Lamentations 1:1–9

How deserteda lies the city,

once so full of people!b

How like a widowc is she,

who once was greatd among the nations!

She who was queen among the provinces

has now become a slave.e

2 Bitterly she weepsf at night,

tears are on her cheeks.

Among all her loversg

there is no one to comfort her.

All her friends have betrayedh her;

they have become her enemies.i

3 After affliction and harsh labor,

Judah has gone into exile.j

She dwells among the nations;

she finds no resting place.k

All who pursue her have overtaken herl

in the midst of her distress.

4 The roads to Zion mourn,m

for no one comes to her appointed festivals.

All her gateways are desolate,n

her priests groan,

her young women grieve,

and she is in bitter anguish.o

5 Her foes have become her masters;

her enemies are at ease.

The Lord has brought her griefp

because of her many sins.q

Her children have gone into exile,r

captive before the foe.s

6 All the splendor has departed

from Daughter Zion.t

Her princes are like deer

that find no pasture;

in weakness they have fledu

before the pursuer.

7 In the days of her affliction and wandering

Jerusalem remembers all the treasures

that were hers in days of old.

When her people fell into enemy hands,

there was no one to help her.v

Her enemies looked at her

and laughedw at her destruction.

8 Jerusalem has sinnedx greatly

and so has become unclean.y

All who honored her despise her,

for they have all seen her naked;z

she herself groansa

and turns away.

9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts;

she did not consider her future.b

Her fallc was astounding;

there was none to comfortd her.

“Look, Lord, on my affliction,e

for the enemy has triumphed.”