The Desolate City

• 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.
• 2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
  • her tears are on her cheeks;
• she has no comforter
  • among all her lovers.
• All her friends have been unfaithful to her;
  • they have become her enemies.
• 3 Judah has gone into exile with misery
  • and under hard servitude;
• she lives among the nations,
  • she has not found a resting place;
• all her pursuers have overtaken her
  • amidst her distress.
• 4 The roads of Zion are mourning
  • because no one comes to the festival.
• All her gates are desolate,
  • her priests groan;
• her young women are worried,
  • and she herself suffers bitterly.
• 5 Her foes have become her master ,[fn]
  • her enemies are at ease;
• Yahweh has made her suffer
  • because of the greatness of her transgressions.
• Her children have gone away,
  • captive before the foe.
• 6 All her majesty has gone away
  • from the daughter of Zion;
• her princes have become like young stags
  • that have not found pasture;
• they have gone away without strength,
  • before the pursuer.
• 7 Jerusalem remembers
  • the days of her misery and wanderings,
• all her treasures
  • that were from the days of long ago.
• When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
  • there was no one helping her;
• the enemies saw her, they mocked
  • at her destruction.
• 8 Jerusalem sinned grievously,
  • thus she became an objection of derision;
• all those who honored her despise her
  • because they have seen her nakedness.
• She herself groans
  • and turns away.
• 9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
  • she did not remember her future,
• she has descended beyond understanding,
  • there is no comforter for her.
• See, O Yahweh, my persecution!
  • My enemy has been made great!
• 10 The enemy has stretched out his hand
  • over all her treasures;
• for she has seen the nations,
  • they entered her sanctuary,
• those whom you commanded not to enter
  • in your assembly.
• 11 All her people groan,
  • they are searching for bread.
• They give their treasures for food,
  • to bring back life.
• See, O Yahweh, and look,
  • how I am despised.
• 12 Is it nothing to you, all who pass by ?[fn]
  • Look and see
• if there is sorrow like my sorrow,[fn]
  • which was dealt to me,
• which Yahweh inflicted
  • on the day of his wrath .[fn]
• 13 From heaven he sent fire,
  • into my bones he let it descend.
• He spread out a net for my feet;
  • he turned me back,
• he gave me devastation,
  • fainting all day.
• 14 My rebellion was bound as a yoke,
  • with his hand it was fastened together;
• it was put on my neck
  • and caused my strength to fail.
• The Lord gave me into the hands
  • of those whom I cannot withstand.
• 15 The Lord has rejected
  • all my mighty ones in my midst.
• He called an assembly against me,
  • to crush my young men;
• like in a wine press,
  • the Lord has trodden on
• the virgin daughter of Judah.
• 16 For these things, I am weeping,
  • my eyes flow with tears ;[fn]
• because a comforter is far from me,
  • one to restore my life.
• My sons are desolate
  • because the enemy has prevailed.
• 17 Zion stretches out her hands;
  • there is no one to comfort her.
• Yahweh has commanded against Jacob,
  • that those surrounding him[fn] should be his enemies;
• Jerusalem has become
  • a defilement among them.
• 18 Yahweh is righteous;
  • I have rebelled against his word .[fn]
• Please hear, all the nations,
  • And see my pain;
• My young women[fn] and young men
  • went into captivity.
• 19 I have called to my lovers,
  • they themselves deceived me;
• my priests and elders perished in the city
  • when they sought food for themselves
    • to revive their life.[fn]
• 20 See, O Yahweh, that I am in distress ;[fn]
  • my stomach[fn] is in torment,
• my heart has turned inside me
  • because I have certainly rebelled.
• From outside a sword brings bereavement,
  • inside the house it is like death.
• 21 They hear that I was groaning;
  • there is no comforter for me.
• All my enemies have heard my misery,
  • they are pleased that you have done it.
• Bring that day that you have proclaimed,[fn]
  • And let them be like me.
• 22 Let all their evil come before you;
  • and deal with them
• just as you have dealt with me
  • because of all my crimes;
• for my groaning is much and my heart is faint.

