They answered me: “The survivors of the captivity there in the province are in great distress and under reproach. The wall of Jerusalem has been breached, its gates gutted by fire.”
You know, Lord: Remember me and take care of me, avenge me on my persecutors. Because you are slow to anger, do not banish me; know that for you I have borne insult.
All her people groan, searching for bread; They give their precious things for food, to retain the breath of life. “Look, O Lord, and pay attention to how I have been demeaned!
Look, O Lord, at the anguish I suffer! My stomach churns, And my heart recoils within me: How bitter I am! Outside the sword bereaves— indoors, there is death.
Her uncleanness is on her skirt; she has no thought of her future. Her downfall is astonishing, with no one to comfort her. “Look, O Lord, at my misery; how the enemy triumphs!”
All who pass by on the road, clap their hands at you; They hiss and wag their heads over daughter Jerusalem: “Is this the city they used to call perfect in beauty and joy of all the earth?”
“Look, O Lord, and pay attention: to whom have you been so ruthless? Must women eat their own offspring, the very children they have borne? Are priest and prophet to be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
O Lord, I have heard your renown, and am in awe, O Lord, of your work. In the course of years revive it, in the course of years make yourself known; in your wrath remember compassion!