord has afflicted her
    because of the multitude of her transgressions.
Her children have gone into captivity
    before the enemy.

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

⁷ In the days of her affliction and misery
    Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things
    that she had in the days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
    there was no one to help her.
The adversaries saw her
    and mocked at her desolation.

⁸ Jerusalem has sinned grievously;
    therefore she has become vile.
All who honored her despise her,
    for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself sighs
    and turns away.

⁹ Her uncleanness is in her skirts;
    she took no thought of her future;
therefore her fall is astounding;
    she has no comforter.
“O Lord, look upon my affliction,
    for the enemy has triumphed!”