They said to me, “The remnant who have survived the captivity there in the province are in great distress and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.”
On your walls, Jerusalem, I have set watchmen. All day and all night, they will never hold their peace. “You who remind Adonai, take no rest for yourselves,
Adonai, you know. Remember me and think of me. Avenge me against my persecutors. Because of Your long-suffering, do not take me away. Know that for Your sake I endure scorn.
All her people groan, as they seek bread. They traded their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. “Look, Adonai, and see! For I have become despised!”
Look, Adonai, for I am in distress! My stomach churns, my heart pounds within me, for I have been very rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves, in the house it is like death.
Her uncleanness was in her skirts. She did not consider her future. Her demise was astonishing, there was no one to comfort her. “Adonai, see my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!”
All who pass your way clap their hands at you. They hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem. “Is this the city of which they said, ‘The perfection of beauty,’ ‘the joy of the whole earth’?”
Look, Adonai, and consider with whom You have dealt so severely! Should women eat their offspring, their healthy newborn infants? Should kohen and prophet be slain in the Sanctuary of the Lord?
Adonai, I have heard the report about You and I have come to fear. Adonai, revive Your work throughout the years, throughout the years make it known, In wrath remember compassion.