The Prophet Speaks: ? (Alef) 1:1 Alas! The city once full of people now sits all alone! The prominent lady among the nations has become a widow! The princess who once ruled the provinces has become a forced laborer! ? (Bet) 1:2 She weeps bitterly at night; tears stream down her cheeks. She has no one to comfort her among all her lovers. All her friends have betrayed
The Prophet Speaks: ? (Alef) 2:1 Alas! The Lord has covered Daughter Zion with his anger. He has thrown down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth; he did not protect his temple when he displayed his anger. ? (Bet) 2:2 The Lord destroyed mercilessly all the homes of Jacob’s descendants. In his anger he tore down the fortified cities of Daughter Judah. He knocked to the
The Prophet Speaks: ? (Alef) 3:1 I am the man who has experienced affliction from the rod of his wrath. 3:2 He drove me into captivity and made me walk in darkness and not light. 3:3 He repeatedly attacks me, he turns his hand against me all day long. ? (Bet) 3:4 He has made my mortal skin waste away; he has broken my bones. 3:5
The Prophet Speaks: ? (Alef) 4:1 Alas! Gold has lost its luster; pure gold loses value. Jewels are scattered on every street corner. ? (Bet) 4:2 The precious sons of Zion were worth their weight in gold – Alas! – but now they are treated like broken clay pots, made by a potter. ? (Gimel) 4:3 Even the jackals nurse their young at their breast, but my people are
The People of Jerusalem Pray: 5:1 O LORD, reflect on what has happened to us; consider and look at our disgrace. 5:2 Our inheritance is turned over to strangers; foreigners now occupy our homes. 5:3 We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers have become widows. 5:4 We must pay money for our own water; we must buy our own wood at a steep