The Lord is Angry

• 2 How, in his anger ,[fn]
• the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion in a cloud!
• He has thrown down from heavens to earth
  • the splendor of Israel,
• and he has not remembered his footstool
  • in the day of his anger .[fn]
• 2 The Lord has devoured; he has not shown mercy
  • to all the dwellings of Jacob;
• he has broken down in his wrath
  • the fortifications of the daughter of Judah;
• he has leveled to the ground, he has dishonored
  • the kingdom and its commanders.[fn]
• 3 He has cut down in fierce anger[fn]
  • all the might of Israel;
• he has withdrawn his right hand
  • from the faces of the enemy,
• and he has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire,
  • it has consumed all around.
• 4 He has bent his bow like an enemy;
  • he has set his right hand
• like a foe, and he has slain
  • all the treasures of the eye;[fn]
• in the tent of the daughter of Zion,
  • he has poured out his anger like fire.
• 5 The Lord has become like an enemy;
  • he has destroyed Israel;
• he has destroyed all its citadel fortresses;[fn]
  • he has ruined all its fortifications
• and multiplied lamentation and mourning
  • in the daughter of Judah.
• 6 He has broken down his dwelling[fn] place like the garden;
  • he has ruined his appointed feasts;
• Yahweh has made them forget in Zion
  • festival[fn] and Sabbath,
• and he has despised in his anger
  • king and priest.
• 7 The Lord has rejected his altar;
  • he has rejected his sanctuary;
• he has delivered into the hands of the enemy
  • the walls of its citadel fortresses.[fn]
• They have cried out in the house of Yahweh
  • like a day of an appointed feast.
• 8 Yahweh has planned to destroy
  • the wall of the daughter of Zion.
• He measured with a line; he has not restrained
  • his hand from destroying;
• he caused rampart and wall to mourn;
  • together they have languished away.
• 9 Her gates have sunk into the earth;
  • he has ruined and broken her bars,
• her kings and its princes are among the nations;
  • there is no more law.[fn]
• Also, her prophets have not found
  • a revelation from Yahweh.
• 10 They sit on the ground,
  • the elders of the daughter of Zion are silent.
• They cast dust on their head,
  • they have put on sackcloth;
• the young women of Jerusalem
  • have bowed their head down to the ground.
• 11 My eyes have spent all their tears ;[fn]
  • my stomach[fn] is in torment,
• my heart[fn] is poured out on the earth
  • because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
• because child and babe faint
  • in the public squares of a city.
• 12 To their mothers they say,
  • “Where is the bread and wine?”
• as they faint like the wounded
  • in the public squares of a city,
• as their life is being poured out
  • onto the bosom of their mothers.
• 13 What can I say for you? What can I compare to you,
  • O daughter of Jerusalem?
• To what can I liken you so that I can comfort you,
  • O virgin daughter of Zion?
• For your destruction is as vast as the sea;
  • who can heal you?
• 14 Your prophets had a vision for you,
  • false and worthless;
• they have not exposed your sin,
  • to restore your fortune;
• they have seen oracles for you,
  • false and misleading.
• 15 They clap hands over you,
  • all who pass along the way;
• they hiss and they shake their head,
  • at the daughter of Jerusalem.
• Is this the city of which it is said,
  • “A perfection of beauty, a joy for all the earth?”
• 16 They have opened their mouths against you,
  • all your enemies.
• They hiss and gnash a tooth,
  • and they say, “We have destroyed her!
• Surely this is the day we have hoped for;
  • we have found it, we have seen it!”
• 17 Yahweh has done what he has planned;
  • he has fulfilled his promise
• that he ordained from the days of old;
  • he has demolished and not shown mercy;
• he has made an enemy rejoice over you,
  • he has exalted the might[fn] of your foes.
• 18 Their heart cried to the Lord,
  • “O wall of the daughter of Zion,
• let tears stream down like a river;
  • day and night,
• do not give yourself relief,
  • do not give your eyes rest.
• 19 “Arise, cry out in the night,
  • at the beginning of the night watches;
• pour out your heart like water,
  • before the face of the Lord.
• Lift to him your hands,
  • for the life of your children,
• who faint in starvation,
  • at the head of all streets.”
• 20 See, Yahweh, and take note!
  • With whom have you dealt thus?
• Should women eat their young
  • children of tender care?
• Should priest and prophet be slain
  • in the sanctuary of the Lord?
• 21 They lie in the soil of the streets,
  • young and old;
• my young women[fn] and young men,
  • they have fallen by the sword;
• you have slain on the day of your anger ,[fn]
  • you have slaughtered and not shown mercy.
• 22 You have summoned my horror from all around,
  • as if for a feast day;
• no one on the day of Yahweh’s anger
  • is a fugitive and a survivor;
• whoever I have cared for and reared,
  • my enemy has destroyed.

