Study Desk

How ^(a)lonely sits the city That was ^(b)full of people! She has become like a ^(c)widow Who was once ^(d)great among the nations! She who was a princess among the ^[a]provinces Has become a ^(e)forced laborer!

She ^(f)weeps bitterly in the night And her tears are on her cheeks; She has none to comfort her Among all her ^(g)lovers. All her friends have ^(h)dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.

⁽ⁱ⁾Judah has gone into exile ^[b]under affliction And ^[c]under ^[d]harsh servitude; She dwells ^(j)among the nations, But she has found no rest; All ^(k)her pursuers have overtaken her In the midst of ^[e]distress.

The roads ^[f]of Zion are in mourning Because ^(l)no one comes to the appointed feasts. All her gates are ^(m)desolate; Her priests are groaning, Her ⁽ⁿ⁾virgins are afflicted, And she herself ^[g]is ^(o)bitter.

Her adversaries have become ^[h]her masters, Her enemies ^[i]prosper; For the Lord has ^(p)caused her grief Because of the multitude of her transgressions; Her little ones have gone away As captives before the adversary.

All her ^(q)majesty Has departed from the daughter of Zion; Her princes have become like deer That have found no pasture; And they have ^[j](r)fled without strength Before the pursuer.

In the days of her affliction and homelessness ^(s)Jerusalem remembers all her precious things That were from the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the adversary And ^(t)no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, They ^(u)mocked at her ^[k]ruin.

Jerusalem sinned ^(v)greatly, Therefore ^(w)she has become an unclean thing. All who honored her despise her Because they have seen her nakedness; Even ^(x)she herself groans and turns away.

Her ^(y)uncleanness was in her skirts; She ^[l]did not consider her ^(z)future. Therefore she has ^[m](aa)fallen astonishingly; ^(ab)She has no comforter. "^(ac)See, O Lord , my affliction, For the enemy has ^(ad)magnified himself!"

The adversary has stretched out his hand Over all her precious things, For she has seen the ^(ae)nations enter her sanctuary, The ones whom You commanded That they should ^(af)not enter into Your congregation.

All her people groan ^(ag)seeking bread; They have given their precious things for food To ^(ah)restore their ^[n]lives themselves. "See, O Lord , and look, For I am ^(ai)despised."

"Is ^(aj)it nothing to all you who pass this way? Look and see if there is any ^[o]pain like my ^[p]pain Which was severely dealt out to me, Which the ^(ak) Lord inflicted on the day of His ^(al)fierce anger.

"From on high He sent fire into my ^(am)bones, And it ^[q]prevailed over them. He has spread a ^(an)net for my feet; He has turned me back; He has made me ^(ao)desolate, ^[r]Faint all day long.

"The ^(ap)yoke of my transgressions is bound; By His hand they are knit together. They have ^(aq)come upon my neck; He has made my strength ^[s]fail. The Lord ^(ar)has given me into the hands Of those against whom I am not able to stand.

"The ^(as)Lord has rejected all my strong men In my midst; He has called an appointed ^[t]time against me To crush my ^(at)young men; The Lord has ^(au)trodden as in a wine press The virgin daughter of Judah.

"For these things I ^(av)weep; ^[u]My eyes run down with water; Because far from me is a ^(aw)comforter, One who restores my soul. My children are desolate Because the enemy has prevailed."

Zion ^(ax)stretches out her hands; There is no one to comfort her; The Lord has ^(ay)commanded concerning Jacob That the ones round about him should be his adversaries; ^(az)Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

"The Lord is ^(ba)righteous; For I have ^(bb)rebelled against His ^[v]command; Hear now, all peoples, And ^(bc)behold my ^[w]pain; ^(bd)My virgins and my young men Have gone into captivity.

"I ^(be)called to my lovers, but they deceived me; My ^(bf)priests and my elders perished in the city While they sought food to ^(bg)restore ^[x]their strength themselves.

"See, O Lord , for I am in distress; My ^[y](bh)spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is overturned within me, For I have been very ^(bi)rebellious. In the street the sword ^[z]slays; In the house it is like death.

"They have heard that I ^(bj)groan; There is no one to comfort me; All my enemies have heard of my ^[aa]calamity; They are ^(bk)glad that You have done it. Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed, That they may become ^(bl)like me.

"Let all their wickedness come before You; And ^(bm)deal with them as You have dealt with me For all my transgressions; For my groans are many and my heart is faint."

How the Lord has ^(a)covered the daughter of Zion With a cloud in His anger! He has ^(b)cast from heaven to earth The ^(c)glory of Israel, And has not remembered His ^(d)footstool In the day of His anger.

