(Khet) The Lord's loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end.

(Bet) He has made my mortal skin waste away; he has broken my bones.

(Alef)Alas! The city once full of people now sits all alone! The prominent lady among the nations has become a widow! The princess who once ruled the provinces has become a forced laborer!

He has besieged and surrounded me with bitter hardship.

(Gimel) Judah has departed into exile under affliction and harsh oppression. She lives among the nations; she has found no resting place. All who pursued her overtook her in narrow straits.

(He) Her foes subjugated her; her enemies are at ease. For the Lord afflicted her because of her many acts of rebellion. Her children went away captive before the enemy.

(Dalet) The roads to Zion mourn because no one travels to the festivals. All her city gates are deserted; her priests groan. Her virgins grieve; she is in bitter anguish!

(Gimel) In fierce anger he destroyed the whole army of Israel. He withdrew his right hand as the enemy attacked. He was like a raging fire in the land of Jacob; it consumed everything around it.

(He) Those who once feasted on delicacies are now starving to death in the streets. Those who grew up wearing expensive clothes are now dying amid garbage.

(Vav) All of Daughter Zion's splendor has departed. Her leaders became like deer; they found no pasture, so they were too exhausted to escape from the hunter.

(Zayin) Jerusalem remembers, when she became a poor homeless person, all her treasures that she owned in days of old. When her people fell into an enemy's grip, none of her allies came to her rescue. Her enemies gloated over her; they sneered at her downfall.

He has made me reside in deepest darkness like those who died long ago.

(Khet) Jerusalem committed terrible sin; therefore she became an object of scorn. All who admired her have despised her because they have seen her nakedness. She groans aloud and turns away in shame.

(Yod) An enemy grabbed all her valuables. Indeed she watched in horror as Gentiles invaded her holy temple -- those whom you had commanded: "They must not enter your assembly place."

"Look, O Lord! Consider that I have become worthless!"

(Tet) Her menstrual flow has soiled her clothing; she did not consider the consequences of her sin. Her demise was astonishing, and there was no one to comfort her. She cried, "Look, O Lord, on my affliction because my enemy boasts!"

(Vav) The punishment of my people exceeded that of of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment with no one to help her.

(Lamed) Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by on the road? Look and see! Is there any pain like mine? The Lord has afflicted me, he has inflicted it on me when he burned with anger.

(Nun) My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke; they are fastened together by his hand. He has placed his yoke on my neck; he has sapped my strength. The Lord has handed me over to those whom I cannot resist.

(Tav) Let all their wickedness come before you; afflict them just as you have afflicted me because of all my acts of rebellion. For my groans are many, and my heart is sick with sorrow.

(Tsade) The Lord is right to judge me! Yes, I rebelled against his commands. Please listen, all you nations, and look at my suffering! My young women and men have gone into exile.

(Gimel) He has walled me in so that I cannot get out; he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains.

(Samek) He rounded up all my mighty ones; The Lord did this in my midst. He summoned an assembly against me to shatter my young men. The Lord has stomped like grapes the virgin daughter, Judah.

(Mem) He sent down fire into my bones, and it overcame them. He spread out a trapper's net for my feet; he made me turn back. He has made me desolate; I am faint all day long.

(Ayin) I weep because of these things; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one in sight who can comfort me or encourage me. My children are desolated because an enemy has prevailed.

(Pe) Zion spread out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob; his neighbors have become his enemies. Jerusalem has become like filthy garbage in their midst.

(Sin/Shin) They have heard that I groan, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have brought it about. Bring about the day of judgment that you promised so that they may end up like me!

He has blocked every road I take with a wall of hewn stones; he has made every path impassable.

(Dalet) He prepared his bow like an enemy; his right hand was ready to shoot. Like a foe he killed everyone, even our strong young men; he has poured out his anger like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion.

(Qof) I called for my lovers, but they had deceived me. My priests and my elders perished in the city. Truly they had searched for food to keep themselves alive.

(Resh) Look, O Lord! I am distressed; my stomach is in knots! My heart is pounding inside me. Yes, I was terribly rebellious! Out in the street the sword bereaves a mother of her children; Inside the house death is present.

(Khet) Now their appearance is darker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it is dried up, like tree bark.

Also, when I cry out desperately for help, he has shut out my prayer.

We have submitted to Egypt and Assyria in order to buy food to eat.

(He) The Lord, like an enemy, destroyed Israel. He destroyed all her palaces; he ruined her fortified cities. He made everyone in Daughter Judah mourn and lament.

(Vav) He destroyed his temple as if it were a vineyard; he destroyed his appointed meeting place. The Lord has made those in Zion forget both the festivals and the Sabbaths. In his fierce anger he has spurned both king and priest.

