1  How the Lord in his anger

has set the daughter of Zion ^junder a cloud!

^kHe has cast down from heaven to earth

the splendor of Israel;

he has not remembered ^lhis footstool

in the day of his anger.

2  The Lord ^mhas swallowed up ⁿwithout mercy

all the habitations of Jacob;

in his wrath ^ohe has broken down

the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;

he has brought ^pdown to the ground ^pin dishonor

the kingdom ^qand its rulers.

3  He has cut down in ^rfierce anger

all ^sthe might of Israel;

^the has withdrawn from them his right hand

in the face of the enemy;

^uhe has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,

consuming all around.

4  ^vHe has bent his bow like an enemy,

with his right hand set ^wlike a foe;

and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes

in the tent of the daughter of Zion;

he has poured out his fury like fire.

5  ^wThe Lord has become like an enemy;

^xhe has swallowed up Israel;

^yhe has swallowed up all its palaces;

he has laid in ruins its strongholds,

and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah

^zmourning and lamentation.

6  He has laid waste his booth like a garden,

laid in ruins ^ahis meeting place;

^athe Lord has made Zion forget

festival and ^bSabbath,

and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.

7  ^cThe Lord has scorned his altar,

^ddisowned his sanctuary;

^ehe has delivered into the hand of the enemy

the walls of her palaces;

^fthey raised a clamor in the house of the Lord

as on the day of festival.

8  ^gThe Lord determined to lay in ruins

^hthe wall of the daughter of Zion;

ⁱhe stretched out the measuring line;

he did not restrain his hand from destroying;

^jhe caused rampart and wall to lament;

^jthey languished together.

9  Her gates have sunk into the ground;

^khe has ruined ^kand broken her bars;

^lher king and princes are among the nations;

the law is no more,

and ^mher prophets find

no vision from the Lord.

10  The elders of the daughter of Zion

ⁿsit on the ground ^oin silence;

^pthey have thrown dust on their heads

and ^qput on sackcloth;

the young women of Jerusalem

have bowed their heads to the ground.

11  ^rMy eyes are spent with weeping;

^smy stomach churns;

^tmy bile is poured out to the ground

^ubecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people,

^vbecause infants and babies ^wfaint

in the streets of the city.

12  They cry to their mothers,

^x“Where is bread and wine?”

^was they faint like a wounded man

in the streets of the city,

as their life is poured out

on their mothers’ bosom.

13  What can I say for you, ^yto what compare you,

O daughter of Jerusalem?

^yWhat can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,

O virgin daughter of Zion?

^zFor your ruin is vast as the sea;

who can heal you?

14  ^aYour prophets have seen for you

false and deceptive visions;

^bthey have not exposed your iniquity

to ^crestore your fortunes,

^dbut have seen for you ^eoracles

that are false and misleading.

15  All who pass along the way

clap their hands at you;

^fthey hiss and wag their heads

at the daughter of Jerusalem:

“Is this the city that was called

^gthe perfection of beauty,

^gthe joy of all the earth?”

16  ^hAll your enemies

rail against you;

they hiss, they gnash their teeth,

they cry: “We ⁱhave swallowed her!

Ah, this is the day we longed for;

now we have it; ^jwe see it!”

17  The Lord has done what he purposed;

he has carried out ^khis word,

which he commanded ^llong ago;

^mhe has thrown down ⁿwithout pity;

^ohe has made the enemy rejoice over you

and exalted the ^pmight of your foes.

18  Their heart cried to the Lord.

O ^qwall of the daughter of Zion,

^rlet tears stream down like a torrent

^sday and night!

^tGive yourself no rest,

^uyour eyes no respite!

19  “Arise, ^vcry out in the night,

at the beginning of the night watches!

^wPour out your heart like water

before the presence of the Lord!

^xLift your hands to him

for the lives of your children,

^ywho faint for hunger

at the head of every street.”

20  Look, O Lord, and see!

^zWith whom have you dealt thus?

^aShould women eat the fruit of their womb,

the children of ^btheir tender care?

Should ^cpriest and prophet be killed

in the sanctuary of the Lord?

21  In the dust of the streets

^dlie the young and the old;

^dmy young women and my young men

have fallen by the sword;

^eyou have killed them in the day of your anger,

slaughtering ^fwithout pity.

22  You summoned as if to ^ga festival day

^hmy terrors on every side,

ⁱand on the day of the anger of the Lord

no one escaped or survived;

^jthose whom I held and raised

my enemy destroyed.

1  ^qHow the gold has grown dim,

how the pure gold is changed!

The holy stones lie scattered

^rat the head of every street.

2  The precious sons of Zion,

worth their weight in ^sfine gold,

how they are regarded as ^tearthen pots,

the work of a potter’s hands!

3  Even jackals offer the breast;

they nurse their young;

but the daughter of my people has become cruel,

like the ostriches in the wilderness.

4  The tongue of the nursing infant ^usticks

to the roof of its mouth for thirst;

^vthe children beg for food,

but no one gives to them.

5  Those who once feasted on delicacies

perish in the streets;

^wthose who were brought up in purple

embrace ash heaps.

6  ^xFor the chastisement¹ of the daughter of my people has been greater

than the punishment² of Sodom,

^ywhich was overthrown in a moment,

and no hands were wrung for her.³

7  Her princes were purer than snow,

whiter than milk;

their bodies were more ruddy than coral,

the beauty of their form⁴ was like sapphire.⁵

8  ^zNow their face is blacker than soot;

they are not recognized in the streets;

their skin has shriveled on their bones;

it has become as dry as wood.

9  Happier were the victims of the sword

than the victims of hunger,

who wasted away, pierced

by lack of the fruits of the field.

10  ^aThe hands of ^bcompassionate women

^chave boiled their own children;

^dthey became their food

during the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11  ^eThe Lord gave full vent to his wrath;

he poured out his hot anger,

and ^fhe kindled a fire in Zion

that consumed its foundations.

12  ^gThe kings of the earth did not believe,

nor any of the inhabitants of the world,

that foe or enemy could enter

the gates of Jerusalem.

13  This was for ^hthe sins of her prophets

and ^hthe iniquities of her priests,

who shed in the midst of her

the blood of the righteous.

14  ⁱThey wandered, blind, through the streets;

they were so defiled with blood

^jthat no one was able to touch

their garments.

15  “Away! ^kUnclean!” people cried at them.

“Away! Away! Do not touch!”

So they became fugitives and wanderers;

people said among the nations,

“They shall stay with us no longer.”

16  ^lThe Lord himself⁶ has scattered them;

he will regard them no more;

^mno honor was shown to the priests,

ⁿno favor to the elders.

17  ^oOur eyes failed, ever watching

^ovainly for help;

in our watching we watched

for ^pa nation which could not save.

18  ^qThey dogged our steps

so that we could not walk in our streets;

^rour end drew near; our days were numbered,

for our end had come.

19  Our pursuers were ^sswifter

than the eagles in the heavens;

they chased us on the mountains;

they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

20  ^tThe breath of our nostrils, ^uthe Lord’s anointed,

was captured ^vin their pits,

of whom we said, ^w“Under his shadow

we shall live among the nations.”

21  ^xRejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,

you who dwell in ^ythe land of Uz;

but to you also ^zthe cup shall pass;

you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.

22  ^aThe punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;

he will keep you in exile no longer;⁷

but ^byour iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;

he will uncover your sins.