Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁴ Sing praises to the Lord, O you ^(H)his saints,
    and ^(I)give thanks to his holy name.^[b]
5 (J)For his anger is but for a moment,
    and ^(K)his favor is for a lifetime.^[c]
(L)Weeping may tarry for the night,
    but ^(M)joy comes with the morning.

⁶ As for me, I said in my ^(N)prosperity,
    “I shall never be ^(O)moved.”
⁷ By your favor, O Lord,
    you made my ^(P)mountain stand strong;
you ^(Q)hid your face;
    I was ^(R)dismayed.

⁸ To you, O Lord, I cry,
    and ^(S)to the Lord I plead for mercy:
⁹ “What profit is there in my death,^[d]
    if I go down to the pit?^[e]
Will ^(T)the dust praise you?
    Will it tell of your faithfulness?
^10 (U)Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
    O Lord, be my helper!”

¹¹ You have turned for me my mourning into ^(V)dancing;
    you have loosed my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness,
¹² that my ^(W)glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

² The Lord ^(D)has swallowed up ^(E)without mercy
    all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath ^(F)he has broken down
    the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought ^(G)down to the ground ^(H)in dishonor
    the kingdom ^(I)and its rulers.

³ He has cut down in ^(J)fierce anger
    all ^(K)the might of Israel;
^(L)he has withdrawn from them his right hand
    in the face of the enemy;
^(M)he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
    consuming all around.

^4 (N)He has bent his bow like an enemy,
    with his right hand set ^(O)like a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
    in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.

^5 (P)The Lord has become like an enemy;
    ^(Q)he has swallowed up Israel;
^(R)he has swallowed up all its palaces;
    he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
    ^(S)mourning and lamentation.

⁶ He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
    laid in ruins ^(T)his meeting place;
^(U)the Lord has made Zion forget
    festival and ^(V)Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.

^7 (W)The Lord has scorned his altar,
    ^(X)disowned his sanctuary;
^(Y)he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
    the walls of her palaces;
^(Z)they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
    as on the day of festival.

^8 (AA)The Lord determined to lay in ruins
    ^(AB)the wall of the daughter of Zion;
^(AC)he stretched out the measuring line;
    he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
^(AD)he caused rampart and wall to lament;
    ^(AE)they languished together.

⁹ Her gates have sunk into the ground;
    ^(AF)he has ruined ^(AG)and broken her bars;
^(AH)her king and princes are among the nations;
    the law is no more,
and ^(AI)her prophets find
    no vision from the Lord.

¹⁰ The elders of the daughter of Zion
    ^(AJ)sit on the ground ^(AK)in silence;
^(AL)they have thrown dust on their heads
    and ^(AM)put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
    have bowed their heads to the ground.

^11 (AN)My eyes are spent with weeping;
    ^(AO)my stomach churns;
^(AP)my bile is poured out to the ground
    ^(AQ)because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
^(AR)because infants and babies ^(AS)faint
    in the streets of the city.

¹² They cry to their mothers,
    ^(AT)“Where is bread and wine?”
^(AU)as they faint like a wounded man
    in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
    on their mothers' bosom.