Lamentations 1
1א precedes the ʻayin. Alas!Lonely sits the cityOnce great with people!She that was great among nationsIs become like a widow;The princess among statesIs become a thrall.
2ב Bitterly she weeps in the night,Her cheek wet with tears.There is none to comfort herOf all her friends. All her allies have betrayed her;They have become her foes.
3ג Judah has gone into exileBecause of misery and harsh oppression;When she settled among the nations,She found no rest;All her pursuers overtook herIn the narrow places.
4ד Zion’s roads are in mourning,Empty of festival pilgrims;All her gates are deserted.Her priests sigh,Her maidens are unhappy—She is utterly disconsolate!
5ה Her enemies are now the masters,Her foes are at ease,Because GOD has afflicted herFor her many transgressions;Her infants have gone into captivityBefore the enemy.
6ו Gone from Fair Zion are allThat were her glory;Her leaders were like stagsThat found no pasture;They could only walk feeblyBefore the pursuer.
7ז All that she treasuredIn the days of oldJerusalem recalledIn her days of woe and sorrow,When her people fell by enemy handsWith none to help her;When enemies looked on and gloatedOver her downfall.
8ח Jerusalem has greatly sinned,Therefore she is become a mockery.All who admired her despise her,For they have seen her disgraced; And she can only sighAnd shrink back.
9ט Her impurity clings to her skirts.She gave no thought to her future;She has sunk appallingly,With none to comfort her.—“See, O ETERNAL One, my misery;How the enemy jeers!”
10י The foe has laid handsOn everything dear to her.She has seen her SanctuaryInvaded by nationsThat You have denied admissionInto Your community.
11כ All her inhabitants sighAs they search for bread;They have bartered their treasures for food,To keep themselves alive.—“See, O ETERNAL One, and behold,How abject I have become!”
12ל “May it never befall you, All who pass along the road—Look about and see:Is there any agony like mine,Which was dealt out to meWhen GOD afflicted meOn this day of wrath?
13מ From above [God] sent a fireDown into my bones,Then spread a net for my feetAnd hurled me backward—Leaving me forlorn,In constant misery.
14נ The yoke of my offenses is bound fast,Lashed tight by God’s hand;Imposed upon my neck,It saps my strength;The Sovereign has delivered me into the handsOf those I cannot withstand.
15ס The Sovereign in my midst has rejectedAll my heroes,And proclaimed a set time against meTo crush my young men.As in a press the Sovereign has troddenFair Maiden Judah.
16ע For these things do I weep,My eyes flow with tears:Far from me is any comforterWho might revive my spirit;My children are forlorn,For the foe has prevailed.”
17פ Zion spreads out her hands,She has no one to comfort her; GOD has summoned against JacobHis enemies all about him;Jerusalem has become an outcast among them.
18צ “GOD is in the right,For I have been disobedient.Hear, all you peoples,And behold my agony:My maidens and my youthsHave gone into captivity!
19ק I cried out to my friends, But they played me false.My priests and my eldersHave perished in the cityAs they searched for foodTo keep themselves alive.
20ר See, O ETERNAL One, the distress I am in!My heart is in anguish,I know how wrong I was To disobey.Outside the sword deals death;Indoors, the plague.
21ש When they heard how I was sighing,There was none to comfort me;All my foes heard of my plight and exulted.For it is Your doing:You have brought on the day that You threatened.Oh, let them become like me!
22ת Let all their wrongdoing come before You,And deal with themAs You have dealt with meFor all my transgressions.For my sighs are many,And my heart is sick.”