Lamentations
Chapter 1
1 How lonely sits the city that was once full of people! How has she become like a widow! She who was important among the nations, and a ruler among the regions, how has she become a servant!
2 She cries hard at night, and her tears are on her face. None of her loved ones comfort her; all her friends have betrayed her and turned into her enemies.
3 Judah has been taken captive due to suffering and harsh labor. She lives among foreign people and finds no peace. All who chase her have caught her in difficult places.
4 Zion’s paths are sad because no one comes to the feasts; her gates are empty, her priests are sad, her young women are troubled, and she feels bitter.
5 Her enemies are now in control; they are successful because God has punished her for her many sins: her children have been taken away as prisoners by the enemy.
6 Zion’s daughter has lost all her beauty; her leaders are like deer that find no grass, fleeing weakly from the hunter.
7 Jerusalem thought back to the time of her trouble and suffering and all the good things she once had, when her people were defeated by the enemy and no one helped her. Her enemies saw her and laughed at her sacred days.
8 Jerusalem has sinned a lot; so she is cast aside. All who respected her now look down on her because they have seen her shame. Yes, she sighs and turns away.
9 Her dirtiness clings to her clothes; she forgets what will happen to her in the end, so she falls from her position in a surprising way: she has no one to comfort her. Oh God, see how much I am suffering because the enemy has become very proud.
10 The enemy reached out to take all her nice things; she saw that foreigners came into her holy place, the ones you said should not join your people.
11 Her people groan, looking for food; they trade their treasures for food to keep alive. Look, God, and see how wretched I’ve become.
12 Doesn’t it matter to you, everyone who passes by? Look and see if there is any pain like my pain, which I’m suffering, that God has caused me on the day of his intense anger.
13 God sent fire into my bones from above, which overpowered them. He set a trap for my feet, turned me around, and left me empty and weak all day long.
14 God holds the heavy burden of my wrongs; it is wrapped around my neck, weighing me down. He has weakened me, and I am handed over to those I cannot escape from.
15 God has trampled all my warriors inside my walls; he summoned a group to attack my young men; God has crushed the young woman of Judah like grapes in a winepress.
16 I cry over these things; my eyes shed many tears because the one who could calm me is far away: my children are helpless because the foe has won.
17 Zion reaches out her hands, but no one comforts her. God has ordered that enemies surround Jacob. Jerusalem is like an unclean woman to them.
18 God is good; I did not obey His rules: please listen, everyone, and see how sad I am: my young women and men have been taken away as prisoners.
19 I called my lovers, but they tricked me; my priests and elders died in the city when they looked for food to refresh themselves.
20 Look, God, I am in trouble; my stomach is in pain, my heart is upset inside me, because I have seriously disobeyed. Outside, violence takes away lives, inside it’s like death.
21 People know I am sad and no one comforts me. My enemies know about my problems and are happy you did this. But you have set a day, and they will end up like me.
22 Let all their evil acts be seen by you, God; treat them as you have treated me for all my wrongs, because I sigh a lot and my heart is weak.