Lamentations 1–4

1The 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.

²Jerusalem sobs bitterly at night.

Tears run down her cheeks.

None of her friends comforts her.

All those who were going to help her

have turned against her.

They have become her enemies.

³After Judah’s people had suffered greatly,

they were taken away as prisoners.

Now they live among the nations.

They can’t find any place to rest.

All those who were chasing them have caught up with them.

And they can’t get away.

⁴The roads to Zion are empty.

No one travels to its appointed feasts.

All of the public places near its gates are deserted.

Its priests groan.

Its young women are sad.

And Zion itself sobs bitterly.

⁵Its enemies have become its masters.

They have an easy life.

The Lord has brought suffering to Jerusalem

because its people have committed so many sins.

Its children have been taken away as prisoners.

Their enemies have forced them to leave their homes.

⁶The city of Zion used to be full of glory.

But now its glory has faded away.

Its princes are like deer.

They can’t find anything to eat.

They are almost too weak to get away

from those who hunt them down.

⁷Jerusalem’s people are suffering and wandering.

They remember all of the treasures

they used to have.

But they fell into the hands of their enemies.

And no one was there to help them.

Their enemies looked at them.

They laughed because Jerusalem had been destroyed.

⁸Its people have committed many sins.

They have become polluted.

All those who honored Jerusalem now look down on it.

They look at it as if it were a naked woman.

The city groans and turns away in shame.

⁹Her skirts are dirty.

She didn’t think about how things might turn out.

Her fall from power amazed everyone.

And no one was there to comfort her.

She said, “Lord, please pay attention to how much I’m suffering.

My enemies have won the battle over me.”

¹⁰Jerusalem’s enemies took away

all of its treasures.

Its people saw strangers

enter its temple.

The Lord had commanded them

not to do that.

¹¹All of Jerusalem’s people groan

as they search for bread.

They trade their treasures for food

just to stay alive.

They say, “Lord, look at us.

Think about our condition.

Everyone looks down on us.”

¹²They also say, “All of you who are passing by,

don’t you care about what has happened to us?

Just look at our condition.

Has anyone suffered the way we have?

The Lord has brought all of this on us.

He has made us suffer.

His anger has burned against us.

¹³“He sent fire down from heaven.

It went deep down into our very bones.

He spread a net to catch us by the feet.

He stopped us right where we were.

He made our city empty.

We are sick all the time.

¹⁴“We must carry the heavy load of our sins.

He tied it on us with his hands.

Our sins are heavy on our necks.

The Lord has taken away our strength.

He has handed us over to our enemies.

We can’t win the battle over them.

¹⁵“The Lord has refused to accept

any of our soldiers.

He has sent for an army

to crush our young men.

We are like grapes in the Lord’s winepress.

He has stomped on us,

even though we are his very own people.

¹⁶“That’s why we are sobbing.

Tears are flowing from our eyes.

No one is near to comfort us.

No one can heal our spirits.

Our children don’t have anything.

Our enemies are much too strong for us.”

¹⁷Zion reaches out its hands.

But no one is there to comfort its people.

The Lord has ordered that

the neighbors of Jacob’s people would become their enemies.

Jerusalem has become polluted among them.

¹⁸Its people say, “The Lord always does what is right.

But we refused to obey his commands.

Listen, all of you nations.

Pay attention to how much we’re suffering.

Our young women and young men

have been taken away as prisoners.

¹⁹“We called out to those who were going to help us.

But they turned against us.

Our priests and elders

died in the city.

They were searching for food

just to stay alive.

²⁰“Lord, see how upset we are!

We are suffering deep down inside.

Our hearts are troubled.

Again and again we have refused to obey you.

Outside the city, people are being killed with swords.

Inside, there is nothing but death.

²¹“People have heard us groan.

But no one is here to comfort us.

Our enemies have heard about all of our troubles.

What you have done makes them happy.

So please judge them, just as you said you would.

Let them become like us.

²²“Please pay attention to all of their sinful ways.

Punish them as you have punished us.

You judged us because we had committed so many sins.

We groan all the time.

And our hearts are weak.”

2See how the Lord covered the city of Zion

with the cloud of his anger!

He threw Israel’s glory down

from heaven to earth.

When he was angry, he turned his back

on his own city.

²Without pity the Lord swallowed up

all of the homes of Jacob’s people.

When he was angry, he tore down

the forts of the people of Judah.

He brought their kingdom and its princes

down to the ground in dishonor.

³When he burned with anger,

he took away Israel’s power.

