Judgment on Jerusalem

א Aleph

1How the Lord has overshadowed

Daughter Zion with his anger!

He has thrown down Israel’s glory

from heaven to earth.

He did not acknowledge his footstoola

in the day of his anger.b

ב Beth

2Without compassiona the Lord has swallowed up

all the dwellings of Jacob.

In his wrath he has demolished

the fortified citiesb of Daughter Judah.

He brought them to the ground

and defiled the kingdom and its leaders.c

ג Gimel

3He has cut off every horna of Israel

in his burning anger

and withdrawn his right handb

in the presence of the enemy.

He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire

that consumes everything.c

ד Daleth

4He has strung his bow like an enemy;a

his right hand is positioned like an adversary.

He has killed everyone who was the delight to the eye,b

pouring out his wrath like fire

on the tent of Daughter Zion.

ה He

5The 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.a

ו Waw

6He has wrecked his templeA

as if it were merely a shack in a field,B

destroying his place of meeting.a

The Lord has abolished

appointed festivals and Sabbaths in Zion.

He has despised king and priest

in his fierce anger.

ז Zayin

7The Lord has rejected his altar,

repudiated his sanctuary;a

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.

ח Cheth

8The Lord determined to destroy

the wall of Daughter Zion.

He stretched out a measuring linea

and did not restrain himself from destroying.

He made the ramparts and walls grieve;

together they waste away.

ט Teth

9Zion’s gates have fallen to the ground;a

he has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.

Her king and her leaders live among the nations,

instructionA is no more,

and even her prophets receive

no vision from the Lord.b

י Yod

10The elders of Daughter Zion

sit on the ground in silence.

They have thrown dust on their headsa

and put on sackcloth.

The young women of Jerusalem

have bowed their heads to the ground.b

כ Kaph

11My eyes are worn out from weeping;a

I am churning within.

My heart is poured out in griefa b

because of the destruction of my dear people,c

because infants and nursing babies faint

in the streets of the city.d

ל Lamed

12They cry out to their mothers,

“Where is the grain and wine? ”a

as they faint like the wounded

in the streets of the city,

as their life pours out

in the arms of their mothers.

מ Mem

13What 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?a

נ Nun

14Your prophets saw visions for you

that were empty and deceptive;a a

they did not reveal your iniquity

and so restore your fortunes.b

They saw pronouncements for you

that were empty and misleading.

ס Samek

15All who pass by

scornfully clap their handsa at you.

They hissb and shake their headsc

at Daughter Jerusalem:

Is this the city that was called

the perfection of beauty,d

the joy of the whole earth?e

פ Pe

16All your enemies

open their mouths against you.a

They hiss and gnash their teeth,b

saying, “We have swallowed her up.c

This is the day we have waited for!

We have lived to see it.”

ע Ayin

17The Lord has done what he planned;

he has accomplished his decree,

which he ordained in days of old.

He has demolished without compassion,a

letting the enemy gloat over you

and exalting the horn of your adversaries.

צ Tsade

18The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord.

Wall of Daughter Zion,a

let your tears run down like a river

day and night.b

Give yourself no relief

and yourA eyes no rest.

ק Qoph

19Arise, cry out in the night

from the first watch of the night.

Pour out your heart like water

before the Lord’s presence.a

Lift up your hands to him

for the lives of your children

who are fainting from hunger

at the head of every street.b

ר Resh

20Lord, look and consider

to whom you have done this.

Should women eat their own children,a

the infants they have nurtured?A

Should priests and prophets

be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?

שׁ Shin

21Both young and old

are lying on the ground in the streets.

My young women and young men

have fallen by the sword.

You have killed them in the day of your anger,

slaughtering without compassion.a

ת Taw

22You summon those who terrorize meA on every side,a

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 nurturedB and reared.