1 How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger!
He has cast the beauty of Israel down from heaven to the earth,
and hasn’t remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob
without pity.
He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah.
He has brought them down to the ground.
He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
3 He has cut off all the horn of Israel in fierce anger.
He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy.
He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire,
which devours all around.
4 He has bent his bow like an enemy.
He has stood with his right hand as an adversary.
He has killed all that were pleasant to the eye.
In the tent of the daughter of Zion, he has poured out his wrath like fire.
5 The Lord has become as an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces.
He has destroyed his strongholds.
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah.
6 He has violently taken away his tabernacle,
as if it were a garden.
He has destroyed his place of assembly.
Yahweh has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion.
In the indignation of his anger, he has despised the king and the priest.
7 The Lord has cast off his altar.
He has abhorred his sanctuary.
He has given the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy.
They have made a noise in Yahweh’s house,
as in the day of a solemn assembly.
8 Yahweh has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has stretched out the line.
He has not withdrawn his hand from destroying;
He has made the rampart and wall lament.
They languish together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground.
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not.
Yes, her prophets find no vision from Yahweh.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground.
They keep silence.
They have cast up dust on their heads.
They have clothed themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes fail with tears.
My heart is troubled.
My bile is poured on the earth,
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because the young children and the infants swoon in the streets of the city.
12 They ask their mothers,
"Where is grain and wine?"
when they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city,
when their soul is poured out into their mothers’ bosom.
13 What shall I testify to you?
What shall I liken to you, daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare to you,
that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion?
For your breach is as big as the sea.
Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets have seen false and foolish visions for you.
They have not uncovered your iniquity,
to reverse your captivity,
but have seen for you false revelations and causes of banishment.
15 All that pass by clap their hands at you.
They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying,
"Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth’?"
16 All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you.
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, "We have swallowed her up.
Certainly this is the day that we looked for.
We have found it.
We have seen it."
17 Yahweh has done that which he planned.
He has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old.
He has thrown down,
and has not pitied.
He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you.
He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears run down like a river day and night.
Give yourself no relief.
Don’t let your eyes rest.
19 Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the watches!
Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift up your hands toward him for the life of your young children,
who faint for hunger at the head of every street.
20 "Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done thus!
Should the women eat their offspring,
the children that they held and bounced on their knees?
Should the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 "The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets.
My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword.
You have killed them in the day of your anger.
You have slaughtered, and not pitied.
22 "You have called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side.
There was no one that escaped or remained in the day of Yahweh’s anger.
My enemy has consumed those whom I have cared for and brought up.
1 [Aleph] How has the Lord darkened the daughter of Zion in his anger! He has cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel and not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger!
2 [Beth] The Lord has destroyed and has not forgiven; he has destroyed in his wrath all the habitations of Jacob; he has thrown down to the ground the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he has polluted the kingdom and its princes.
3 [Gimel] He has cut off in [his] fierce anger all the horn of Israel; he has caused his right hand to draw back in the presence of the enemy, and he burned in Jacob like a flaming fire, [which] devours round about.
4 [Daleth] He has bent his bow like an enemy; he strengthened his right hand as an adversary and slew everything of beauty that could be seen in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he poured out his fury like fire.
5 [He] The Lord was as an enemy, he has destroyed Israel; he has destroyed all her palaces; he has dissipated his strong holds and has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
6 [Vau] And he has violently taken away his tabernacle as [if it were of] a garden; he has destroyed his congregation; the LORD has caused the solemnities and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion and has rejected in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
7 [Zain] The Lord has cast off his altar; he has abhorred his sanctuary; he has given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have shouted in the house of the LORD as in the day of a feast.
8 [Cheth] The LORD has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; he has stretched out the line; he has not withdrawn his hand from destroying; therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they were destroyed together.
9 [Teth] Her gates were thrown to the ground; he has destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes [are carried off] among the Gentiles; there is no law; nor have her prophets found vision from the LORD.
10 [Jod] The elders of the daughter of Zion sat upon the ground [and] are silent: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth; the daughters of Jerusalem hung their heads down to the ground.
11 [Caph] My eyes fail with tears; my bowels are troubled; my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people because the children and the sucklings faint in the streets of the city.
12 [Lamed] They said to their mothers, Where [is] the wheat and the wine? fainting as the dead in the streets of the city, pouring out their souls into their mothers' bosom.
13 [Mem] What witness shall I take to thee? Or unto whom shall I liken thee O daughter of Jerusalem? Unto whom shall I compare thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach [is] as great as the sea: who shall heal thee?
14 [Nun] Thy prophets have preached vanity and foolishness unto thee; and they have not uncovered thine iniquity to turn away thy captivity but have preached unto thee vain prophecies and digressions.
15 [Samech] All that passed by clapped [their] hands over thee and whistled and wagged their heads over the daughter of Jerusalem, [saying], [Is] this the city that [men] called The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
16 [Pe] All thine enemies opened their mouth regarding thee; they whistled and gnashed their teeth; they said, Swallow [her] up; certainly this [is] the day that we looked for; we have found it, we have seen [it].
17 [Ain] The LORD has done [that] which he had determined; he has fulfilled his word that he had commanded from [the] time of old; he has destroyed and has not forgiven; and he has caused [thine] enemy to rejoice over thee; he has raised up the horn of thine adversaries.
18 [Tsade] Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion; let tears run down like a river day and night; give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
19 [Koph] Arise, cry out in the night; in the beginning of the watches; pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord; lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children that faint for hunger in the top of every street.
20 [Resh] Look, O LORD, and consider unto whom thou hast shaken thus. Shall the women eat their fruit, the little ones that they are bringing up? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 [Schin] The young and the old lay on the ground in the streets; my virgins and my young men fell by the sword; thou hast slain [them] in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed [and] hast not forgiven.
22 [Tau] Thou hast called as to a day of solemnity my terrors from everywhere, so that in the day of the LORD'S anger no one escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up my enemy has consumed.: