bewailing the loss of its people, a mother bewailing the loss of her children. The roads to Jerusalem mourn because they’re not full of pilgrims coming to its festivals. Conversely, the sanctuary’s been invaded by pagan feet (it would be no problem if these foreigners came to worship Yahweh, but they came to pillage). Why did it happen? Whereas the Psalms protest about invasions that Jerusalem’s done nothing to deserve, Lamentations knows that this time the city cannot claim innocence. It’s been