1 How deserted lies the city,

once so full of people!

How like a widow is she,

who once was great among the nations!

She who was queen among the provinces

has now become a slave.

1 How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!

How is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations,

And princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!

1 Jerusalem, once so full of people,

is now deserted.

She who was once great among the nations

now sits alone like a widow.

Once the queen of all the earth,

she is now a slave.

1 How lonely sits the city

That was full of people!

How like a widow is she,

Who was great among the nations!

The princess among the provinces

Has become a slave!

1 Jerusalem once was full of people,

but now the city is empty.

Jerusalem once was a great city among the nations,

but now she is like a widow.

She was like a queen of all the other cities,

but now she is a slave.

1 How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!

She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations!

She that was a princess among the provinces is become tributary!

1 How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! She that was great among the nations is become as a widow; the princess among the provinces is become tributary!

1 “Look how deserted Jerusalem is! 

Once the city was crowded with people. 

Once it was important among the nations. 

Now it is a widow. 

Once it was a princess among the provinces. 

Now it does forced labor. 

1 How she sits alone,

the city once crowded with people!

She who was great among the nations

has become like a widow.

The princess among the provinces

has been put to forced labor.

1 How lonely sits the city

that once was full of people!

How like a widow she has become,

she that was great among the nations!

She that was a princess among the provinces

has become a vassal.

1 How desolate the city sits

that was full of people!

She has become like a widow,

once great among the nations!

Like a woman of nobility in the provinces,

she has become a forced laborer.

1 The city of Jerusalem is so empty!

It used to be full of people.

But now it’s like a woman whose husband has died.

She used to be great among the nations.

She was like a queen among the kingdoms.

But now she is a slave.

1 How lonely sits the city

That was full of 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!