Bitterly she cries in the night, as tears stream down her cheeks. No one consoles her of all her friends. All her neighbors have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

Judah has gone into exile to escape affliction and servitude. She that sat among the nations, has found no rest. All her pursuers overtook her amid narrow passes.

The roads that lead to Zion are in mourning, because no one travels to the festivals. All her gates are desolate; her priests are moaning. Her young women are grieving, and she is bitter.

Her adversaries dominate her, her enemies prosper. For the LORD has made her suffer because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away, taken into captivity in the presence of the enemy.

Fled from cherished Zion are all that were her splendor. Her princes have become like deer that cannot find their feeding grounds. They flee with strength exhausted from their pursuers.

Jerusalem remembers her time of affliction and misery; all her valued belongings of days gone by, when her people fell into enemy hands, with no one to help her, and her enemies stared at her, mocking her downfall.

Jerusalem sinned greatly, and she became unclean. All who honored her now despise her, because they saw her naked. She herself groans and turns her face away.

Uncleanness has soiled her skirts, and she gave no thought to what would follow. She fell in such a startling way, with no one to comfort her. Look, LORD, upon my affliction, because my enemy is boasting.

The adversary seized in his hands everything she valued. She watched the nations enter her sanctuary; those you forbade to enter your place of meeting.

All her people groaned as they searched for food. They traded their valuables in order to eat, to keep themselves alive. Look, LORD, and see how I have become dishonored.

Zion spreads out her hands; no one is there to comfort her. The LORD has issued an order against Jacob, that all who are around him are to be his enemies; Jerusalem has become unclean among them.

The Lord swallowed up without pity all of Jacob's habitations. In his wrath he tore down the strongholds of fair Judah. He cast to the ground in dishonor both her kingdom and its rulers.

The Lord has become like an enemy he has devoured Israel. He has devoured all of her palaces, destroying her fortresses. He filled cherished Judah with mourning and lament.

The Lord rejected his altar, disavowing his sanctuary. He gave up her palace walls to the control of the enemy. They shouted in the LORD's Temple, as though they were attending a day of celebration.

Jerusalem's gates collapsed to the ground; he destroyed and broke the bars of her gates. Both king and prince have gone into captivity. There is no instruction, and the prophets receive no vision from the LORD.

All of your enemies insult you with gaping mouths. They hiss and grind their teeth while saying, "We have devoured her completely. Yes, this is the day that we anticipated! We found it at last; we have seen it!"

The guilt of my cherished people surpasses the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, without a hand to help her.

Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk. Their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their beards like the color of precious stones.

Due to the sins committed by her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests who shed in her midst, the blood of the righteous,

"Go away! Unclean!" they shouted at them. "Go away! Go away! Don't touch!" When they fled away and wandered, those among the nations decreed, "They cannot live here!"