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The Sorrows of Zion

¹ How ^(C1)lonely sits the city
That once had ^(C2)many people!
She has become like a ^(C3)widow
Who was once ^(C4)great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the ^(F1)provinces
Has become a ^(C5)forced laborer!

² She ^(C1)weeps bitterly in the night,
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has no one to comfort her
Among all her ^(C2)lovers.
All her friends have ^(C3)dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.

^3 (C1)Judah has gone into exile out of affliction
And ^(F1)harsh servitude;
She lives ^(C2)among the nations,
But she has not found a resting place;
All those who ^(C3)pursued her have overtaken her
In the midst of ^(F2)distress.

⁴ The roads ^(F1)of Zion are in mourning
Because ^(C1)no one comes to an appointed feast.
All her gates are ^(C2)deserted;
Her priests groan,
Her ^(C3)virgins are worried,
And as for Zion herself, it is ^(C4)bitter for her.

⁵ Her adversaries have become ^(F1)her masters,
Her enemies are ^(F2)secure;
For the LORD has ^(F3)(C1)caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her wrongdoings;
Her little ones have gone away
As captives ^(F4)led by the enemy.

⁶ All of her ^(C1)splendor
Is gone from the daughter of Zion;
Her leaders have become like deer
That have found no pasture,
And they have ^(F1)(C2)fled without strength
^(F2)From the pursuer.

⁷ In the days of her affliction and homelessness
^(C1)Jerusalem remembers all her treasures
That were hers since the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary
And ^(C2)no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her,
They ^(C3)laughed at her ^(F1)ruin.

⁸ Jerusalem sinned ^(C1)greatly,
Therefore ^(C2)she has become an ^(F1)object of ridicule.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even ^(C3)she herself groans and turns away.

⁹ Her ^(C1)uncleanness was in her garment's seams;
She ^(F1)did not think of her ^(C2)future.
So she has ^(F2)(C3)fallen in an astonishing way;
^(C4)She has no comforter.
"^(C5)See, LORD, my affliction,
For the enemy has ^(F3)(C6)honored himself!"

¹⁰ The adversary has stretched out his hand
Over all her precious things,
For she has seen the ^(C1)nations enter her sanctuary,
The ones whom You commanded
That they were ^(C2)not to enter Your congregation.

¹¹ All her people groan, ^(C1)seeking bread;
They have given their treasures for food
To ^(C2)restore their ^(F1)lives.
"See, LORD, and look,
For I am ^(C3)despised."

¹² "Is it ^(C1)nothing to all you who pass this way?
Look and see if there is any pain like my pain
Which was inflicted on me,
With which the ^(C2)LORD tormented me on the day of His ^(C3)fierce anger.

¹³ "From ^(F1)the height He sent fire into my ^(C1)bones,
And it dominated them.
He has spread a ^(C2)net for my feet;
He has turned me back;
He has made me ^(C3)desolate,
^(F2)Faint all day long.

¹⁴ "The ^(C1)yoke of my wrongdoings is bound;
By His hand they are woven together.
They have ^(C2)come upon my neck;
He has made my strength ^(F1)fail.
The Lord ^(C3)has handed me over
To those against whom I am not able to stand.

¹⁵ "The ^(C1)Lord has thrown away all my strong men
In my midst;
He has called an appointed ^(F1)time against me
To crush my ^(C2)young men;
The Lord has ^(C3)trodden as in a wine press
The virgin daughter of Judah.

¹⁶ "For these things I ^(C1)weep;
^(F1)My eyes run down with water;
Because far from me is a ^(C2)comforter,
One to restore my soul.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy has prevailed."

¹⁷ Zion ^(C1)stretches out with her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
The LORD has ^(C2)commanded regarding Jacob
That those around him become his adversaries;
^(C3)Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.

¹⁸ "The LORD is ^(C1)righteous,
For I have ^(C2)rebelled against His ^(F1)command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And ^(C3)see my pain;
^(C4)My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.

¹⁹ "I ^(C1)called to my lovers, but they deserted me;
My ^(C2)priests and my elders perished in the city
While they sought food to ^(C3)restore their ^(F1)strength themselves.

²⁰ "See, LORD, for I am in distress;
My ^(F1)(C1)spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very ^(C2)rebellious.
In the street the sword has made women childless;
In the house it is like death.

²¹ "They have heard that I ^(C1)groan;
There is no one to comfort me,
All my enemies have heard of my disaster;
They are ^(C2)joyful that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,
So that they will become ^(C3)like me.

²² "May all their wickedness come before You;
And ^(C1)deal with them just as You have dealt with me
For all my wrongdoings.
For my groans are many and my heart is faint."