The Sorrowful Citya

1How lonely she lies,

the city that thronged with people!

Like a widow she has become,

this great one among nations!

The princess among provinces

has become a vassal.

2Bitterly she cries in the night,

as tears stream downb her cheeks.

No one consoles her

of all her friends.

All her neighbors have betrayed her;

they have become her enemies.

3Judah has gone into exile

to escape affliction and servitude.

She that sat among the nations,

has found no rest.

All her pursuers overtook her

amid narrow passes.

4The roads that lead to Zion are in mourning,

because no one travels to the festivals.

All her gates are desolate;

her priests are moaning.

Her young womenc are grieving,d

and she is bitter.

5Her adversaries dominate her,

her enemies prosper.

For the LORD has made her suffer

because of her many transgressions.

Her children have gone away,

taken into captivity in the presence of the enemy.

6Fled from cherishede Zion

are all that were her splendor.

Her princes have become like deer

that cannot find their feeding grounds.

They flee with strength exhausted

from their pursuers.

7Jerusalem remembersf

her time of affliction and misery;

all her valued belongingsg

of days gone by,

when her people fell into enemy hands,

with no one to help her,

and her enemies stared at her,

mocking her downfall.

8Jerusalem sinned greatly,

and she became unclean.h

All who honored her now despise her,

because they saw her naked.

She herself groans

and turns her face away.

9Uncleanness has soiled her skirts,

and she gave no thought to what would follow.

She fell in such a startling way,

with no one to comfort her.

Look, LORD, upon my affliction,

because my enemy is boasting.

10The adversary seized in his hands

everything she valued.

She watched the nationsi

enter her sanctuary;

those you forbade to enter

your place of meeting.

11All her people groaned

as they searched for food.

They traded their valuables in order to eat,

to keep themselves alive.j

Look, LORD, and see

how I have become dishonored.

12May it not befall you,k

all who pass along the road!

Look and see:

Is there any grief

like my grief

dealt out to me,

by which the LORD afflicted me

in the time of his fierce wrath?

13He sent fire from on high,l

making it penetrate my bones.m

He stretched out a net at my feet,

forcing me to turn back.

He made me desolate;

I’m fainting all day long.

14The yoke of my sins was bound on,n

fastened together by his hand.

They settled on my neck;

he caused my strength to fail.

The LORD placed me in the power

of those I cannot resist.

15He rejected all the valiant men—

the LORD, in my midst.

He set a time to meet with me

to crush my young warriors.

The LORD has trampled, as in a winepress,

the fair virgin that iso Judah.

16Because of all this, I weep;

my eyesp stream with tears

because far from me

is the comforter of my soul.

My children are sorrowful,

because the enemy has won.

17Zion spreads out her hands;q

no one is there to comfort her.

The LORD has issued an order againstr Jacob,

that all who are around him are to be his enemies;

Jerusalem has become

unclean among them.

18The LORD is in the right,

but I rebelled against his commands.

Listen, please, all you people,

and look at my pain—

my young men and womens

have gone into captivity.

19I called out to my lovers,t

but they deceived me.

My priests and my elders

have died within the city

while looking for something to eat

to keep themselves alive.

20Look, LORD, how distressed I am;

all my insides are churning.

My heart is troubled within me,

because I vigorously rebelled.

Outside the sword brings loss of life,

while at home death rules.

21Peopleu heard how I groan,

with no one to comfort me.

All my adversaries have heard about my troubles;

they rejoice that you have caused them.

Bring on the day you have promised,

so my adversariesv will become like me.

22May all of their wickedness come to your attention,

and deal with them

as you have done with me

because of all my transgressions.

For I am constantly groaning,

and my heart is faint.

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