Lamentations 1 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Jerusalem once was a city full of people.\par But now the city is so deserted!\par Jerusalem was one of the greatest cities\par in the world.\par But now she {\cf2\super [1]} has become like a widow.\par She was once a princess among cities.\par But now she has been made a slave.\par

² She cries bitterly in the night.\par Her tears are on her cheeks.\par She has no one to comfort her.\par Many nations were friendly to her.\par But none of them comforts her now.\par All of her friends turned their backs on her.\par Her friends became her enemies.\par

³ Judah suffered very much.\par And then Judah was taken into captivity.\par Judah lives among other nations.\par But she has found no rest.\par The people that chased her caught her.\par They caught her in the narrow valleys.\par

⁴ The roads to Zion {\cf2\super [2]} are very sad.\par They are sad because no person comes to Zion for the holidays anymore.\par All of Zion’s gates have been destroyed.\par All of Zion’s priests groan.\par Zion’s young women\par have been taken away. {\cf2\super [3]} \par And all of this is a bitter sadness to Zion.\par

⁵ Jerusalem’s enemies have won.\par Her enemies have been successful.\par This happened because the Lord\par punished her.\par He punished Jerusalem for her many sins.\par Her children have gone away.\par Their enemies captured them\par and took them away.\par

⁶ The beauty of the Daughter of Zion {\cf2\super [4]} \par has gone away.\par Her princes became like deer.\par They were like deer\par that can’t find a meadow to feed in.\par They ran away without strength.\par They ran away from those people\par that chased them.\par

⁷ Jerusalem thinks back.\par Jerusalem remembers the time\par when she was hurt\par and when she lost her home.\par She remembers all the nice things\par that she had in the past.\par She remembers those nice things\par that she had in the old days.\par She remembers when her people\par were captured by the enemy.\par She remembers when there was no person\par to help her.\par When her enemies saw her, they laughed.\par They laughed because she was destroyed.\par

⁸ Jerusalem sinned very badly.\par Because Jerusalem sinned,\par she became a ruined city\par that people shake their heads about.\par In the past people respected her.\par Now those people hate her.\par They hate her because they abused her.\par Jerusalem groans.\par She turns away.\par

⁹ Jerusalem’s skirts became dirty.\par She didn’t think about the things\par that would happen to her.\par Her fall was amazing.\par She had no person to comfort her.\par She says,\par “Lord, see how I am hurt!\par See how my enemy thinks he is so great!”\par

¹⁰ The enemy stretched out his hand.\par He took all of her nice things.\par In fact, she saw the foreign nations\par go inside her temple.\par And Lord, you said those people\par could not join in our assembly!\par

¹¹ All the people of Jerusalem are groaning.\par All of her people are looking for food.\par They are giving away all their nice things for food.\par They are doing this to keep alive.\par Jerusalem says,\par “Look, Lord. Look at me!\par See how people hate me.\par

¹² All you people that pass by on the road,\par you don’t seem to care.\par But look at me and see.\par Is there any pain like my pain?\par Is there any pain like the pain\par that has come to me?\par Is there any pain like the pain\par that the Lord has punished me with?\par He has punished me on the day\par of his great anger.\par

¹³ The Lord sent fire from above.\par That fire went down into my bones.\par He stretched out a net for my feet.\par He turned me all the way around.\par He made me into a wasteland.\par I am sick all day.\par

¹⁴ “My sins were tied up like a yoke.\par My sins were tied up in the Lord’s hands.\par The Lord’s yoke is on my neck.\par The Lord has made me weak.\par The Lord has given me to people\par that I can’t stand up against.\par

¹⁵ “The Lord rejected all my strong soldiers.\par Those soldiers were inside the city.\par Then the Lord brought a group of people against me.\par He brought those people to kill my young soldiers.\par The Lord has stepped on the grapes in the winepress.\par

¹⁶ “I cry about all these things.\par My eyes, my eyes run down with water.\par There is no comforter near me.\par There is no person that can make me feel better.\par My children are like a wasteland.\par They are like that because the enemy won.”\par

¹⁷ Zion {\cf2\super [6]} spread out her hands.\par There was no person to comfort her.\par The Lord had given orders to Jacob’s {\cf2\super [7]} enemies.\par The Lord ordered Jacob’s enemies\par to surround the city.\par Jerusalem has become something dirty.\par She is something dirty among those enemies.\par

¹⁸ Now Jerusalem says,\par “I refused to listen to the Lord.\par So the Lord is right for doing these things.\par So listen, all you people!\par Look at my pain!\par My young women and men\par have gone into captivity.\par

¹⁹ I called out to my lovers.\par But they tricked me.\par My priests and my elders\par have died in the city.\par They were looking for food for themselves.\par They wanted to keep themselves alive.\par

²⁰ “Look at me, Lord. I am in distress!\par My insides are upset!\par My heart feels like it has turned\par upside down inside me!\par My heart feels this way\par because I have been so stubborn!\par In the streets, the sword killed my children.\par Inside the houses, death was there.\par

²¹ “Listen to me, because I am groaning!\par I have no person to comfort me.\par All my enemies have heard of my trouble.\par They are happy.\par They are happy that you did this to me.\par You said there would be a time of punishment.\par You said you would punish my enemies.\par Now do what you said.\par Let my enemies be like I am now.\par

²² “Look at how evil my enemies are.\par Then you can treat them\par the same way you treated me\par because of all my sins.\par Do this because I am groaning\par again and again.\par Do this because my heart is sick.”\par