And they said to me, “The remnant who are left of the captivity in the province are there in great evil and reproach. And the wall of Yerushalayim is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
I have set watchmen on your walls, O Yerushalayim, all the day and all the night, continually, who are not silent. You who remember יהוה, give yourselves no rest,
You Yourself know, O יהוה. Remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on these who persecute me. In Your patience, do not take me away. Know that for You I have suffered reproach.
All her people are sighing, seeking bread. They have given their precious matters For food, to bring back life. “See, O יהוה, and look, For I have become despised.”
“See, O יהוה, that I am in distress. My inward parts are boiling up, My heart is overturned within me, For I have been very rebellious. From without the sword has bereaved, At home it is like death.
Her uncleanness is in her skirts. She did not keep in mind her latter end, And has gone down appallingly, There was no one to comfort her. “See, O יהוה, my affliction, For the enemy has made himself great!”
All who pass by have clapped their hands at you. They have whistled, And they shake their heads At the daughter of Yerushalayim, “Is this the city that is called ‘The perfection of loveliness, The joy of all the earth’?”
“See, O יהוה, and look attentively To whom have You done thus. Should the women eat their offspring, Infants of a hand breadth? Should the priest and prophet be killed In the set-apart place of יהוה?
O יהוה, I have heard your report, I was afraid. O יהוה, renew Your work in the midst of the years! Make it known in the midst of the years. In wrath remember compassion.