ב BetShe weeps aloud during the night,
with tears on her cheeks.
There is no one to offer her comfort,
not one from all her lovers.
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.

ד DaletThe roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to the appointed festivals.
All her gates are deserted;
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she herself is bitter.

ה HeHer adversaries have become her masters;
her enemies are at ease,
for the Lord has made her suffer
because of her many transgressions.
Her children have gone away
as captives before the adversary.

ל LamedIs this nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look and see!
Is there any pain like mine,
which was dealt out to me,
which the Lord made me suffer
on the day of His burning anger?

ע AyinI weep because of these things;
my eyes flow with tears.
For there is no one nearby to comfort me,
no one to keep me alive.
My children are desolate
because the enemy has prevailed.

פ PeZion stretches out her hands;
there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his adversaries.
Jerusalem has become
something impure among them.

צ TsadeThe Lord is just,
for I have rebelled against His command.
Listen, all you people;
look at my pain.
My young men and women
have gone into captivity.

ר ReshLord, see how I am in distress.
I am churning within;
my heart is broken,
for I have been very rebellious.
Outside, the sword takes the children;
inside, there is death.

שׁ ShinPeople have heard me groaning,
but there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my misfortune;
they are glad that You have caused it.
Bring on the day You have announced,
so that they may become like me.

ת TavLet all their wickedness come before You,
and deal with them
as You have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions.
For my groans are many,
and I am sick at heart.

ד DaletHe has bent His bow like an enemy;
His right hand is positioned like an adversary.
He has killed everyone who was loved,
pouring out His wrath like fire
on the tent of Daughter Zion.

ה HeThe Lord is like an enemy;
He has swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all its palaces
and destroyed its fortified cities.
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation
within Daughter Judah.

ו VavHe has done violence to His temple
as if it were a garden booth,
destroying His place of meeting.
The Lord has abolished
appointed festivals and Sabbaths in Zion.
He has despised king and priest
in His fierce anger.

ז ZayinThe Lord has rejected His altar,
repudiated His sanctuary;
He has handed the walls of her palaces
over to the enemy.
They have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.

ט TetZion’s gates have fallen to the ground;
He has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.
Her king and her leaders live among the nations,
instruction is no more,
and even her prophets receive
no vision from the Lord.

כ KafMy eyes are worn out from weeping;
I am churning within.
My heart is poured out in grief
because of the destruction of my dear people,
because children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.

ל LamedThey cry out to their mothers:
Where is the grain and wine?
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their lives fade away
in the arms of their mothers.

מ MemWhat can I say on your behalf?
What can I compare you to, Daughter Jerusalem?
What can I liken you to,
so that I may console you, Virgin Daughter Zion?
For your ruin is as vast as the sea.
Who can heal you?

ס SamekAll who pass by
scornfully clap their hands at you.
They mock and shake their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem:
Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?

פ PeAll your enemies
open their mouths against you.
They hiss and gnash their teeth,
saying, “We have swallowed her up.
This is the day we have waited for!
We have lived to see it.”

ת TavYou summoned my attackers on every side,
as if for an appointed festival day;
on the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped or survived.
My enemy has destroyed
those I nurtured and reared.

ד DaletHe is a bear waiting in ambush,
a lion in hiding.

He strung His bow
and set me as the target for His arrow.

My soul has been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is.

Then I thought: My future is lost,
as well as my hope from the Lord.

They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness!

I say: The Lord is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in Him.

ט TetThe Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the person who seeks Him.

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

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

Let him put his mouth in the dust—
perhaps there is still hope.

כ KafFor the Lord
will not reject us forever.

מ MemWho is there who speaks and it happens,
unless the Lord has ordained it?

נ NunLet us search out and examine our ways,
and turn back to the Lord.

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

ס SamekYou have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us;
You have killed without compassion.

You have made us disgusting filth
among the peoples.

פ PeAll our enemies
open their mouths against us.

ב BetZion’s precious people—
once worth their weight in pure gold—
how they are regarded as clay jars,
the work of a potter’s hands!

ו VavThe punishment of my dear people
is greater than that of Sodom,
which was overthrown in an instant
without a hand laid on it.

ס Samek“Stay away! Unclean!” people shouted at them.
“Away, away! Don’t touch us!”
So they wandered aimlessly.
It was said among the nations,
“They can stay here no longer.”

ע AyinAll the while our eyes were failing
as we looked in vain for assistance;
we watched from our towers
for a nation that refused to help.

ק QofThose who chased us were swifter
than eagles in the sky;
they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains
and ambushed us in the wilderness.

שׂ SinSo rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
you resident of the land of Uz!
Yet the cup will pass to you as well;
you will get drunk and expose yourself.

ת TavDaughter Zion, your punishment is complete;
He will not lengthen your exile.
But He will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom,
and will expose your sins.

Yahweh, remember what has happened to us.
Look, and see our disgrace!

We are closely pursued;
we are tired, and no one offers us rest.

Slaves rule over us;
no one rescues us from their hands.

Our skin is as hot as an oven
from the ravages of hunger.

The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us, for we have sinned.

Because of this, our heart is sick;
because of these, our eyes grow dim:

Why have You forgotten us forever,
abandoned us for our entire lives?

Lord, restore us to Yourself, so we may return;
renew our days as in former times,

unless You have completely rejected us
and are intensely angry with us.