The Lord has ^(e)swallowed up; He has not spared All the habitations of Jacob. In His wrath He has ^(f)thrown down The strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has ^(g)brought them down to the ground; He has ^(h)profaned the kingdom and its princes.

In fierce anger He has cut off ^[a]All the ⁽ⁱ⁾strength of Israel; He has ^(j)drawn back His right hand From before the enemy. And He has ^(k)burned in Jacob like a flaming fire Consuming round about.

He has bent His ^(l)bow like an enemy; He has set His right hand like an adversary And slain all that were ^(m)pleasant to the eye; In the tent of the daughter of Zion He has ⁽ⁿ⁾poured out His wrath like fire.

The Lord has become like an ^(o)enemy. He has ^(p)swallowed up Israel; He has swallowed up all its ^(q)palaces, He has destroyed its strongholds And ^(r)multiplied in the daughter of Judah Mourning and moaning.

And He has violently treated His ^[b]tabernacle like a garden booth; He has ^(s)destroyed His appointed ^[c]meeting place. The Lord has ^(t)caused to be forgotten The appointed feast and sabbath in Zion, And He has ^(u)despised king and priest In the indignation of His anger.

The Lord has ^(v)rejected His altar, He has abandoned His sanctuary; He ^(w)has delivered into the hand of the enemy The walls of her palaces. They have made a ^(x)noise in the house of the Lord As in the day of an appointed feast.

The Lord ^[d]determined to destroy The wall of the daughter of Zion. He has ^(y)stretched out a line, He has not restrained His hand from ^[e]destroying, And He has ^(z)caused rampart and wall to lament; They have languished together.

Her ^(aa)gates have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; The ^(ab)law is no more. Also, her prophets find ^(ac)No vision from the Lord .

The elders of the daughter of Zion ^(ad)Sit on the ground, they ^(ae)are silent. They have thrown ^(af)dust on their heads; They have girded themselves with ^(ag)sackcloth. The ^(ah)virgins of Jerusalem Have bowed their heads to the ground.

My ^(ai)eyes fail because of tears, My ^[f](aj)spirit is greatly troubled; My ^[g](ak)heart is poured out on the earth ^(al)Because of the ^[h]destruction of the daughter of my people, When ^(am)little ones and infants faint In the streets of the city.

They say to their mothers, "^(an)Where is grain and wine?" As they faint like a wounded man In the streets of the city, As their ^(ao)life is poured out On their mothers' bosom.

How shall I admonish you? To what ^(ap)shall I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I liken you as I comfort you, O ^(aq)virgin daughter of Zion? For your ^[i]ruin is as vast as the sea; Who can ^(ar)heal you?

Your ^(as)prophets have seen for you False and foolish visions; And they have not ^(at)exposed your iniquity So as to restore you from captivity, But they have ^(au)seen for you false and misleading ^[j]oracles.

All who pass along the way ^(av)Clap their hands in derision at you; They ^(aw)hiss and shake their heads At the daughter of Jerusalem, "Is this the city of which they said, ‘^(ax)The perfection of beauty, ^(ay)A joy to all the earth'?"

All ^(az)your enemies Have opened their mouths wide against you; They hiss and ^(ba)gnash their teeth. They say, "We have ^(bb)swallowed her up! Surely this is the ^(bc)day for which we waited; We have reached it, we have seen it."

The Lord has ^(bd)done what He purposed; He has accomplished His word Which He commanded from days of old. He has thrown down ^(be)without sparing, And He has caused the enemy to ^(bf)rejoice over you; He has ^(bg)exalted the ^[k]might of your adversaries.

Their ^(bh)heart cried out to the Lord, "O ^(bi)wall of the daughter of Zion, Let your ^(bj)tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no relief, Let ^[l]your eyes have no rest.

"Arise, cry aloud in the ^(bk)night At the beginning of the night watches; ^(bl)Pour out your heart like water Before the presence of the Lord; Lift up your hands to Him For the ^(bm)life of your little ones Who are ^(bn)faint because of hunger At the head of every street."

See, O Lord , and look! With ^(bo)whom have You dealt thus? Should women ^(bp)eat their ^[m]offspring, The little ones who were ^[n]born healthy? Should ^(bq)priest and prophet be slain In the sanctuary of the Lord?

On the ground in the streets Lie ^(br)young and old; My ^(bs)virgins and my young men Have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger, You have slaughtered, ^(bt)not sparing.

You called as in the day of an appointed feast My ^(bu)terrors on every side; And there was ^(bv)no one who escaped or survived In the day of the Lord's anger. Those ^(bw)whom I ^[o]bore and reared, My enemy annihilated them.