Israel’s Affliction

• 3 I am a man who has seen misery,
• under the rod of his wrath.
• 2 He has driven me along, he brought
  • darkness and not light.
• 3 Surely he has turned his hand against me,
  • all day long.
• 4 He has worn out my flesh and skin,
  • he has broken my bones.
• 5 He has besieged[fn] and engulfed me
  • with bitterness and hardship.
• 6 In darkness he has let me dwell
  • like the dead of long ago.
• 7 He has built a wall around me, I cannot go out;
  • he has made my bronze fetters heavy.
• 8 Though I cry out for help,
  • he shuts out my prayers.
• 9 He has blocked my ways with dressed stones;
  • he has made my paths crooked.
• 10 To me he is like a bear lying in wait,
  • a lion in hiding.
• 11 He has forsaken my way and torn me to pieces;
  • he has caused me desolation.
• 12 He has bent his bow and set me
  • as the target for the arrow.
• 13 He shot the arrows of his quiver[fn]
  • into my kidneys.
• 14 I have become a laughingstock for all the people,
  • their mocking song all day long.
• 15 He has filled me with bitterness,
  • he has drenched me with wormwood.
• 16 He has broken my teeth on grit,
  • he has trampled me down in ash.
• 17 My life has been removed from peace,
  • I have forgotten goodness.
• 18 And I have said, “My glory is ruined,
  • my expectation from Yahweh.”
• 19 Remember my misery and bitterness,
  • the wormwood[fn] and venom!
• 20 Surely my soul remembers
  • and bows down within me.
• 21 This I have reminded myself ,[fn]
  • therefore I will hope.
• 22 The loyal love of Yahweh does not cease;
  • his compassions do not come to an end.
• 23 They are new in the morning,
  • great is your faithfulness.
• 24 “Yahweh is my portion,”
  • says my soul,
    • “Thus I will hope on him.”
• 25 Yahweh is good to those who wait on him,
  • to the person that seeks him.
• 26 It is good to wait in silence
  • for the salvation of Yahweh.
• 27 It is good for a man who carries
  • the yoke of his childhood.
• 28 Let him sit alone and be silent
  • when he[fn] has laid it on him.
• 29 Let him put[fn] his mouth in the dust;
  • perhaps there is hope.
• 30 Let him give a cheek to his smiter,
  • let him be filled with disgrace.
• 31 For the Lord will not reject
  • forever.
• 32 For even though he causes grief he has compassion
  • according to the greatness of his royal love.
• 33 He does not afflict willingly ,[fn]
  • or grieve anyone .[fn]
• 34 To crush under his feet
  • all the prisoners of the earth;
• 35 to deprive one of justice[fn]
  • before the face of the Most High;
• 36 to subvert a person in a legal dispute
  • —the Lord has not found delight in these things.
• 37 Who can speak[fn] and it will happen
  • if the Lord has not commanded it?
• 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
  • that disaster and good will come?
• 39 Why should any living person complain
  • about his sin?
• 40 Let us test and examine our ways;
  • let us return to Yahweh.
• 41 Let us lift up our hearts with our hands
  • to God in the heavens.
• 42 We ourselves have transgressed and rebelled,
  • you have not forgiven.
• 43 You have covered yourself in anger[fn] and pursued us,
  • you have slain and not shown mercy.
• 44 You have covered yourself in a cloud
  • so that prayer cannot pass through .[fn]
• 45 You have made us scum and refuse
  • in the midst of the nations.
• 46 All our enemies
  • have opened their mouth against us.
• 47 Fear and a pit have come upon us,
  • desolation and destruction.
• 48 Channels of water run down my eyes
  • because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
• 49 My eyes have poured down unceasingly
  • without respite,
• 50 until Yahweh looks down
  • and sees from heaven.
• 51 My eyes inflict my soul
  • because of all the daughters of my city.
• 52 My enemies hunt me without cause,
  • like a bird.
• 53 They have silenced me in a pit ,[fn]
  • they have thrown a stone at me.
• 54 Water has flown over my head,
  • I said, “I am cut off.”
• 55 I have called your name, O Yahweh,
  • from the depths of the pit.
• 56 You have heard my cry, “Do not shut your ear
  • to my cry for help, for my relief!”
• 57 You came near on a day when I called you,
  • you said, “Do not fear!”
• 58 O Lord, you have pleaded for my cause ,[fn]
  • you have redeemed my life.
• 59 You have seen my injustice, O Yahweh;
  • judge my case.
• 60 You have seen all their vengeance,
  • all there plans against me.
• 61 You have heard their disgrace, O Yahweh,
  • all their plans against me.
• 62 The lips and meditation of my assailants
  • are against me all day long.
• 63 Look at their sitting and their standing,
  • I am their mocking song.
• 64 Return to them what is deserved, O Yahweh,
  • according to the work of their hands.
• 65 Give them a stubborn heart;
  • curse them!
• 66 Pursue them in anger[fn] and destroy them
  • from under the heavens of Yahweh.

