The chat will start when you send the first message.
1How lonely sits the city[#Ezra 4.20; Isa 3.26; 54.4; Jer 40.9]
that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
has become subject to forced labor.
2She weeps bitterly in the night,[#Ps 6.6; Jer 2.25; 4.30]
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers,
she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
3Judah has gone into exile with suffering[#Deut 28.64, 65; 2 Kings 25.4, 5; Jer 13.19]
and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations;
she finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
4The roads to Zion mourn,[#Jer 9.11; 10.22; Joel 1.8–13]
for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate;
her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,
and her lot is bitter.
5Her foes have become the masters;[#Deut 28.43, 44; Jer 30.14, 15; 39.9; 52.28]
her enemies prosper
because the Lord has made her suffer
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6From daughter Zion has departed[#2 Kings 25.4, 5; Jer 13.18]
all her majesty.
Her princes have become like stags
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7Jerusalem remembers all the precious things[#Ps 42.4; Isa 5.1–4; Jer 37.7; 48.27; Lam 4.17; #1.7 Q ms: MT adds in the days of her affliction and wandering]
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy
and there was no one to help her,
the enemy looked on;
they mocked over her downfall.
8Jerusalem sinned grievously,[#vv 4, 5, 11, 17, 20, 21, 22; 1 Kings 8.46; Jer 13.22, 26]
so she has become a filthy thing;
all who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans
and turns her face away.
9Her uncleanness was in her skirts;[#Deut 32.29; Isa 47.7; Jer 13.17, 18; 16.7; Ezek 24.13]
she took no thought of her future;
her downfall was appalling,
with none to comfort her.
Look, O Lord , at my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!
10Enemies have stretched out their hands[#Deut 23.3; Isa 64.10, 11; Jer 51.51]
over all her precious things;
she has even seen the nations
invade her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade
to enter your congregation.
11All her people groan[#1 Sam 30.12; Jer 38.9; 52.6]
as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
to revive their lives.
Look, O Lord , and see
how worthless I have become.
12Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?[#v 18 ; Jer 4.8; 18.16; 30.23, 24; 48.27; #1.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain]
Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the Lord inflicted
on the day of his fierce anger.
13From on high he sent fire;[#Job 19.6; 30.30; Jer 44.6; Hab 3.16]
it went deep into my bones;
he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
he has left me stunned,
faint all day long.
14My transgressions were bound into a yoke;[#Deut 28.48; Isa 47.6; Jer 28.13, 14; 32.3, 5; Ezek 25.4, 7; #1.14 Meaning of Heb uncertain]
by his hand they were fastened together;
they weigh on my neck,
sapping my strength;
the Lord handed me over
to those whom I cannot withstand.
15The Lord has rejected[#Isa 28.18; 41.2; Jer 13.24; 18.21; Mic 7.10; Rev 14.19]
all my warriors in the midst of me;
he proclaimed a time against me
to crush my young men;
the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter Judah.
16For these things I weep;[#vv 2, 9 ; Jer 13.17; 14.17; Lam 2.18]
my eyes flow with tears;
for a comforter is far from me,
one to revive my courage;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.
17Zion stretches out her hands,[#v 8 ; 2 Kings 24.2–4; Jer 4.31]
but there is no one to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should become his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18The Lord is in the right,[#v 12 ; Deut 28.32, 41; 1 Sam 12.14; Jer 12.1]
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and behold my suffering;
my young women and young men
have gone into captivity.
19I called to my lovers,[#Jer 14.15; 30.14; Lam 2.20]
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city
while seeking food
to revive their lives.
20Look, O Lord , at how distressed I am;[#Deut 32.25; Isa 16.11; Jer 4.19; Lam 2.11; Ezek 7.15]
my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21They heard how I was groaning,[#Isa 14.5, 6; Jer 30.16; Lam 2.15]
with no one to comfort me.
All my enemies heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
Bring on the day that you have announced,
and let them be as I am.
22Let all their evildoing come before you,[#Neh 4.4, 5; Ps 137.7, 8]
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for my groans are many,
and my heart is faint.