I am the man who has ^(a)seen affliction Because of the rod of His wrath.

He has driven me and made me walk In ^(b)darkness and not in light.

Surely against me He has ^(c)turned His hand Repeatedly all the day.

He has caused my ^(d)flesh and my skin to waste away, He has ^(e)broken my bones.

He has ^(f)besieged and encompassed me with ^(g)bitterness and hardship.

In ^(h)dark places He has made me dwell, Like those who have long been dead.

He has ⁽ⁱ⁾walled me in so that I cannot go out; He has made my ^[a](j)chain heavy.

Even when I cry out and call for help, He ^(k)shuts out my prayer.

He has ^(l)blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.

He is to me like a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in secret places.

He has turned aside my ways and ^(m)torn me to pieces; He has made me desolate.

He ⁽ⁿ⁾bent His bow And ^(o)set me as a target for the arrow.

He made the ^[b]arrows of His ^(p)quiver To enter into my ^[c]inward parts.

I have become a ^(q)laughingstock to all my people, Their mocking ^(r)song all the day.

He has ^(s)filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with wormwood.

He has ^(t)broken my teeth with ^(u)gravel; He has made me cower in the ^(v)dust.

My soul has been rejected ^(w)from peace; I have forgotten ^[d]happiness.

So I say, "My strength has perished, And so has my ^(x)hope from the Lord ."

Remember my affliction and my ^[e]wandering, the ^(y)wormwood and bitterness.

Surely ^(z)my soul remembers And is ^(aa)bowed down within me.

This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have ^(ab)hope.

The Lord's ^(ac)lovingkindnesses ^[f]indeed never cease, ^(ad)For His compassions never fail.

They are new ^(ae)every morning; Great is ^(af)Your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my ^(ag)portion," says my soul, "Therefore I ^(ah)have hope in Him."

The Lord is good to those who ^(ai)wait for Him, To the ^[g]person who ^(aj)seeks Him.

It is good that he ^(ak)waits silently For the salvation of the Lord .

It is good for a man that he should bear The yoke in his youth.

Let him ^(al)sit alone and be silent Since He has laid it on him.

Let him ^[h]put his mouth in the ^(am)dust, Perhaps there is ^(an)hope.

Let him give his ^(ao)cheek to ^[i]the smiter, Let him be filled with reproach.

For the Lord will ^(ap)not reject forever,

For if He causes grief, Then He will have ^(aq)compassion According to His abundant lovingkindness.

For He ^(ar)does not afflict ^[j]willingly Or grieve the sons of men.

To crush under His feet All the prisoners of the ^[k]land,

To ^[l]deprive a man of ^(as)justice In the presence of the Most High,

To ^[m](at)defraud a man in his lawsuit— Of these things the Lord does not ^[n]approve.

Who is ^[o]there who speaks and it ^(au)comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it?

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That ^[p](av)both good and ill go forth?

Why should any living ^[q]mortal, or any man, Offer ^(aw)complaint ^[r]in view of his sins?

Let us ^(ax)examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the Lord .

We ^(ay)lift up our heart ^[s]and hands Toward God in heaven;

We have ^(az)transgressed and rebelled, You have ^(ba)not pardoned.

You have covered Yourself with ^(bb)anger And ^(bc)pursued us; You have slain and ^(bd)have not spared.

You have ^(be)covered Yourself with a cloud So that ^(bf)no prayer can pass through.

You have made us mere ^(bg)offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples.

All our enemies have ^(bh)opened their mouths against us.

^(bi)Panic and pitfall have befallen us, Devastation and destruction;

My ^[t](bj)eyes run down with streams of water Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

My eyes pour down ^(bk)unceasingly, Without stopping,

Until the Lord ^(bl)looks down And sees from heaven.

My eyes bring pain to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city.

My enemies ^(bm)without cause Hunted me down ^(bn)like a bird;

They have silenced ^[u]me ^(bo)in the pit And have ^[v](bp)placed a stone on me.

Waters flowed ^(bq)over my head; I said, "I am cut off!"

I ^(br)called on Your name, O Lord , Out of the lowest pit.

You have ^(bs)heard my voice, "^(bt)Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help."

You ^(bu)drew near when I called on You; You said, "^(bv)Do not fear!"

O Lord, You ^(bw)have pleaded my soul's cause; You have ^(bx)redeemed my life.

O Lord , You have ^(by)seen my oppression; ^(bz)Judge my case.

You have seen all their vengeance, All their ^(ca)schemes against me.

You have heard their ^(cb)reproach, O Lord , All their schemes against me.

The ^(cc)lips of my assailants and their whispering Are against me all day long.

