⁴⁰ Let’s examine and probe our ways,
and turn back to the Lord.^(A)
41 Let’s lift up our hearts and our hands^(B)
to God in heaven:
⁴² “We have sinned and rebelled;
you have not forgiven.^(C)

⁴³ “You have covered yourself in anger and pursued us;
you have killed without compassion.^(D)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.^(E)
45 You have made us disgusting filth
among the peoples.^(F)

⁴⁶ “All our enemies
open their mouths against us.^(G)
47 We have experienced panic and pitfall,^(H)
devastation and destruction.”
⁴⁸ My eyes flow with streams of tears
because of the destruction of my dear people.

⁴⁹ My eyes overflow unceasingly,
without end,^(I)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.^(J)
51 My eyes bring me grief
because of the fate of all the women in my city.

⁵² For no reason, my enemies^[a]
hunted me like a bird.^(K)
53 They smothered my life in^[b] a pit^(L)
and threw stones on me.
⁵⁴ Water flooded over my head,^(M)
and I thought, “I’m going to die!” ^(N)

⁵⁵ I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths of the pit.
⁵⁶ You heard my plea:
Do not ignore my cry for relief.
⁵⁷ You came near whenever I called you;
you said, “Do not be afraid.”

⁵⁸ You championed my cause, Lord;^(O)
you redeemed my life.^(P)
59 Lord, you saw the wrong done to me;
judge my case.
⁶⁰ You saw all their vengefulness,
all their plots against me.^(Q)

⁶¹ Lord, you heard their insults,^(R)
all their plots against me.
⁶² The slander^[c] and murmuring of my opponents
attack me all day long.
⁶³ When they sit and when they rise, look,
I am mocked by their songs.^(S)

⁶⁴ You will pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
according to the work of their hands.^(T)
65 You will give them a heart filled with anguish.^[d](U)
May your curse be on them!
⁶⁶ You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
under your heavens.^[e](V)

4 How the gold has become tarnished,
the fine gold become dull!
The stones of the temple^[a] lie scattered
at the head of every street.^(A)

² Zion’s precious children—
once worth their weight in pure gold^(B)—
how they are regarded as clay jars,
the work of a potter’s hands!

³ Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my dear people have become cruel
like ostriches^(C) in the wilderness.

⁴ The nursing baby’s tongue
clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.^(D)
Infants beg for food,
but no one gives them any.

⁵ Those who used to eat delicacies
are destitute in the streets;
those who were reared in purple garments^(E)
huddle in trash heaps.

⁶ The punishment of my dear people
is greater than that of Sodom,^(F)
which was overthrown in an instant
without a hand laid on it.

⁷ Her dignitaries were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies^[b] were more ruddy than coral,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.

⁸ Now they appear darker than soot;^(G)
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become dry like wood.

⁹ Those slain by the sword are better off
than those slain by hunger,
who waste away, pierced with pain
because the fields lack produce.

¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women
have cooked their own children;^(H)
they became their food
during the destruction of my dear people.^(I)

¹¹ The Lord has exhausted his wrath,
poured out his burning anger;
he has ignited a fire in Zion,
and it has consumed her foundations.^(J)

¹² The kings of the earth
and all the world’s inhabitants did not believe
that an enemy or adversary
could enter Jerusalem’s gates.^(K)

¹³ Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed the blood of the righteous within her.^(L)

¹⁴ Blind, they stumbled in the streets,^(M)
defiled by this blood,^(N)
so that no one dared
to touch their garments.

¹⁵ “Stay away! Unclean!” people shouted at them.
“Away, away! Don’t touch us!” ^(O)
So they wandered aimlessly.^(P)
It was said among the nations,
“They can stay here no longer.”

¹⁶ The Lord himself has scattered them;
he no longer watches over them.
The priests are not respected;
the elders find no favor.

¹⁷ All the while our eyes were failing
as we looked in vain for help;^(Q)
we watched from our towers
for a nation that would not save us.

¹⁸ Our steps were closely followed
so that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end approached;^(R) our time ran out.
Our end had come!

¹⁹ Those who chased us were swifter
than eagles in the sky;^(S)
they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains
and ambushed us in the wilderness.

²⁰ The Lord’s anointed, the breath of our life,^[c](T)
was captured in their traps.
We had said about him,
“We will live under his protection among the nations.”

²¹ So rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,^(U)
you resident of the land of Uz!^(V)
Yet the cup^(W) will pass to you as well;
you will get drunk and expose yourself.

²² Daughter Zion, your punishment is complete;
he will not lengthen your exile.^[d]
But he will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom,
and will expose your sins.^(X)

5 Lord, remember what has happened to us.
Look, and see our disgrace!^(A)
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our houses to foreigners.
³ We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are widows.
⁴ We must pay for the water we drink;
our wood comes at a price.
⁵ We are closely pursued;
we are tired, and no one offers us rest.
⁶ We made a treaty with^[a] Egypt
and with Assyria, to get enough food.^(B)
7 Our ancestors sinned; they no longer exist,
but we bear their punishment.^(C)
8 Slaves rule over us;^(D)
no one rescues us from them.
⁹ We secure our food at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the wilderness.
¹⁰ Our skin is as hot^[b] as an oven^(E)
from the ravages of hunger.
¹¹ Women have been raped in Zion,
virgins in the cities of Judah.
¹² Princes have been hung up by their hands;
elders are shown no respect.^(F)
13 Young men labor at millstones;^(G)
boys stumble under loads of wood.
¹⁴ The elders have left the city gate,
the young men, their music.^(H)
15 Joy has left our hearts;^(I)
our dancing has turned to mourning.
¹⁶ The crown has fallen from our head.^(J)
Woe to us, for we have sinned.^(K)
17 Because of this, our heart is sick;
because of these, our eyes grow dim:^(L)
18 because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate
and has jackals prowling in it.^(M)
19 You, Lord, are enthroned forever;
your throne endures from generation to generation.^(N)
20 Why do you continually forget us,^(O)
abandon us for our entire lives?
²¹ Lord, bring us back to yourself, so we may return;^(P)
renew our days as in former times,
²² unless you have completely rejected us
and are intensely angry with us.