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¹ The Lord in his anger
    has cast a dark shadow over beautiful Jerusalem.^[a]
The fairest of Israel's cities lies in the dust,
    thrown down from the heights of heaven.
In his day of great anger,
    the Lord has shown no mercy even to his Temple.^[b]

² Without mercy the Lord has destroyed
    every home in Israel.^[c]
In his anger he has broken down
    the fortress walls of beautiful Jerusalem.^[d]
He has brought them to the ground,
    dishonoring the kingdom and its rulers.

³ All the strength of Israel
    vanishes beneath his fierce anger.
The Lord has withdrawn his protection
    as the enemy attacks.
He consumes the whole land of Israel
    like a raging fire.

⁴ He bends his bow against his people,
    as though he were their enemy.
His strength is used against them
    to kill their finest youth.
His fury is poured out like fire
    on beautiful Jerusalem.^[e]

⁵ Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel
    like an enemy.
He has destroyed her palaces
    and demolished her fortresses.
He has brought unending sorrow and tears
    upon beautiful Jerusalem.

⁶ He has broken down his Temple
    as though it were merely a garden shelter.
The Lord has blotted out all memory
    of the holy festivals and Sabbath days.
Kings and priests fall together
    before his fierce anger.

⁷ The Lord has rejected his own altar;
    he despises his own sanctuary.
He has given Jerusalem's palaces
    to her enemies.
They shout in the Lord's Temple
    as though it were a day of celebration.

⁸ The Lord was determined
    to destroy the walls of beautiful Jerusalem.
He made careful plans for their destruction,
    then did what he had planned.
Therefore, the ramparts and walls
    have fallen down before him.

⁹ Jerusalem's gates have sunk into the ground.
    He has smashed their locks and bars.
Her kings and princes have been exiled to distant lands;
    her law has ceased to exist.
Her prophets receive
    no more visions from the Lord.

¹⁰ The leaders of beautiful Jerusalem
    sit on the ground in silence.
They are clothed in burlap
    and throw dust on their heads.
The young women of Jerusalem
    hang their heads in shame.

¹¹ I have cried until the tears no longer come;
    my heart is broken.
My spirit is poured out in agony
    as I see the desperate plight of my people.
Little children and tiny babies
    are fainting and dying in the streets.

¹² They cry out to their mothers,
    "We need food and drink!"
Their lives ebb away in the streets
    like the life of a warrior wounded in battle.
They gasp for life
    as they collapse in their mothers' arms.

¹³ What can I say about you?
    Who has ever seen such sorrow?
O daughter of Jerusalem,
    to what can I compare your anguish?
O virgin daughter of Zion,
    how can I comfort you?
For your wound is as deep as the sea.
    Who can heal you?

¹⁴ Your prophets have said
    so many foolish things, false to the core.
They did not save you from exile
    by pointing out your sins.
Instead, they painted false pictures,
    filling you with false hope.

¹⁵ All who pass by jeer at you.
    They scoff and insult beautiful Jerusalem,^[f] saying,
"Is this the city called ‘Most Beautiful in All the World'
    and ‘Joy of All the Earth'?"

¹⁶ All your enemies mock you.
    They scoff and snarl and say,
"We have destroyed her at last!
    We have long waited for this day,
    and it is finally here!"

¹⁷ But it is the Lord who did just as he planned.
    He has fulfilled the promises of disaster
    he made long ago.
He has destroyed Jerusalem without mercy.
    He has caused her enemies to gloat over her
    and has given them power over her.

¹⁸ Cry aloud^[g] before the Lord,
    O walls of beautiful Jerusalem!
Let your tears flow like a river
    day and night.
Give yourselves no rest;
    give your eyes no relief.

¹⁹ Rise during the night and cry out.
    Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him in prayer,
    pleading for your children,
for in every street
    they are faint with hunger.

²⁰ "O Lord, think about this!
    Should you treat your own people this way?
Should mothers eat their own children,
    those they once bounced on their knees?
Should priests and prophets be killed
    within the Lord's Temple?

²¹ "See them lying in the streets—
    young and old,
boys and girls,
    killed by the swords of the enemy.
You have killed them in your anger,
    slaughtering them without mercy.

²² "You have invited terrors from all around,
    as though you were calling them to a day of feasting.
In the day of the Lord's anger,
    no one has escaped or survived.
The enemy has killed all the children
    whom I carried and raised."