⁴ More numerous than the hairs on my head
    are those who hate me for no reason.
My treacherous enemies,
    those who would destroy me, are countless.
    Must I now give back
    what I didn’t steal in the first place?
⁵ God, you know my foolishness;
    my wrongdoings aren’t hidden from you.

⁶ Lord God of heavenly forces!—
    don’t let those who hope in you
        be put to shame because of me.
God of Israel!—
    don’t let those who seek you
    be disgraced because of me.
⁷ I am insulted because of you.
    Shame covers my face.
⁸ I have become a stranger to my own brothers,
    an immigrant to my mother’s children.
⁹ Because passion for your house has consumed me,
    the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me!
¹⁰ I wept while I fasted—
    even for that I was insulted.
¹¹ When I wore funeral clothes,
    people made fun of me.
¹² Those who sit at the city gate muttered things about me;
    drunkards made up rude songs.

¹³ But me? My prayer reaches you, Lord,
    at just the right time.
God, in your great and faithful love,
    answer me with your certain salvation!
¹⁴ Save me from the mud!
    Don’t let me drown!
    Let me be saved from those who hate me
    and from these watery depths!
¹⁵ Don’t let me be swept away by the floodwaters!
    Don’t let the abyss swallow me up!
    Don’t let the pit close its mouth over me!
¹⁶ Answer me, Lord, for your faithful love is good!
    Turn to me in your great compassion!
¹⁷ Don’t hide your face from me, your servant,
    because I’m in deep trouble.
    Answer me quickly!
¹⁸ Come close to me!
    Redeem me!
    Save me because of my enemies!

¹⁹ You know full well the insults I’ve received;
    you know my shame and my disgrace.
    All my adversaries are right there in front of you.
²⁰ Insults have broken my heart.
    I’m sick about it.
I hoped for sympathy,
    but there wasn’t any;
    I hoped for comforters,
    but couldn’t find any.
²¹ They gave me poison for food.
    To quench my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

²² Let the table before them become a trap,
    their offerings a snare.
²³ Let their eyes grow too dim to see;
    make their insides tremble constantly.

² She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears on her cheek.
None of her lovers comfort her.
    All her friends lied to her; they have become her enemies.

⁶ Daughter Zion lost all her glory.
Her officials are like deer that can’t find pasture.
They have gone away, frail, before the hunter.

⁷ While suffering and homeless, Jerusalem remembers all her treasures from days long past.
When her people fell by the enemy’s hand, there was no one to help her.
Enemies saw her, laughed at her defeat.

⁸ Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore, she’s become a joke.^[a]
All who honored her now detest her, for they’ve seen her naked.
Even she groans and turns away.

⁹ Her uncleanness shows on her clothing; she didn’t consider what would happen to her.
She’s gone down shockingly; she has no comforter.
“Lord, look at my suffering—the enemy has definitely triumphed!”

¹⁰ The enemy grabbed all her treasures.
She watched nations enter her sanctuary—
nations that you, God,^[b] commanded: They must not enter your assembly.

¹¹ All her people are groaning, seeking bread.
They give up their most precious things for food to survive.
“Lord, look and take notice: I am most certainly despised.”

¹² Is this nothing to all you who pass by?^[c]
Look around: Is there any suffering like the suffering inflicted on me,
the grief that the Lord caused on the day of his fierce anger?