⁷ The Lord has rejected his altar,
repudiated his sanctuary;^(A)
he has handed the walls of her palaces
over to the enemy.
They have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.

⁸ The Lord determined to destroy
the wall of Daughter Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line^(B)
and did not restrain himself from destroying.
He made the ramparts and walls grieve;
together they waste away.

⁹ Zion’s gates have fallen to the ground;^(C)
he has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.
Her king and her leaders live among the nations,
instruction^[a] is no more,
and even her prophets receive
no vision from the Lord.^(D)

¹⁰ The elders of Daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence.
They have thrown dust on their heads^(E)
and put on sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.^(F)

¹¹ My eyes are worn out from weeping;^(G)
I am churning within.
My heart is poured out in grief^[b](H)
because of the destruction of my dear people,^(I)
because infants and nursing babies faint
in the streets of the city.^(J)

¹² They cry out to their mothers,
“Where is the grain and wine?” ^(K)
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their life pours out
in the arms of their mothers.

¹³ What can I say on your behalf?
What can I compare you to, Daughter Jerusalem?
What can I liken you to,
so that I may console you, Virgin Daughter Zion?
For your ruin is as vast as the sea.
Who can heal you?^(L)

¹⁴ Your prophets saw visions for you
that were empty and deceptive;^[c](M)
they did not reveal your iniquity
and so restore your fortunes.^(N)
They saw pronouncements for you
that were empty and misleading.

¹⁵ All who pass by
scornfully clap their hands^(O) at you.
They hiss^(P) and shake their heads^(Q)
at Daughter Jerusalem:
Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,^(R)
the joy of the whole earth?^(S)

¹⁶ All your enemies
open their mouths against you.^(T)
They hiss and gnash their teeth,^(U)
saying, “We have swallowed her up.^(V)
This is the day we have waited for!
We have lived to see it.”

¹⁷ The Lord has done what he planned;
he has accomplished his decree,
which he ordained in days of old.
He has demolished without compassion,^(W)
letting the enemy gloat over you
and exalting the horn of your adversaries.

¹⁸ The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord.
Wall of Daughter Zion,^(X)
let your tears run down like a river
day and night.^(Y)
Give yourself no relief
and your^[d] eyes no rest.

¹⁹ Arise, cry out in the night
from the first watch of the night.
Pour out your heart like water
before the Lord’s presence.^(Z)
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your children
who are fainting from hunger
at the head of every street.^(AA)

²⁰ Lord, look and consider
to whom you have done this.
Should women eat their own children,^(AB)
the infants they have nurtured?^[e]
Should priests and prophets
be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?

²¹ Both young and old
are lying on the ground in the streets.
My young women and young men
have fallen by the sword.
You have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering without compassion.^(AC)

²² You summon those who terrorize me^[f] on every side,^(AD)
as if for an appointed festival day;
on the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped or survived.
My enemy has destroyed
those I nurtured^[g] and reared.

3 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s wrath.
² He has driven me away and forced me to walk
in darkness instead of light.^(A)
3 Yes, he repeatedly turns his hand
against me all day long.

⁴ He has worn away my flesh and skin;^(B)
he has broken my bones.^(C)
5 He has laid siege against me,^(D)
encircling me with bitterness and hardship.^(E)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those who have been dead for ages.^(F)

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot get out;^(G)
he has weighed me down with chains.
⁸ Even when I cry out and plead for help,
he blocks out my prayer.^(H)
9 He has walled in my ways with blocks of stone;^(I)
he has made my paths crooked.^(J)

¹⁰ He is^[a] a bear waiting in ambush,
a lion in hiding.^(K)
11 He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces;
he left me desolate.
¹² He strung his bow^(L)
and set me as the target for his arrow.

¹³ He pierced my kidneys
with shafts from his quiver.^(M)
14 I am a laughingstock^(N) to all my people,^[b]
mocked by their songs^(O) all day long.
¹⁵ He filled me with bitterness,
satiated me with wormwood.^(P)

¹⁶ He ground my teeth with gravel^(Q)
and made me cower^[c] in the dust.
¹⁷ I have been deprived^[d] of peace;^(R)
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
¹⁸ Then I thought, “My future^[e] is lost,
as well as my hope from the Lord.”

¹⁹ Remember^[f] my affliction and my homelessness,^(S)
the wormwood and the poison.^(T)
20 I continually remember them
and have become depressed.^[g](U)
21 Yet I call this to mind,
and therefore I have hope:^(V)

²² Because of the Lord’s faithful love^(W)
we do not perish,^[h]
for his mercies never end.
²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!^(X)
24 I say, “The Lord is my portion,^(Y)
therefore I will put my hope in him.”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait^(Z) for him,
to the person who seeks him.
²⁶ It is good to wait quietly^(AA)
for salvation from the Lord.^(AB)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke^(AC)
while he is still young.

²⁸ Let him sit alone and be silent,^(AD)
for God has disciplined^[i] him.
²⁹ Let him put his mouth in the dust^(AE)—
perhaps there is still hope.
³⁰ Let him offer his cheek
to the one who would strike him;^(AF)
let him be filled with disgrace.

³¹ For the Lord
will not reject us forever.
³² Even if he causes suffering,
he will show compassion
according to the abundance of his faithful love.^(AG)
33 For he does not enjoy bringing affliction^(AH)
or suffering on mankind.

³⁴ Crushing all the prisoners of the land^[j]
beneath one’s feet,
³⁵ denying justice to a man^(AI)
in the presence of the Most High,
³⁶ or subverting a person in his lawsuit^(AJ)—
the Lord does not approve of these things.

³⁷ Who is there who speaks and it happens,
unless the Lord has ordained it?^(AK)
38 Do not both adversity and good
come from the mouth of the Most High?^(AL)
39 Why should any living person complain,
any man, because of the punishment for his sins?