Lonely Jerusalem

The Prophet Speaks:

Jerusalem, once so crowded, lies deserted and lonely. This city that was known all over the world is now like a widow. This queen of the nations has been made a slave.

The people of Judah are slaves, suffering in a foreign land, with no rest from sorrow. Their enemies captured them and were terribly cruel.

The roads to Zion mourn because no one travels there to celebrate the festivals. The city gates are deserted; priests are weeping. Young women are raped; Zion is in sorrow!

Enemies now rule the city and live as they please. The Lord has punished Jerusalem because of her awful sins; he has let her people be dragged away.

Zion's glory has disappeared. Her leaders are like deer that cannot find pasture; they are hunted down till their strength is gone.

Her people recall the good life that once was theirs; now they suffer and are scattered. No one was there to protect them from their enemies who sneered when their city was taken.

Jerusalem's horrible sins have made the city a joke. Those who once admired her now hate her instead— she has been disgraced; she groans and turns away.

Her sins had made her filthy, but she wasn't worried about what could happen. And when Jerusalem fell, it was so tragic. No one gave her comfort when she cried out, “Help! I'm in trouble, Lord! The enemy has won.”

Zion's treasures were stolen. Jerusalem saw foreigners enter her place of worship, though the Lord had forbidden them to belong to his people.

Everyone in the city groans while searching for food; they trade their valuables for barely enough scraps to stay alive.

Jerusalem Speaks:

Jerusalem shouts to the Lord, “Please look and see how miserable I am!”

No passerby even cares. Why doesn't someone notice my terrible sufferings? You were fiercely angry, Lord, and you punished me worst of all.

From heaven you sent a fire that burned in my bones; you set a trap for my feet and made me turn back. All day long you leave me in shock from constant pain.

You have tied my sins around my neck, and they weigh so heavily that my strength is gone. You have put me in the power of enemies too strong for me.

Because of this, I mourn, and tears flood my eyes. No one is here to comfort or to encourage me; we have lost the war— my people are suffering.

The Prophet Speaks:

Zion reaches out her hands, but no one offers comfort. The Lord has turned the neighboring nations against Jacob's descendants. Jerusalem is merely a filthy rag to her neighbors.

Jerusalem Speaks:

The Lord was right, but I refused to obey him. Now I ask all of you to look at my sufferings— even my young people have been dragged away.

I called out to my lovers, but they betrayed me. My priests and my leaders died while searching the city for scraps of food.

Won't you look and see how upset I am, our Lord? My stomach is in knots, and my heart is broken because I betrayed you. In the streets and at home, my people are slaughtered.

Don't let their evil deeds escape your sight. Punish them as much as you have punished me because of my sins. I never stop groaning— I've lost all hope!

The Lord Was Like an Enemy

The Prophet Speaks:

The Lord was angry! So he disgraced Zion though it was Israel's pride and his own place of rest. In his anger he threw Zion down from heaven to earth.

The Lord had no mercy! He destroyed the homes of Jacob's descendants. In his anger he tore down every walled city in Judah; he toppled the nation together with its leaders, leaving them in shame.

The Lord was so furiously angry that he wiped out the whole army of Israel by not supporting them when the enemy attacked. He was like a raging fire that swallowed up the descendants of Jacob.

He shattered his temple like a hut in a garden; he completely wiped out his meeting place, and did away with festivals and Sabbaths in the city of Zion. In his fierce anger he rejected our king and priests.

The Lord abandoned his altar and his temple; he let Zion's enemies capture her fortresses. Noisy shouts were heard from the temple, as if it were a time of celebration.

The Lord had decided to tear down the walls of Zion stone by stone. So he started destroying and did not stop until walls and fortresses mourned and trembled.