He has obstructed my paths and torn me to pieces; he has made me desolate.

(Dalet) To me he is like a bear lying in ambush, like a hidden lion stalking its prey.

(Zayin) Her consecrated ones were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies more ruddy than corals, their hair like lapis lazuli.

He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrow.

(Zayin) The Lord rejected his altar and abhorred his temple. He handed over to the enemy her palace walls; the enemy shouted in the Lord's temple as if it were a feast day.

(Alef) I am the man who has experienced affliction from the rod of his wrath.

(Zayin) Remember my impoverished and homeless condition, which is a bitter poison.

Our forefathers sinned and are dead, but we suffer their punishment.

I have become the laughingstock of all people, their mocking song all day long.

(Yod) The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dirt on their heads; They have dressed in sackcloth. Jerusalem's young women stare down at the ground.

(Khet) The Lord was determined to tear down Daughter Zion's wall. He prepared to knock it down; he did not withdraw his hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and fortified walls lament; together they mourned their ruin.

(Tet) Her city gates have fallen to the ground; he smashed to bits the bars that lock her gates. Her king and princes were taken into exile; there is no more guidance available. As for her prophets, they no longer receive a vision from the Lord.

I am deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.

(He) He shot his arrows into my heart.

(Tet) The Lord is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him.

They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant!

(Samek) All who passed by on the road clapped their hands to mock you. They sneered and shook their heads at Daughter Jerusalem. "Ha! Is this the city they called 'The perfection of beauty, the source of joy of the whole earth!'?"

So I said, "My endurance has expired; I have lost all hope of deliverance from the Lord."

(Lamed) Children say to their mothers, "Where are food and drink?" They faint like a wounded warrior in the city squares. They die slowly in their mothers' arms.

(Vav) He ground my teeth in gravel; he trampled me in the dust.

(Pe) All your enemies gloated over you. They sneered and gnashed their teeth; they said, "We have destroyed her! Ha! We have waited a long time for this day. We have lived to see it!"

(Tet) Those who died by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, those who waste away, struck down from lack of food.

(Qof) Get up! Cry out in the night when the night watches start! Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord! Lift up your hands to him for your children's lives; they are fainting at every street corner.

(Kaf) My eyes are worn out from weeping; my stomach is in knots. My heart is poured out on the ground due to the destruction of my helpless people; children and infants faint in the town squares.

I continually think about this, and I am depressed.

(Yod) The hands of tenderhearted women cooked their own children, who became their food, when my people were destroyed.

He has given me my fill of bitter herbs and made me drunk with bitterness.

(Mem) With what can I equate you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you so that I might comfort you, O Virgin Daughter Zion? Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?

Slaves rule over us; there is no one to rescue us from their power.

It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the Lord.

(Alef) Alas! The Lord has covered Daughter Zion with his anger. He has thrown down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth; he did not protect his temple when he displayed his anger.

(Nun) Your prophets saw visions for you that were worthless lies. They failed to expose your sin so as to restore your fortunes. They saw oracles for you that were worthless lies.

(Kaf) For the Lord will not reject us forever.

(Kaf) The Lord fully vented his wrath; he poured out his fierce anger. He started a fire in Zion; it consumed her foundations.

"My portion is the Lord," I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him.

At the risk of our lives we get our food because robbers lurk in the countryside.

(Ayin) The Lord has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his promise that he threatened long ago: He has overthrown you without mercy and has enabled the enemy to gloat over you; he has exalted your adversaries' power.

They raped women in Zion, virgins in the towns of Judah.

(Resh) Look, O Lord! Consider! Whom have you ever afflicted like this? Should women eat their offspring, their healthy infants? Should priest and prophet be killed in the Lord's sanctuary?

He drove me into captivity and made me walk in darkness and not light.

Our skin is hot as an oven due to a fever from hunger.

He repeatedly attacks me, he turns his hand against me all day long.

(Sin/Shin) The young boys and old men lie dead on the ground in the streets. My young women and my young men have fallen by the sword. You killed them when you were angry; you slaughtered them without mercy.

Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; let him have his fill of insults.

It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.

(Lamed) Neither the kings of the earth nor the people of the lands ever thought that enemy or foe would enter the gates of Jerusalem.

(Yod) Let a person sit alone in silence, when the Lord is disciplining him.

(Bet) The Lord destroyed mercilessly all the homes of Jacob's descendants. In his anger he tore down the fortified cities of Daughter Judah. He knocked to the ground and humiliated the kingdom and its rulers.

(Mem) But it happened due to the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who poured out in her midst the blood of the righteous.

