The Sorrows of Zion

How lonely sits the city That once had many people! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces Has become a forced laborer!

Judah has gone into exile out of affliction And harsh servitude; She lives among the nations, But she has not found a resting place; All those who pursued her have overtaken her In the midst of distress.

The adversary has stretched out his hand Over all her precious things, For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, The ones whom You commanded That they were not to enter Your congregation.

Her gates have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her leaders are among the nations; The Law is gone. Her prophets, too, find No vision from the Lord.

“Keep away! Unclean!” they cried out of themselves. “Keep away, keep away, do not touch!” For they distanced themselves as well as wandered; People among the nations said, “They shall not continue to reside with us.”

Yet our eyes failed, Looking for help was useless; At our observation point we have watched For a nation that could not save.

The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed, Was captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, “In his shadow We shall live among the nations.”