Lamentations 1 — Legacy Standard Bible

Zion Lays Desolate

א Aleph

How ^alonely sits the cityThat was ^bgreat with people!She has become like a ^cwidowWho was once ^dgreat among the nations!She who was a princess among the ¹provincesHas become a ^eforced laborer!

ב Beth

²She ^aweeps bitterly in the night,And her tears are on her cheeks;She has none to comfort herAmong all her ^blovers.All her friends have ^cdealt treacherously with her;They have become her enemies.

ג Gimel

³^aJudah has gone into exile because of afflictionAnd because of great slavery;She sits ^bamong the nations,But she has found no rest;All ^cher pursuers have overtaken herIn the midst of ¹distress.

ד Daleth

⁴The roads ¹of Zion are in mourningBecause ^ano one comes to the appointed times.All her gates are ^bdesolate;Her priests are sighing,Her ^cvirgins are grieving,And she herself ²is ^dbitter.

ה He

⁵Her adversaries have become ¹her masters;Her enemies are complacent;For ²Yahweh has ^acaused her griefBecause of the greatness of her transgressions;Her infants have gone awayAs captives before the adversary.

ו Vav

⁶So all her ^amajestyHas gone out from the daughter of Zion;Her princes have become like deerThat have found no pasture;So they have ¹^,^bfled without strengthBefore the pursuer.

ז Zayin

⁷In the days of her affliction and homelessness^aJerusalem remembers all her precious thingsThat were from the days of old,When her people fell into the hand of the adversaryAnd ^bno one helped her.The adversaries saw her;They ^claughed at her ¹ruin.

ח Heth

⁸Jerusalem sinned ^agreatly;Therefore ^bshe has become an impure thing.All who honored her despise herBecause they have seen her nakedness;Even ^cshe herself sighs and turns away.

ט Teth

⁹Her ^auncleanness was in her skirts;She did not remember her ^bfuture.Therefore she has ^cgone down astonishingly;^dShe has no comforter.“^eSee, O Yahweh, my affliction,For the enemy has ^fmagnified himself!”

י Yodh

¹⁰The adversary has stretched out his handOver all her desirable things,For she has seen the ^anations enter her sanctuary,The ones whom You commandedThat they should ^bnot enter into Your assembly.

כ Kaph

¹¹All her people are sighing, ^aseeking bread;They have given their desirable things for foodTo ^brestore their souls.“See, O Yahweh, and look,For I am ^cdespised.”

ל Lamedh

¹²“Is ^ait nothing to all you who pass this way?Look and see if there is any ¹pain like my ²painWhich was dealt severely to me,Which ^bYahweh grieved me with on the day of His ^cburning anger.

מ Mem

¹³“From on high He sent fire into my ^abones,And it dominated them.He has spread a ^bnet for my feet;He has turned me back;He has made me ^cdesolate,¹Faint all day long.

נ Nun

¹⁴“The ^ayoke of my transgressions is bound;By His hand they are knit together.They have ^bcome upon my neck;He has made my strength stumble.The Lord ^chas given me into the handsOf those against whom I am not able to stand.

ס Samekh

¹⁵“The ^aLord has rejected all my mighty menIn my midst;He has called an appointed time against meTo break my ^byoung men;The Lord has ^ctrodden as in a wine pressThe virgin daughter of Judah.

ע Ayin

¹⁶“For these things I ^aam weeping;¹My eyes run down with water;Because far from me is a ^bcomforter,One who restores my soul.My children are desolateBecause the enemy has prevailed.”

פ Pe

¹⁷Zion ^astretches out her hands;There is no one to comfort her;Yahweh has ^bcommanded concerning JacobThat the ones round about him should be his adversaries;^cJerusalem has become an impure thing among them.

צ Tsadhe

¹⁸“Yahweh is ^arighteous;For I have ^brebelled against His ¹command;Hear now, all peoples,And ^cbehold my ²pain;^dMy virgins and my young menHave gone into captivity.

ק Qoph

¹⁹“I ^acalled to my lovers, but they deceived me;My ^bpriests and my elders breathed their last in the cityWhile they sought food for themselves in order to ^crestore their souls.

ר Resh

²⁰“See, O Yahweh, for I am in distress;My ¹^,^ainmost being is greatly disturbed;My heart is overturned within me,For I have been very ^brebellious.In the street the sword bereaves;In the house it is like death.

שׁ Shin

²¹“They have heard that I ^aam sighing;There is no one to comfort me;All my enemies have heard of the ¹evil done to me;They ^brejoice that You have done it.You have brought the day which You have proclaimed,So that they will become ^clike me.

ת Tav

²²“Let all their evil come before You;And ^adeal severely with them as You have dealt severely with meFor all my transgressions;For my groans are great and my heart is faint.”