Lamentations 1

Chapter 1

The Sorrows of Zion

¹How ^alonely sits the city

That was ^bfull of people!

She has become like a ^cwidow

Who was once ^dgreat among the nations!

She who was a princess among the ¹provinces

Has become a ^eforced laborer!

²She ^aweeps bitterly in the night

And her tears are on her cheeks;

She has none to comfort her

Among all her ^blovers.

All her friends have ^cdealt treacherously with her;

They have become her enemies.

^3aJudah has gone into exile ¹under affliction

And under ²harsh servitude;

She dwells ^bamong the nations,

But she has found no rest;

All ^cher pursuers have overtaken her

In the midst of ³distress.

⁴The roads ¹of Zion are in mourning

Because ^ano one comes to the appointed feasts.

All her gates are ^bdesolate;

Her priests are groaning,

Her ^cvirgins are afflicted,

And she herself ²is ^dbitter.

⁵Her adversaries have become ¹her masters,

Her enemies ²prosper;

For the Lord has ^acaused her grief

Because of the multitude of her transgressions;

Her little ones have gone away

As captives before the adversary.

⁶All her ^amajesty

Has departed from the daughter of Zion;

Her princes have become like deer

That have found no pasture;

And they have ^1bfled without strength

Before the pursuer.

⁷In the days of her affliction and homelessness

^aJerusalem remembers all her precious things

That were from the days of old,

When her people fell into the hand of the adversary

And ^bno one helped her.

The adversaries saw her,

They ^cmocked at her ¹ruin.

⁸Jerusalem sinned ^agreatly,

Therefore ^bshe has become an unclean thing.

All who honored her despise her

Because they have seen her nakedness;

Even ^cshe herself groans and turns away.

⁹Her ^auncleanness was in her skirts;

She ¹did not consider her ^bfuture.

Therefore she has ^2cfallen astonishingly;

^dShe has no comforter.

“^eSee, O Lord, my affliction,

For the enemy has ^fmagnified himself!”

¹⁰The adversary has stretched out his hand

Over all her precious things,

For she has seen the ^anations enter her sanctuary,

The ones whom You commanded

That they should ^bnot enter into Your congregation.

¹¹All her people groan ^aseeking bread;

They have given their precious things for food

To ^brestore their ¹lives themselves.

“See, O Lord, and look,

For I am ^cdespised.”

¹²“Is ^ait nothing to all you who pass this way?

Look and see if there is any ¹pain like my pain

Which was severely dealt out to me,

Which the ^bLord inflicted on the day of His ^cfierce anger.

¹³“From on high He sent fire into my ^abones,

And it ¹prevailed over them.

He has spread a ^bnet for my feet;

He has turned me back;

He has made me ^cdesolate,

²Faint all day long.

¹⁴“The ^ayoke of my transgressions is bound;

By His hand they are knit together.

They have ^bcome upon my neck;

He has made my strength ¹fail.

The Lord ^chas given me into the hands

Of those against whom I am not able to stand.

¹⁵“The ^aLord has rejected all my strong men

In my midst;

He has called an appointed ¹time against me

To crush my ^byoung men;

The Lord has ^ctrodden as in a wine press

The virgin daughter of Judah.

¹⁶“For these things I ^aweep;

¹My eyes run down with water;

Because far from me is a ^bcomforter,

One who restores my soul.

My children are desolate

Because the enemy has prevailed.”

¹⁷Zion ^astretches out her hands;

There is no one to comfort her;

The Lord has ^bcommanded concerning Jacob

That the ones round about him should be his adversaries;

^cJerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

¹⁸“The Lord is ^arighteous;

For I have ^brebelled against His ¹command;

Hear now, all peoples,

And ^cbehold my ²pain;

^dMy virgins and my young men

Have gone into captivity.

¹⁹“I ^acalled to my lovers, but they deceived me;

My ^bpriests and my elders perished in the city

While they sought food to ^crestore ¹their strength themselves.

²⁰“See, O Lord, for I am in distress;

My ^1aspirit is greatly troubled;

My heart is overturned within me,

For I have been very ^brebellious.

In the street the sword ²slays;

In the house it is like death.

²¹“They have heard that I ^agroan;

There is no one to comfort me;

All my enemies have heard of my ¹calamity;

They are ^bglad that You have done it.

Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,

That they may become ^clike me.

²²“Let all their wickedness come before You;

And ^adeal with them as You have dealt with me

For all my transgressions;

For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”