1:1  How lonely sits the city That formerly had many people! She has become like a widow Who had once achieved greatness among the nations! She who ruled as a princess among the provinces Has become a forced laborer!

1:2  She weeps bitterly in the night And her tears roll down her cheeks; She has none to comfort her Among all her lovers All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.

1:3   Judah has gone into exile under affliction And under harsh servitude; She dwells among the nations, But she has found no rest; All her pursuers have overtaken her In the midst of distress.

1:4  The roads of Zion have fullness of mourning Because no one comes to the appointed feasts All her gates appear desolate; Her priests groan, Her virgins have become afflicted, And she herself has grown bitter.

1:5  Her adversaries have become her masters, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD has caused her grief Because of the multitude of her transgressions; Her little ones have gone away As captives before the adversary.

1:6  All her majesty Has departed from the daughter of Zion; Her princes have become like deer That have found no pasture; And they have fled without strength Before the pursuer.

1:7  In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her precious things That existed from the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the adversary And no one helped her The adversaries saw her, They mocked at her ruin.

1:8  Jerusalem sinned greatly, Therefore she has become an unclean thing All who honored her despise her Because they have seen her nakedness; Even she herself groans and turns away.

1:9  Her uncleanness penetrated in her skirts; She did not consider her future Therefore she has fallen astonishingly; She has no comforter " See, O LORD, my affliction, For the enemy has magnified himself!"

1:10  The adversary has stretched out his hand Over all her precious things, For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, The ones whom You commanded That they should not enter into Your congregation.

1:11  All her people groan seeking bread; They have given their precious things for food To restore their lives themselves "See, O LORD, and look, For I feel despised."

1:12  "Do you consider it nothing to all you who pass this way? Look and see if any pain exists like my pain Which the LORD severely dealt out to me, Which the LORD inflicted on the day of His fierce anger.

1:13  "From on high He sent fire into my bones, And it prevailed over them He has spread a net for my feet; He has turned me back; He has made me desolate, Faint all day long.

1:14  "The yoke of my transgressions have bound me; By His hand He knits them together They have come upon my neck; He has made my strength fail The Lord has given me into the hands Of those against whom I cannot stand.

1:15  "The Lord has rejected all my strong men In my midst; He has called an appointed time against me To crush my young men; The Lord has trodden as in a wine press The virgin daughter of Judah.

1:16  "For these things I weep; My eyes run down with water; Because a comforter exists far from me, One who restores my soul. My children have become desolate Because the enemy has prevailed."

1:17  Zion stretches out her hands; No one comforts her; The LORD has commanded concerning Jacob That the ones round about him should become his adversaries; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

1:18  "The LORD acts righteously; For I have rebelled against His command; Hear now, all peoples, And behold my pain; My virgins and my young men Have gone into captivity.

1:19  "I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; My priests and my elders perished in the city While they sought food to restore their strength themselves.

1:20  "See, O LORD, for I have fallen in distress; My spirit feels greatly troubled; My heart has become overturned within me, For I have behaved very rebelliously. In the street the sword slays; In the house it feels like death.

1:21  "They have heard that I groan; No one to comforts me; All my enemies have heard of my calamity; They have gladness that You have done it Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,That they may become like me.

1:22  "Let all their wickedness come before You; And deal with them as You have dealt with me For all my transgressions; For my groans have multiplied and my heart have become faint."