Lamentations 2:17-22

English Standard Version

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.