⁵ I cry to you, Lord, for help.
    “You are my refuge,” I say.
    “You are all I have in the land of the living.”
⁶ Pay close attention to my shouting,
    because I’ve been brought down so low!
Deliver me from my oppressors
    because they’re stronger than me.
⁷ Get me out of this prison
    so I can give thanks to your name.
Then the righteous will gather all around me
    because of your good deeds to me.

³ The enemy is chasing me,^[a]
    crushing my life in the dirt,
        forcing me to live in the dark
            like those who’ve been dead forever.
⁴ My spirit is weak inside me—
    inside, my mind is numb.

⁵ I remember the days long past;
    I meditate on all your deeds;
    I contemplate your handiwork.
⁶ I stretch out my hands to you;
    my whole being is like dry dirt, thirsting for you.^[b] Selah

⁷ Answer me, Lord—and quickly! My breath is fading.
    Don’t hide your face from me
        or I’ll be like those going down to the pit!
⁸ Tell me all about your faithful love come morning time,
    because I trust you.
Show me the way I should go,
    because I offer my life up to you.
⁹ Deliver me from my enemies, Lord!
    I seek protection from you.^[c]
10 Teach me to do what pleases you,
    because you are my God.
Guide me by your good spirit
        into good land.
¹¹ Make me live again, Lord, for your name’s sake.
    Bring me out of distress because of your righteousness.
¹² Wipe out my enemies because of your faithful love.
    Destroy everyone who attacks me,
        because I am your servant.

¹⁰ Daughter Zion’s elders sit on the ground and mourn.
They throw dust on their heads; they put on mourning clothes.
Jerusalem’s young women bow their heads all the way to the ground.

¹¹ My eyes are worn out from weeping; my stomach is churning.
My insides are poured on the ground because the daughter of my people is shattered,
because children and babies are fainting in the city streets.

¹² They say to their mothers, “Where are grain and wine?”
while fainting like the wounded in the city streets,
while their lives are draining away at their own mothers’ breasts.

¹³ What can I testify about you, Daughter Jerusalem?^[a] To what could I compare you?
With what could I equate you? How can I comfort you, young woman Daughter Zion?
Your hurt is as vast as the sea. Who can heal you?

¹⁴ Your prophets gave you worthless and empty visions.
They didn’t reveal your sin so as to prevent your captivity.
Instead, they showed you worthless and incorrect prophecies.

¹⁵ All who pass by on the road clap their hands about you;
they whistle, shaking their heads at Daughter Jerusalem:
“Could this be the city called Perfect Beauty, the Joy of All the Earth?”

¹⁶ All your enemies open wide their mouths against you;
they whistle, grinding their teeth. They say, “We have devoured!
This is definitely the day we’ve been waiting for. We’ve seen it come to pass.”

¹⁷ The Lord did what he had planned. He accomplished the word
that he had commanded long ago. He ripped down, showing no compassion.
He made the enemy rejoice over you; he raised up your adversaries’ horn.

¹⁸ Cry out to my Lord from the heart,^[b] you wall of Daughter Zion;
make your^[c] tears run down like a flood all day and night.
Don’t relax at all; don’t rest your eyes a moment.