New Living Translation

1 Jerusalem, once so full of people,<br>is now deserted.<br>She who was once great among the nations<br>now sits alone like a widow.<br>Once the queen of all the earth,<br>she is now a slave.<br> 2 She sobs through the night;<br>tears stream down her cheeks.<br>Among all her lovers,<br>there is no one left to comfort her.<br>All her friends have betrayed her<br>and become her enemies.<br> 3 Judah has been led away into captivity,<br>oppressed with cruel slavery.<br>She lives among foreign nations<br>and has no place of rest.<br>Her enemies have chased her down,<br>and she has nowhere to turn.<br> 4 The roads to Jerusalem are in mourning,<br>for crowds no longer come to celebrate the festivals.<br>The city gates are silent,<br>her priests groan,<br>her young women are crying —<br>how bitter is her fate!<br> 5 Her oppressors have become her masters,<br>and her enemies prosper,<br>for the LORD has punished Jerusalem<br>for her many sins.<br>Her children have been captured<br>and taken away to distant lands.<br> 6 All the majesty of beautiful Jerusalem<br>has been stripped away.<br>Her princes are like starving deer<br>searching for pasture.<br>They are too weak to run<br>from the pursuing enemy.<br> 7 In the midst of her sadness and wandering,<br>Jerusalem remembers her ancient splendor.<br>But now she has fallen to her enemy,<br>and there is no one to help her.<br>Her enemy struck her down<br>and laughed as she fell.<br> 8 Jerusalem has sinned greatly,<br>so she has been tossed away like a filthy rag.<br>All who once honored her now despise her,<br>for they have seen her stripped naked and humiliated.<br>All she can do is groan<br>and hide her face.<br> 9 She defiled herself with immorality<br>and gave no thought to her future.<br>Now she lies in the gutter<br>with no one to lift her out.<br>“LORD, see my misery,” she cries.<br>“The enemy has triumphed.”<br> 10 The enemy has plundered her completely,<br>taking every precious thing she owns.<br>She has seen foreigners violate her sacred Temple,<br>the place the LORD had forbidden them to enter.<br> 11 Her people groan as they search for bread.<br>They have sold their treasures for food to stay alive.<br>“O LORD, look,” she mourns,<br>“and see how I am despised.<br> 12 “Does it mean nothing to you, all you who pass by?<br>Look around and see if there is any suffering like mine,<br>which the LORD brought on me<br>when he erupted in fierce anger.<br> 13 “He has sent fire from heaven that burns in my bones.<br>He has placed a trap in my path and turned me back.<br>He has left me devastated,<br>racked with sickness all day long.<br> 14 “He wove my sins into ropes<br>to hitch me to a yoke of captivity.<br>The Lord sapped my strength and turned me over to my enemies;<br>I am helpless in their hands.<br> 15 “The Lord has treated my mighty men<br>with contempt.<br>At his command a great army has come<br>to crush my young warriors.<br>The Lord has trampled his beloved city<br>like grapes are trampled in a winepress.<br> 16 “For all these things I weep;<br>tears flow down my cheeks.<br>No one is here to comfort me;<br>any who might encourage me are far away.<br>My children have no future,<br>for the enemy has conquered us.”<br> 17 Jerusalem reaches out for help,<br>but no one comforts her.<br>Regarding his people Israel,<br>the LORD has said,<br>“Let their neighbors be their enemies!<br>Let them be thrown away like a filthy rag!”<br> 18 “The LORD is right,” Jerusalem says,<br>“for I rebelled against him.<br>Listen, people everywhere;<br>look upon my anguish and despair,<br>for my sons and daughters<br>have been taken captive to distant lands.<br> 19 “I begged my allies for help,<br>but they betrayed me.<br>My priests and leaders<br>starved to death in the city,<br>even as they searched for food<br>to save their lives.<br> 20 “LORD, see my anguish!<br>My heart is broken<br>and my soul despairs,<br>for I have rebelled against you.<br>In the streets the sword kills,<br>and at home there is only death.<br> 21 “Others heard my groans,<br>but no one turned to comfort me.<br>When my enemies heard about my troubles,<br>they were happy to see what you had done.<br>Oh, bring the day you promised,<br>when they will suffer as I have suffered.<br> 22 “Look at all their evil deeds, LORD.<br>Punish them,<br>as you have punished me<br>for all my sins.<br>My groans are many,<br>and I am sick at heart.”<br>