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^the has withdrawn from them his right hand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  ^kI am the man who has seen affliction

under the ^lrod of his wrath;

2  he has driven and brought me

^minto darkness without any light;

3  surely against me he turns his hand

again and again the whole day long.

4  He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;

ⁿhe has broken my bones;

5  ^ohe has besieged and enveloped me

with ^pbitterness and tribulation;

6  ^qhe has made me dwell in darkness

like the dead of long ago.

7  ^rHe has walled me about so that ^sI cannot escape;

he has made my chains heavy;

8  though ^tI call and cry for help,

he shuts out my prayer;

9  ^rhe has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;

he has made my paths crooked.

10  ^uHe is a bear lying in wait for me,

a lion in hiding;

11  ^vhe turned aside my steps and ^utore me to pieces;

^whe has made me desolate;

12  ^xhe bent his bow ^yand set me

as a target for his arrow.

13  He drove into my kidneys

^zthe arrows of his quiver;

14  ^aI have become the laughingstock of all peoples,

^bthe object of their taunts all day long.

15  ^cHe has filled me with bitterness;

he has sated me with ^dwormwood.

16  ^eHe has made my teeth grind on gravel,

and ^fmade me cower in ashes;

17  my soul is bereft of peace;

I have forgotten what happiness¹ is;

18  ^gso I say, “My endurance has perished;

so has my hope from the Lord.”

19  ^hRemember my affliction and my wanderings,

^dthe wormwood and ⁱthe gall!

20  My soul continually remembers it

^jand is bowed down within me.

21  But this I call to mind,

and ^ktherefore I have hope:

22  ^lThe steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;²

^lhis mercies never come to an end;

23  they are new ^mevery morning;

ⁿgreat is your faithfulness.

24  ^o“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

^k“therefore I will hope in him.”

25  The Lord is good to those who ^pwait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

26  ^qIt is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord.

27  ^rIt is good for a man that he bear

the yoke ^sin his youth.

28  Let him ^tsit alone in silence

when it is laid on him;

29  ^ulet him put his mouth in the dust—

there may yet be hope;

30  ^vlet him give his cheek to the one who strikes,

and let him be filled with insults.

31  ^wFor the Lord will not

cast off forever,

32  but, though he ^xcause grief, ^yhe will have compassion

^zaccording to the abundance of his steadfast love;

33  ^afor he does not afflict from his heart

or ^bgrieve the children of men.

34  To crush underfoot

all ^cthe prisoners of the earth,

35  ^dto deny a man justice

in the presence of the Most High,

36  to subvert a man in his lawsuit,

^dthe Lord does not approve.

37  ^eWho has spoken and it came to pass,

unless the Lord has commanded it?

38  ^fIs it not from the mouth of the Most High

that good and bad come?

39  ^gWhy should a living man complain,

a man, about the punishment of his sins?

40  Let us test and examine our ways,

^hand return to the Lord!

41  ⁱLet us lift up our hearts and hands

to God in heaven:

42  ^j“We have transgressed and ^krebelled,

and you have not forgiven.

43  “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,

^lkilling without pity;

44  ^myou have wrapped yourself with a cloud

so that no prayer can pass through.

45  ⁿYou have made us scum and garbage

among the peoples.

46  ^o“All our enemies

open their mouths against us;

47  ^ppanic and pitfall have come upon us,

devastation and ^qdestruction;

48  ^rmy eyes flow with rivers of tears

because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49  ^r“My eyes will flow without ceasing,

without respite,

50  ^suntil the Lord from heaven

looks down and sees;

51  my eyes cause me grief

at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

52  ^t“I have been hunted ^ulike a bird

by those who were my enemies ^vwithout cause;

53  ^wthey flung me alive into the pit

^xand cast stones on me;

54  ^ywater closed over my head;

I said, ^z‘I am lost.’

55  ^a“I called on your name, O Lord,

from the depths of the pit;

56  ^byou heard my plea, ‘Do not close

your ear to my cry for help!’

57  ^cYou came near when I called on you;

you said, ^d‘Do not fear!’

58  “You have ^etaken up my cause, ^fO Lord;

you have ^eredeemed my life.

59  You have seen the wrong done to me, ^gO Lord;

judge my cause.

60  You have seen all their vengeance,

all ^htheir plots against me.

61  ⁱ“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,

all ^htheir plots against me.

62  The lips and thoughts ^jof my assailants

are against me all the day long.

63  ^kBehold their sitting and their rising;

^lI am the object of their taunts.

64  ^m“You will repay them,³ O Lord,

ⁿaccording to the work of their hands.

65  You will give them⁴ dullness of heart;

your curse will be⁵ on them.

66  You will pursue them⁶ in anger and ^odestroy them

from under ^pyour heavens, O Lord.”⁷

57  ^oThe Lord is my portion;

I promise to keep your words.

58  I ^pentreat your favor with all my heart;

be gracious to me ^qaccording to your promise.

59  When I ^rthink on my ways,

I turn my feet to your testimonies;

60  I hasten and do not delay

to keep your commandments.

61  Though ^sthe cords of the wicked ensnare me,

I do not ^tforget your law.

62  At ^umidnight I rise to praise you,

because of your ^vrighteous rules.

63  ^wI am a companion of all who fear you,

of those who keep your precepts.

64  ^xThe earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love;

^yteach me your statutes!