² The Lord ^(D)has swallowed up ^(E)without mercy
    all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath ^(F)he has broken down
    the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought ^(G)down to the ground ^(H)in dishonor
    the kingdom ^(I)and its rulers.

³ He has cut down in ^(J)fierce anger
    all ^(K)the might of Israel;
^(L)he has withdrawn from them his right hand
    in the face of the enemy;
^(M)he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
    consuming all around.

^4 (N)He has bent his bow like an enemy,
    with his right hand set ^(O)like a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
    in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.

^5 (P)The Lord has become like an enemy;
    ^(Q)he has swallowed up Israel;
^(R)he has swallowed up all its palaces;
    he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
    ^(S)mourning and lamentation.

⁶ He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
    laid in ruins ^(T)his meeting place;
^(U)the Lord has made Zion forget
    festival and ^(V)Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.

^7 (W)The Lord has scorned his altar,
    ^(X)disowned his sanctuary;
^(Y)he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
    the walls of her palaces;
^(Z)they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
    as on the day of festival.

^8 (AA)The Lord determined to lay in ruins
    ^(AB)the wall of the daughter of Zion;
^(AC)he stretched out the measuring line;
    he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
^(AD)he caused rampart and wall to lament;
    ^(AE)they languished together.

¹⁷ The Lord has done what he purposed;
    he has carried out ^(A)his word,
which he commanded ^(B)long ago;
    ^(C)he has thrown down ^(D)without pity;
^(E)he has made the enemy rejoice over you
    and exalted the ^(F)might of your foes.

¹⁸ Their heart cried to the Lord.
    O ^(G)wall of the daughter of Zion,
^(H)let tears stream down like a torrent
    ^(I)day and night!
^(J)Give yourself no rest,
    ^(K)your eyes no respite!

¹⁹ “Arise, ^(L)cry out in the night,
    at the beginning of the night watches!
^(M)Pour out your heart like water
    before the presence of the Lord!
^(N)Lift your hands to him
    for the lives of your children,
^(O)who faint for hunger
    at the head of every street.”

²⁰ Look, O Lord, and see!
    ^(P)With whom have you dealt thus?
^(Q)Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
    the children of ^(R)their tender care?
Should ^(S)priest and prophet be killed
    in the sanctuary of the Lord?

²¹ In the dust of the streets
    ^(T)lie the young and the old;
^(U)my young women and my young men
    have fallen by the sword;
^(V)you have killed them in the day of your anger,
    slaughtering ^(W)without pity.

²² You summoned as if to ^(X)a festival day
    ^(Y)my terrors on every side,
^(Z)and on the day of the anger of the Lord
    no one escaped or survived;
^(AA)those whom I held and raised
    my enemy destroyed.