She weeps bitterly in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she has none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies.

And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty has departed: her princes have become like harts that find no pasture, and they have gone without strength before the pursuer.

Jerusalem has grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sighs, and turns away.

The adversary has spread out his hand over all her precious things: for she has seen that the nations entered into her sanctuary, whom you did command that they should not enter into your congregation.

All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their treasures for food to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I have become despised.

The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are woven together, and come up upon my neck: he has made my strength to fall, the Lord has delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.

I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and my elders died in the city, while they sought their food to relieve their souls.

They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it: you will bring the day that you have announced, and they shall be like unto me.

The Lord has cast off his altar, he has abhorred his sanctuary, he has given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.

The LORD has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he has stretched out a line, he has not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

They say to their mothers, Where is grain and wine? when they faint as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers' bosom.

Your prophets have seen vain and foolish things for you: and they have not uncovered your iniquity, to turn away your captivity; but have given you false oracles and causes of banishment.

All that pass by clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?

All your enemies have opened their mouth against you: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.

He has set me in dark places, like they that are long dead.

They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness.

They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.

The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

Even the jackals draw out the breast, they nurse their young ones: the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

They that did eat delicacies are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace ash heaps.

Her princes were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their appearance was of sapphire:

Their appearance is now blacker than coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaves to their bones; it is withered, it has become like a dry stick.

They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for lack of the fruits of the field.

The hands of the compassionate women have boiled their own children: they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.

They cried unto them, Depart; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the nations, They shall no more sojourn there.

The anger of the LORD has scattered them; he will no longer regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favored not the elders.

They hunt our steps, so that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end has come.

Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

They ravished the women in Zion, and the maidens in the cities of Judah.

They took the young men to grind, and the children stagger under loads of wood.