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Sorrow in Jerusalem

Jerusalem, once so full of people,
    is now deserted.
She who was once great among the nations
    now sits alone like a widow.
Once the queen of all the earth,
    she is now a slave.

She sobs through the night;
    tears stream down her cheeks.
Among all her lovers,
    there is no one left to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her
    and become her enemies.

Judah has been led away into captivity,
    oppressed with cruel slavery.
She lives among foreign nations
    and has no place of rest.
Her enemies have chased her down,
    and she has nowhere to turn.

The roads to Jerusalem[a] are in mourning,
    for crowds no longer come to celebrate the festivals.
The city gates are silent,
    her priests groan,
her young women are crying—
    how bitter is her fate!

Her oppressors have become her masters,
    and her enemies prosper,
for the Lord has punished Jerusalem
    for her many sins.
Her children have been captured
    and taken away to distant lands.

All the majesty of beautiful Jerusalem[b]
    has been stripped away.
Her princes are like starving deer
    searching for pasture.
They are too weak to run
    from the pursuing enemy.

In the midst of her sadness and wandering,
    Jerusalem remembers her ancient splendor.
But now she has fallen to her enemy,
    and there is no one to help her.
Her enemy struck her down
    and laughed as she fell.

Jerusalem has sinned greatly,
    so she has been tossed away like a filthy rag.
All who once honored her now despise her,
    for they have seen her stripped naked and humiliated.
All she can do is groan
    and hide her face.

She defiled herself with immorality
    and gave no thought to her future.
Now she lies in the gutter
    with no one to lift her out.
Lord, see my misery,” she cries.
    “The enemy has triumphed.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1:4 Hebrew Zion; also in 1:17.
  2. 1:6 Hebrew of the daughter of Zion.

The Sorrowful City[a]

How lonely she lies,
    the city that thronged with people!
Like a widow she has become,
    this great one among nations!
The princess among provinces
    has become a vassal.

Bitterly she cries in the night,
    as tears stream down[b] her cheeks.
No one consoles her
    of all her friends.
All her neighbors have betrayed her;
    they have become her enemies.

Judah has gone into exile
    to escape affliction and servitude.
She that sat among the nations,
    has found no rest.
All her pursuers overtook her
    amid narrow passes.

The roads that lead to Zion are in mourning,
    because no one travels to the festivals.

All her gates are desolate;
    her priests are moaning.
Her young women[c] are grieving,[d]
    and she is bitter.

Her adversaries dominate her,
    her enemies prosper.
For the Lord has made her suffer
    because of her many transgressions.
Her children have gone away,
    taken into captivity in the presence of the enemy.

Fled from cherished[e] Zion
    are all that were her splendor.
Her princes have become like deer
    that cannot find their feeding grounds.
They flee with strength exhausted
    from their pursuers.

Jerusalem remembers[f]
    her time of affliction and misery;
all her valued belongings[g]
    of days gone by,
when her people fell into enemy hands,
    with no one to help her,
and her enemies stared at her,
    mocking her downfall.

Jerusalem sinned greatly,
    and she became unclean.[h]
All who honored her now despise her,
    because they saw her naked.
She herself groans
    and turns her face away.

Uncleanness has soiled her skirts,
    and she gave no thought to what would follow.
She fell in such a startling way,
    with no one to comfort her.
Look, Lord, upon my affliction,
    because my enemy is boasting.

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:1 This book is an acrostic—successive verses begin with a consecutive letter of the Heb. alphabet except in chapter 3, where every three verses begin with the same consecutive Heb. letter.
  2. Lamentations 1:2 The Heb. lacks stream down
  3. Lamentations 1:4 Lit. virgins
  4. Lamentations 1:4 Or are led away.
  5. Lamentations 1:6 Lit. from the daughter of
  6. Lamentations 1:7 Or Remember, Lord, Jerusalem,
  7. Lamentations 1:7 Or Perished are all her valued belongings
  8. Lamentations 1:8 Lit. has been removed; i.e. due to ritual uncleanness