Look on their ^(cd)sitting and their rising; ^(ce)I am their mocking song.

You will ^(cf)recompense them, O Lord , According to the work of their hands.

You will give them ^[w](cg)hardness of heart, Your curse will be on them.

You will ^(ch)pursue them in anger and destroy them From under the ^(ci)heavens of the Lord !

How ^(a)dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out At the ^[a]corner of every street.

The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as ^(b)earthen jars, The work of a potter's hands!

Even ^(c)jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become ^(d)cruel Like ^(e)ostriches in the wilderness.

The ^(f)tongue of the infant cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of ^(g)thirst; The little ones ^(h)ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.

Those who ate ⁽ⁱ⁾delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those ^[b]reared in purple Embrace ash pits.

For the ^[c]iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the ^[d](j)sin of Sodom, Which was ^(k)overthrown as in a moment, And no hands were ^[e]turned toward her.

Her ^[f]consecrated ones were ^(l)purer than snow, They were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in ^[g]body than corals, Their polishing was like ^[h](m)lapis lazuli.

Their appearance is ⁽ⁿ⁾blacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their ^(o)skin is shriveled on their bones, It is withered, it has become like wood.

Better are those ^[i](p)slain with the sword Than those ^[j]slain with hunger; For they ^[k](q)pine away, being stricken For lack of the fruits of ^[l]the field.

The hands of compassionate women ^(r)Boiled their own children; They became ^(s)food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

The Lord has ^(t)accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has ^(u)kindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations.

The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of ^(v)the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could ^(w)enter the gates of Jerusalem.

Because of the sins of her ^(x)prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The ^(y)blood of the righteous;

They wandered, ^(z)blind, in the streets; They were defiled with ^(aa)blood So that no one could touch their ^(ab)garments.

"Depart! ^(ac)Unclean!" ^[m]they cried of themselves. "Depart, depart, do not touch!" So they ^(ad)fled and wandered; Men among the nations said, "They shall not continue to dwell with us."

The presence of the Lord has scattered them, He will not continue to regard them; They did not ^[n](ae)honor the priests, They did not favor the elders.

Yet our eyes failed, Looking for ^[o]help was ^(af)useless; In our watching we have watched For a ^(ag)nation that could not save.

They ^(ah)hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our streets; Our ^(ai)end drew near, Our days were ^[p]finished For our end had come.

Our pursuers were ^(aj)swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

The ^(ak)breath of our nostrils, the ^(al) Lord's anointed, Was ^(am)captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, "Under his ^(an)shadow We shall live among the nations."

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of ^(ao)Edom, Who dwells in the land of Uz; But the ^(ap)cup will come around to you as well, You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

The punishment of your iniquity has been ^(aq)completed, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer. But He ^(ar)will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins!

Remember, O Lord , what has befallen us; Look, and see our ^(a)reproach!

Our inheritance has been turned over to ^(b)strangers, Our ^(c)houses to aliens.

We have become orphans ^(d)without a father, Our mothers are like widows.

^[a]We have to pay for our drinking ^(e)water, Our wood comes to us at a price.

^[b]Our pursuers are at our necks; We are worn out, there is ^(f)no rest for us.

We have ^[c]submitted to ^(g)Egypt and Assyria ^[d]to get enough bread.

Our ^(h)fathers sinned, and are no more; It is we who have borne their iniquities.

⁽ⁱ⁾Slaves rule over us; There is ^(j)no one to deliver us from their hand.

We get our bread ^[e]at the ^(k)risk of our lives ^[f]Because of the sword in the wilderness.

Our skin has become as ^(l)hot as an oven, Because of ^[g]the burning heat of famine.

They ravished the ^(m)women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.

Princes were hung by their hands; ^[h](n)Elders were not respected.

Young men ^[i](o)worked at the grinding mill, And youths ^(p)stumbled under loads of wood.

Elders ^[j]are gone from the gate, Young men from their ^(q)music.

The joy of our hearts has ^(r)ceased; Our dancing has been turned into mourning.

The ^(s)crown has fallen from our head; ^(t)Woe to us, for we have sinned!

Because of this our ^(u)heart is faint, Because of these things our ^(v)eyes are dim;

Because of ^(w)Mount Zion which lies desolate, ^(x)Foxes prowl in it.

^(y)You, O Lord , ^[k]rule forever; Your ^(z)throne is from generation to generation.

Why do You ^(aa)forget us forever? Why do You forsake us ^[l]so long?

^(ab)Restore us to You, O Lord , that we may be restored; Renew ^(ac)our days as of old,

Unless ^(ad)You have utterly rejected us And are exceedingly ^(ae)angry with us.