He pulled back his powerful right hand

as the enemy approached.

His burning anger blazed out in Jacob’s land.

It burned up everything that was near it.

⁴Like an enemy the Lord got his bow ready to use.

He had a sword in his right hand.

Like an enemy he destroyed

everything that used to be pleasing to him.

His anger blazed out like fire.

It burned up the homes in the city of Zion.

⁵The Lord was like an enemy.

He swallowed up Israel.

He swallowed up all of its palaces.

He destroyed its forts.

He filled the people of Judah

with sorrow and sadness.

⁶The Lord’s temple was like a garden.

But he completely destroyed it.

He destroyed the place

where he used to meet with his people.

He made Zion’s people forget

their appointed feasts and Sabbath days.

When he was very angry, he turned his back on

king and priest alike.

⁷The Lord deserted his altar.

He left his temple.

He handed the walls of Jerusalem’s palaces

over to its enemies.

They shouted loudly in the house of the Lord.

You would have thought it was the day

of an appointed feast.

⁸The Lord decided to tear down

the walls around the city of Zion.

He measured out what he wanted to destroy.

Then he destroyed it with his powerful hand.

He made even its towers and walls sing songs of sadness.

All of them fell down.

⁹Its gates sank down into the ground.

He broke their metal bars and destroyed them.

Its king and princes were taken away to other nations.

There is no law anymore.

Jerusalem’s prophets no longer receive

visions from the Lord.

¹⁰The elders of the city of Zion

sit silently on the ground.

They have sprinkled dust on their heads.

They’ve put on black clothes to show how sad they are.

The young women of Jerusalem

have bowed their heads toward the ground.

¹¹I’ve cried so much I can’t see very well.

I’m suffering deep down inside.

My heart is broken

because my people are destroyed.

Children and babies are fainting

in the streets of the city.

¹²They say to their mothers,

“Where can we find something to eat and drink?”

They faint like wounded soldiers

in the streets of the city.

Their lives are slipping away

in their mothers’ arms.

¹³City of Jerusalem, what can I say about you?

What can I compare you to?

People of Zion, what are you like?

I want to comfort you.

Your wound is as deep as the ocean.

Who can heal you?

¹⁴The visions of your prophets were lies.

They weren’t worth anything.

They didn’t show you the sins you had committed.

So that’s why you were captured.

The messages they gave you were lies.

They led you down the wrong path.

¹⁵All those who pass by

clap their hands and make fun of you.

They laugh at you and shake their heads

at the city of Jerusalem.

They say, “Could that be the city

that was called perfect and beautiful?

Is that the city that brought joy to everyone on earth?”

¹⁶All of your enemies open their mouths

wide against you.

They laugh at you and grind their teeth.

They say, “We have swallowed Jerusalem’s people up.

This is the day we’ve waited for.

And we’ve lived to see it.”

¹⁷The Lord has done what he planned to do.

He has made what he said come true.

He gave the command long ago.

He has destroyed you without pity.

He has let your enemies laugh at you.

He has made them stronger than you are.

¹⁸People in the city of Zion,

cry out from your heart to the Lord.

Let your tears flow like a river

day and night.

Don’t stop at all.

Don’t give your eyes any rest.

¹⁹Get up. Cry out as the night begins.

Tell the Lord all of your troubles.

Lift up your hands to him.

Pray that the lives of your children will be spared.

At every street corner they faint

because they are so hungry.

²⁰Jerusalem says, “Lord, look at me.

Think about my condition.

Have you ever treated anyone else like this?

Should women have to eat their babies?

Should they eat the children they’ve taken care of?

Should priests and prophets be killed

in your own temple?

²¹“Young people and old people alike

lie dead in the dust of my streets.

My young women and young men

have been killed with swords.

You killed them when you were angry.

You put them to death without pity.

²²“You sent for terrors to come against me on every side.

It was as if you were inviting people to enjoy a feast day.

Because you were angry, no one escaped.

No one was left alive.

I took good care of my children and brought them up.

But my enemies have destroyed them.”

3I am a man who has suffered greatly.

The Lord has used the Babylonians

to punish our people.

²He has driven me away. He has made me walk

in darkness instead of light.

³He has turned his powerful hand against me.

He has done it again and again, all day long.

⁴He has worn my body out.

He has broken my bones.

⁵He has surrounded me and attacked me.

He has made me suffer bitterly.

He has made things hard for me.

⁶He has made me live in darkness

like those who are dead and gone.

⁷He has built walls around me. I can’t escape.

He…