Lamentations 1:1–11

The Deserted City

¹How 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 subject to forced labor.^*

²She weeps bitterly in the night,

with tears on her cheeks;

among all her lovers,

she has no one to comfort her;

all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;

they have become her enemies.^*

³Judah has gone into exile with suffering

and hard servitude;

she lives now among the nations;

she finds no resting place;

her pursuers have all overtaken her

in the midst of her distress.^*

⁴The roads to Zion mourn,

for no one comes to the festivals;

all her gates are desolate;

her priests groan;

her young girls grieve,^a

and her lot is bitter.^*

⁵Her foes have become the masters;

her enemies prosper

because the Lord has made her suffer

for the multitude of her transgressions;

her children have gone away,

captives before the foe.^*

⁶From daughter Zion has departed

all her majesty.

Her princes have become like stags

that find no pasture;

they fled without strength

before the pursuer.^*

⁷Jerusalem remembers^b all the precious things

that were hers in days of old.

When her people fell into the hand of the enemy

and there was no one to help her,

the enemy looked on;

they mocked over her downfall.^*

⁸Jerusalem sinned grievously,

so she has become a filthy thing;

all who honored her despise her,

for they have seen her nakedness;

she herself groans

and turns her face away.^*

⁹Her uncleanness was in her skirts;

she took no thought of her future;

her downfall was appalling,

with none to comfort her.

Look, O Lord, at my affliction,

for the enemy has triumphed!^*

¹⁰Enemies have stretched out their hands

over all her precious things;

she has even seen the nations

invade her sanctuary,

those whom you forbade

to enter your congregation.^*

¹¹All her people groan

as they search for bread;

they trade their treasures for food

to revive their lives.

Look, O Lord, and see

how worthless I have become.^*