1. “Look how deserted Jerusalem is!Once the city was crowded with people.Once it was important among the nations.Now it is a widow.Once it was a princess among the provinces.Now it does forced labor.
2. Jerusalem cries bitterly at night with tears running down its cheeks.Out of all those who love the city, no one offers it comfort.All of Jerusalem’s friends have betrayed it and become its enemies.
3. “Judah has been exiled after ⌊much⌋ suffering and harsh treatment.Its ⌊people⌋ live among the nations; they find no rest.Those who chased them caught up with themin places where there was no way out.
4. “The roads to Zion are deserted.No one comes to the annual festivals.No one passes through any of its gates.Its priests are groaning.Its young women are made to suffer.Zion is bitter.
5. Its opponents are now in control.Its enemies have no worries.The Lord made Zion suffer for its many rebellious acts.Its children go ahead of their opponents into captivity.
6. All splendor has abandoned the people of Zion.Its influential people were like deer that couldn’t find any pasture.They ran without any strength ahead of the hunters.
7. “Now, during its suffering and oppression,Jerusalem remembers all the treasures it had from ancient times,when its people fell into the power of their enemieswith no one to help them.Their opponents looked on, and they laughed at Jerusalem’s downfall.
8. Jerusalem has sinned so much that it has become a filthy thing.Everyone who used to honor it now despises it.They’ve seen it naked.Jerusalem groans and turns away.
9. Jerusalem’s own filth ⌊covers⌋ its clothes.It gave no thought to its future.Its downfall was shocking.No one offers it comfort.‘O Lord, look at my suffering,because my enemies have triumphed.’
10. The enemies laid their hands on all of the city’s treasures.Jerusalem has seen the nations enter the holy place.‘O Lord, they are the same peopleyou have forbidden to enter your congregation.’
11. All the people are groaning as they beg for bread.They trade their treasures for food to keep themselves alive.‘O Lord, look and see how despised I am!’ ”
12. “Doesn’t this affect all of you who pass by?Look and see if there’s any painlike the pain that the Lord has caused me,like the pain that he has made me suffer on the day of his fierce anger.
13. He sent fire from above.He made it go deep into my bones.He spread a net for my feet.He made me turn back.He has left me devastated.He has made me sick all day long.
14. My rebellious acts are a heavy burden for me.They were tied together by God’s own hands.They were tied around my neck.He has weakened me ⌊with them⌋.The Lord has handed me over to people I cannot oppose.
15. The Lord has treated all the warriors inside my ⌊walls⌋ with contempt.He called an army to defeat my young men.The Lord trampled the people of Judah in a winepress.