Zion Is Punished

• 4 How the gold has grown dim,
• the pure gold has changed.
• The stones of holiness are scattered
  • at the head of every street.
• 2 The precious sons of Zion
  • weighed against fine gold,
• how they are thought of as earthen vessels of clay,
  • the work of the potter’s hands.
• 3 Even the jackal bears the beast
  • and nurses their cubs;
• but the daughter of my people has become ruthless,
  • like ostriches in the wilderness.
• 4 The tongue of the nursling cleaves
  • to its palate in thirst.
• Children beg for food,
  • no one lays it out before them .[fn]
• 5 The ones who eat delicacies,
  • they are ruined in the streets;
• the ones nurtured in purple
  • lie on piles of trash.
• 6 The iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater
  • than the sin of Sodom;
• it was overthrown in a moment
  • and no hands were laid on her.
• 7 Her princes were purer than snow,
  • they were whiter than milk;
• their bodies were more ruddy than rubies,
  • sapphire their appearance.
• 8 Now their appearance is blacker than soot,
  • they are not recognized in the streets;
• their skin has shriveled on their bones,
  • it has become dry like wood.
• 9 Happier were the victims of the sword
  • than the victims of famine;
• they have pined away, very hungry
  • for the crops of my field.
• 10 The hands of compassionate women,
  • have cooked their children;
• they became as something to eat
  • in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
• 11 Yahweh has completed his anger,
  • he has poured out his fierce anger ;[fn]
• he has kindled a fire in Zion,
  • it consumed her[fn] foundations.
• 12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
  • and all the inhabitants of the world,
• that a foe and an enemy could enter
  • into the gates of Jerusalem.
• 13 Because of the sins of her prophets,
  • the guilt of her priests,
• who shed blood in her midst,
  • of righteous people.
• 14 They wander blindly in the streets;
  • they were defiled with the blood,
• their clothes
  • could not be touched.
• 15 “Go away! Defiled!” they shout to them.
  • “Go away! Go away! Do not touch!”
• so they left, they left; it was said among the nations,
  • “ They will no longer dwell with us .”[fn]
• 16 The presence of Yahweh has scattered them,
  • he will no longer watch over them;
• they did not honor the priests ,[fn]
  • they did not show mercy to elders.
• 17 Still our eyes failed,
  • looking for our help in vain;
• in our watchtower, we kept watch
  • for a nation that could not save.
• 18 They hunted our steps,
  • from walking in our streets;
• our end has come near, our days are finished ,[fn]
  • our end has come.
• 19 Our pursuers were swifter
  • than the eagles of the heavens;
• they chased us on the mountains,
  • they have set an ambush for us in the desert.
• 20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed one of Yahweh,
  • was captured in their pits;
• of whom we said, “In his shadow
  • we will live among the nations.”
• 21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
  • you who dwell in the land of Uz;
• but to you also the cup will pass,
  • you will become drunk and strip yourself bare.
• 22 The punishment of your iniquity is completed, O daughter of Zion,
  • your exile will not continue;
• but he will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom,
  • he will reveal your sins.

A Request for Mercy

• 5 Remember, O Yahweh, what has become of us;
• take note, and see our disgrace!
• 2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
  • our houses, to foreigners.
• 3 We have become orphans, fatherless,
  • our mothers are like widows.
• 4 We pay for water with money ,[fn]
  • our wood comes to us at a price.
• 5 We are driven on our necks;
  • we are weary, there is no rest for us.
• 6 We have made a deal with Egypt and Assyria
  • to be satisfied with food.
• 7 Our fathers have sinned, they are no more;
  • we bear their iniquity.
• 8 Slaves rule over us;
  • there is no one to deliver us from their hand.
• 9 We risk our life for food[fn]
  • because of the sword of the desert.
• 10 Our skin is hot like an oven
  • because of the scorching famine.
• 11 They raped women in Zion,
  • young women[fn] in the cities of Judah.
• 12 They hang princes by their hand;
  • they do not show respect before elders.
• 13 Young men must carry a hand-mill
  • and boys stumble under the wood.
• 14 Elders are no longer at the gate,
  • young men no longer play stringed instruments.
• 15 The joy of our hearts has stopped;
  • our circle-dancing has changed to a mourning ceremony.
• 16 The crown has fallen from our head;
  • woe to us, for we have sinned!
• 17 Because of this, our heart has become faint,
  • because of these, our eyes have become dim.
• 18 Because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate,
  • foxes tread on it .[fn]
• 19 You, O Yahweh, will sit forever
  • on your throne for generation to generation.
• 20 Why have you forgotten us forever?
  • Why have you forsaken us for so long ?[fn]
• 21 Restore us to you, O Yahweh, that we will be restored;
  • renew our days as of old.
• 22 Unless you have utterly rejected us,
  • unless you are angry with us beyond measure.