Lamentations 1:1-9

New American Standard Bible

1 How ^(A)lonely sits the city
That once had ^(B)many people!
She has become like a ^(C)widow
Who was once ^(D)great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the ^[a]provinces
Has become a ^(E)forced laborer!
² She ^(F)weeps bitterly in the night,
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has no one to comfort her
Among all her ^(G)lovers.
All her friends have ^(H)dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
^3 (I)Judah has gone into exile out of affliction
And ^[b]harsh servitude;
She lives ^(J)among the nations,
But she has not found a resting place;
All those who ^(K)pursued her have overtaken her
In the midst of ^[c]distress.
⁴ The roads ^[d]of Zion are in mourning
Because ^(L)no one comes to an appointed feast.
All her gates are ^(M)deserted;
Her priests groan,
Her ^(N)virgins are worried,
And as for Zion herself, it is ^(O)bitter for her.
⁵ Her adversaries have become ^[e]her masters,
Her enemies are ^[f]secure;
For the Lord has ^[g](P)caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her wrongdoings;
Her little ones have gone away
As captives ^[h]led by the enemy.
⁶ All of her ^(Q)splendor
Is gone from the daughter of Zion;
Her leaders have become like deer
That have found no pasture,
And they have ^[i](R)fled without strength
^[j]From the pursuer.
⁷ In the days of her affliction and homelessness
^(S)Jerusalem remembers all her treasures
That were hers since the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary
And ^(T)no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her,
They ^(U)laughed at her ^[k]ruin.
⁸ Jerusalem sinned ^(V)greatly,
Therefore ^(W)she has become an ^[l]object of ridicule.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even ^(X)she herself groans and turns away.
⁹ Her ^(Y)uncleanness was in her garment’s seams;
She ^[m]did not think of her ^(Z)future.
So she has ^[n](AA)fallen in an astonishing way;
^(AB)She has no comforter.
“^(AC)See, Lord, my affliction,
For the enemy has ^[o](AD)honored himself!”