The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.
The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the appointed festivals. All her gates are deserted; her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she herself is bitter.
They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognise the time when God visited you.’
All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble continually, and be appalled at you.
‘Go down and sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, Daughter Chaldea! For you will no longer be called pampered and spoilt.
Then I said, ‘Until when, Lord? ’ And he replied: Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate,
Wail, you gates! Cry out, city! Tremble with fear, all Philistia! For a cloud of dust is coming from the north, and there is no one missing from the invader’s ranks.
I made their widows more numerous than the sand of the seas. I brought a destroyer at noon against the mother of young men. I suddenly released on her agitation and terrors.
How she sits alone, the city once crowded with people! She who was great among the nations has become like a widow. The princess among the provinces has been put to forced labour.
The Lord determined to destroy the wall of Daughter Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not restrain himself from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls grieve; together they waste away.
For the palace will be deserted, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become barren places for ever, the joy of wild donkeys, and a pasture for flocks,