11 All her people groan(A)
    as they search for bread;(B)
they barter their treasures for food
    to keep themselves alive.
“Look, Lord, and consider,
    for I am despised.”

12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?(C)
    Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering(D)
    that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me
    in the day of his fierce anger?(E)

13 “From on high he sent fire,
    sent it down into my bones.(F)
He spread a net(G) for my feet
    and turned me back.
He made me desolate,(H)
    faint(I) all the day long.

14 “My sins have been bound into a yoke[a];(J)
    by his hands they were woven together.
They have been hung on my neck,
    and the Lord has sapped my strength.
He has given me into the hands(K)
    of those I cannot withstand.

15 “The Lord has rejected
    all the warriors in my midst;(L)
he has summoned an army(M) against me
    to[b] crush my young men.(N)
In his winepress(O) the Lord has trampled(P)
    Virgin Daughter(Q) Judah.

16 “This is why I weep
    and my eyes overflow with tears.(R)
No one is near to comfort(S) me,
    no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
    because the enemy has prevailed.”(T)

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint He kept watch over my sins
  2. Lamentations 1:15 Or has set a time for me / when he will

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?[a]
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?

13 From above he sent fire into my bones; he trampled them.
He spread a net for my feet; he forced me backward.
He left me devastated, constantly sick.

14 My steps[b] are being watched;[c] by his hand they are tripped up.
His yoke is on my neck; he makes my strength fail.
My Lord has handed me over to people I can’t resist.

15 My Lord has despised my mighty warriors.
He called a feast for me—in order to crush my young men!
My Lord has stomped on the winepress of the young woman Daughter Judah.

16 Because of all these things I’m crying. My eyes, my own eyes pour water
because a comforter who might encourage me is nowhere near.
My children are destroyed because the enemy was so strong.

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:12 Heb uncertain
  2. Lamentations 1:14 Correction; or my wrong acts
  3. Lamentations 1:14 Or a yoke is bound to my wrong acts; Heb uncertain