Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

137 By the ^(A)rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and ^(B)wept,
When we remembered Zion.
² Upon the ^[a](C)willows in the midst of it
We ^(D)hung our ^[b]harps.
³ For there our captors ^[c](E)demanded of us ^[d]songs,
And ^(F)our tormentors, jubilation, saying,
“Sing for us one of the songs of Zion!”

¹³ How shall I admonish you?
What ^(A)shall I compare to you,
Daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I liken to you as I comfort you,
^(B)Virgin daughter of Zion?
For your collapse is as vast as the sea;
Who can ^(C)heal you?
¹⁴ Your ^(D)prophets have seen for you
Worthless and deceptive visions;
And they have not ^(E)exposed your wrongdoing
So as to restore you from captivity,
But they have ^(F)seen for you worthless and misleading pronouncements.
¹⁵ All who pass along the way
^(G)Clap their hands in ridicule at you;
They ^(H)[a]hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city of which they said,
‘^(I)Perfect in beauty,
^(J)A joy to all the earth’?”
¹⁶ All ^(K)your enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They ^[b]hiss and ^(L)gnash their teeth.
They say, “We have ^(M)engulfed her!
This certainly is the ^(N)day which we awaited;
We have reached it, we have seen it!”
¹⁷ The Lord has ^(O)done what He determined;
He has accomplished His word
Which He commanded from days of old.
He has torn down ^(P)without sparing,
And He has helped the enemy to ^(Q)rejoice over you;
He has ^(R)exalted the ^[c]might of your adversaries.
¹⁸ Their ^(S)heart cried out to the Lord:
“You ^(T)wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let your ^(U)tears stream down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief,
Let ^[d]your eyes have no rest.
¹⁹ Arise, whimper in the ^(V)night
At the beginning of the night watches;
^(W)Pour out your heart like water
Before the presence of the Lord;
Raise your hands to Him
For the ^(X)life of your little ones
Who ^(Y)languish because of hunger
At the head of every street.
²⁰ See, Lord, and look!
With ^(Z)whom have You dealt this way?
Should women really ^(AA)eat their ^[e]children,
The little ones who were ^[f]born healthy?
Should ^(AB)priest and prophet really be killed
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
²¹ On the ground in the streets
Lie ^(AC)young and old;
My ^(AD)virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the sword.
You have put them to death on the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered, ^(AE)without sparing.
²² You called as on the day of an appointed feast
My ^(AF)terrors on every side;
And there was ^(AG)no one who survived or escaped
On the day of the Lord’s anger.
As for those ^(AH)whom I brought forth healthy and whom I raised,
My enemy annihilated them.”