The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. Wall of Daughter Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief and your eyes no rest.
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.
I weep because of these things; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to keep me alive. My children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed.
She weeps bitterly during the night, with tears on her cheeks. There is no one to offer her comfort, not one from all her lovers. , All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.
You are to speak this word to them: Let my eyes overflow with tears; day and night may they not stop, for my dearest people have been destroyed by a crushing blow, an extremely severe wound.
But if you will not listen, my innermost being will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, for the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
I hear a cry like a woman in labour, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child. The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands: ‘Woe is me, for my life is weary because of the murderers! ’