Chronological
Mem
37 Who is [a]there who speaks and it (A)happens,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That (B)both calamities and [b]good go forth?
39 Why should any living [c]person or any man
(C)Complain because of his sins?
Nun
40 Let us (D)search out and examine our ways,
And let us return to Yahweh.
41 We (E)lift up our heart to our hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have (F)transgressed and rebelled;
You have (G)not pardoned.
Samekh
43 You have covered Yourself with (H)anger
And (I)pursued us;
You have killed and (J)have not spared.
44 You have (K)covered Yourself with a cloud
So that (L)no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere (M)scum and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
Pe
46 All our enemies have (N)opened their mouths against us.
47 (O)Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My [d](P)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Ayin
49 My eyes pour down (Q)unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until Yahweh (R)looks down
And sees from heaven.
51 My eyes deal severely with my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
Tsadhe
52 My enemies (S)without cause
Hunted me down (T)like a bird;
53 They have silenced my life (U)in the pit
And have [e](V)placed a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed (W)over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”
Qoph
55 I (X)called on Your name, O Yahweh,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (Y)heard my voice,
“(Z)Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You (AA)drew near when I called on You;
You said, “(AB)Do not fear!”
Resh
58 O Lord, You (AC)have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have (AD)redeemed my life.
59 O Yahweh, You have (AE)seen my oppression;
(AF)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (AG)purposes against me.
Sin / Shin
61 You have heard their (AH)reproach, O Yahweh,
All their purposes against me.
62 The (AI)lips of those who rise against me and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63 Look on their (AJ)sitting and their rising;
(AK)I am their mocking song.
Tav
64 You will (AL)recompense them, O Yahweh,
According to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them [f](AM)dullness of heart;
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (AN)pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the (AO)heavens of Yahweh!
Yahweh’s Wrath Spent
Aleph
4 How (AP)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At the head of every street.
Beth
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as (AQ)earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
Gimel
3 Even (AR)jackals offer the breast;
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become (AS)cruel
Like (AT)ostriches in the wilderness.
Daleth
4 The (AU)tongue of the nursing baby cleaves
To the roof of its mouth because of (AV)thirst;
The infants (AW)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
He
5 Those who ate (AX)delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those [g]reared in crimson
Embrace ash pits.
Vav
6 So the [h]iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the [i](AY)sin of Sodom,
Which was (AZ)overthrown as in a moment,
And no hands [j]whirled toward her.
Zayin
7 Her [k]Nazirites were (BA)purer than snow;
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in [l]body than corals,
Their polishing was like [m](BB)lapis lazuli.
Heth
8 Their form is (BC)blacker than soot;
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their (BD)skin is shriveled on their bones;
It is withered, it has become like wood.
Teth
9 Better are those (BE)pierced through with the sword
Than those pierced through with hunger;
For their life (BF)flows away, being stricken
For lack of the produce of [n]the field.
Yodh
10 The hands of compassionate women
(BG)Boiled their own children;
They became (BH)food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Kaph
11 Yahweh has (BI)spent His wrath;
He has poured out His burning anger;
And He has (BJ)kindled a fire in Zion
Which has devoured its foundations.
Lamedh
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of (BK)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could (BL)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
Mem
13 Because of the sins of her (BM)prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The (BN)blood of the righteous;
Nun
14 They wandered, (BO)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with (BP)blood
So that no one could touch their (BQ)garments.
Samekh
15 “Depart! (BR)Unclean!” [o]they cried of themselves.
“Depart, depart, do not touch!”
So they (BS)fled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to sojourn with us.”
Pe
16 The presence of Yahweh has eradicated them;
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not [p](BT)honor the priests;
They did not favor the elders.
Ayin
17 Yet our eyes were spent,
Looking for [q]help was (BU)vanity;
In our watching we have watched
For a (BV)nation that could not save.
Tsadhe
18 They (BW)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our open squares;
Our (BX)end drew near,
Our days were [r]finished,
For our end had come.
Qoph
19 Our pursuers were (BY)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They hotly pursued us on the mountains;
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
Resh
20 The (BZ)breath of our nostrils, the (CA)anointed of Yahweh,
Was (CB)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “Under his (CC)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
Sin
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of (CD)Edom,
Who inhabits the land of Uz;
But the (CE)cup will pass on to you as well;
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
Tav
22 The punishment of your iniquity has come (CF)to an end, O daughter of Zion;
He will exile you no longer.
But He (CG)will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!
O Yahweh, Remember Us!
5 Remember, O Yahweh, what has happened to us;
Look, and see our (CH)reproach!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to (CI)strangers,
Our (CJ)houses to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans (CK)without a father;
Our mothers are like widows.
4 We drink our (CL)water by means of silver;
Our wood comes to us at a price.
5 [s]Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out; there is (CM)no rest for us.
6 We have given over our [t]hands to (CN)Egypt and Assyria [u]to get enough bread.
7 Our (CO)fathers sinned; they are no more;
It is we who have borne their iniquities.
8 (CP)Slaves rule over us;
There is (CQ)no one to tear us away from their hand.
9 We get our bread [v]at the (CR)risk of our lives
[w]Because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin has become as (CS)hot as an oven
Because of [x]the burning heat of famine.
11 They violated the (CT)women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hung by their hands;
[y](CU)Elders were not respected.
13 Young men (CV)lifted up the stone at the grinding mill,
And youths (CW)stumbled down under loads of wood.
14 Elders have ceased from being at the gate,
Young men from their (CX)music.
15 The joy of our hearts has (CY)ceased;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
16 The (CZ)crown has fallen from our head;
(DA)Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our (DB)heart is faint;
Because of these things our (DC)eyes are dim;
18 Because of (DD)Mount Zion which lies desolate,
(DE)Foxes walk about in it.
19 (DF)You, O Yahweh, sit enthroned forever;
Your (DG)throne is from generation to generation.
20 Why do You (DH)forget us forever?
Why do You forsake us [z]so long?
21 (DI)Cause us to return to You, O Yahweh, that we may be returned;
Renew (DJ)our days as of old,
22 Even if (DK)You have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly (DL)angry with us.
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