(Tav) As if it were a feast day, you call enemies to terrify me on every side. On the day of the Lord's anger no one escaped or survived. My enemy has finished off those healthy infants whom I bore and raised.

(Sin/Shin) Rejoice and be glad for now, O people of Edom, who reside in the land of Uz. But the cup of judgment will pass to you also; you will get drunk and take off your clothes.

(Resh) Our very life breath -- the Lord's anointed king -- was caught in their traps, of whom we thought, "Under his protection we will survive among the nations."

(Tsade) Cry out from your heart to the Lord, O wall of Daughter Zion! Make your tears flow like a river all day and all night long! Do not rest; do not let your tears stop!

(Alef)Alas! Gold has lost its luster; pure gold loses value. Jewels are scattered on every street corner.

Bring us back to yourself, O Lord, so that we may return to you; renew our life as in days before,

Let him bury his face in the dust; perhaps there is hope.

(Nun) They wander blindly through the streets, defiled by the blood they shed, while no one dares to touch their garments.

Our hearts no longer have any joy; our dancing is turned to mourning.

The young men perform menial labor; boys stagger from their labor.

Princes were hung by their hands; elders were mistreated.

(Tav) O people of Zion, your punishment will come to an end; he will not prolong your exile. But, O people of Edom, he will punish your sin and reveal your offenses!

(Samek) People cry to them, "Turn away! You are unclean! Turn away! Turn away! Don't touch us!" So they have fled and wander about; but the nations say, "They may not stay here any longer."

(Dalet) The infant's tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth due to thirst; little children beg for bread, but no one gives them even a morsel.

(Ayin) Our eyes continually failed us as we looked in vain for help. From our watchtowers we watched for a nation that could not rescue us.

O Lord, reflect on what has happened to us; consider and look at our disgrace.

(Pe) The Lord himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. They did not honor the priests; they did not show favor to the elders.

(Gimel) Even the jackals nurse their young at their breast, but my people are cruel, like ostriches in the desert.

(Bet) The precious sons of Zion were worth their weight in gold -- Alas! -- but now they are treated like broken clay pots, made by a potter.

(Tsade) Our enemies hunted us down at every step so that we could not walk about in our streets. Our end drew near, our days were numbered, for our end had come!

For wild animals are prowling over Mount Zion, which lies desolate.

unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.

The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped playing their music.

But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.

Because of this, our hearts are sick; because of these things, we can hardly see through our tears.

(Qof) Those who pursued us were swifter than eagles in the sky. They chased us over the mountains; they ambushed us in the wilderness.

The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!

Our inheritance is turned over to strangers; foreigners now occupy our homes.

Why do you keep on forgetting us? Why do you forsake us so long?

We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers have become widows.

We are pursued -- they are breathing down our necks; we are weary and have no rest.

We must pay money for our own water; we must buy our own wood at a steep price.

(Bet) She weeps bitterly at night; tears stream down her cheeks. She has no one to comfort her among all her lovers. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope:

(Mem) Whose command was ever fulfilled unless the Lord decreed it?

(Nun) Let us carefully examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord.

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes -- both calamity and blessing?

Though he causes us grief, he then has compassion on us according to the abundance of his loyal kindness.

(Lamed) To crush underfoot all the earth's prisoners,

For he is not predisposed to afflict or to grieve people.

Why should any living person complain when punished for his sins?

Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven:

to deprive a person of his rights in the presence of the Most High,

(Qof) I have called on your name, O Lord, from the deepest pit.

You came near on the day I called to you; you said, "Do not fear!"

to defraud a person in a lawsuit -- the Lord does not approve of such things!

(Samek) You shrouded yourself with anger and then pursued us; you killed without mercy.

You make us like filthy scum in the estimation of the nations.

What my eyes see grieves me -- all the suffering of the daughters in my city.

Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed.

(Resh) O Lord, you championed my cause, you redeemed my life.

(Tsade) For no good reason my enemies hunted me down like a bird.

"We have blatantly rebelled; you have not forgiven."

(Ayin) Tears flow from my eyes and will not stop; there will be no break

You shrouded yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.

(Pe) All our enemies have gloated over us;

Panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction.

They shut me up in a pit and threw stones at me.

(Tav) Pay them back what they deserve, O Lord, according to what they have done.

My assailants revile and conspire against me all day long.

You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!"

Pursue them in anger and eradicate them from under the Lord's heaven.

The waters closed over my head; I thought I was about to die.

until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees what has happened.

(Sin/Shin) You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their plots against me.

Watch them from morning to evening; I am the object of their mocking songs.

You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me.

Give them a distraught heart; may your curse be on them!

You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; pronounce judgment on my behalf!