Lamentations 2:11-21

New Catholic Bible

¹¹ My eyes are exhausted from weeping,
    and torment afflicts my innermost being.
My gall is poured out on the earth
    because of the destruction of my people,
as children and infants faint
    in the streets of the city.
¹² They keep crying out to their mothers,
    “Where is there bread and something to drink?”
as they faint like the wounded
    in the streets of the city,
and breathe their last
    in their mothers’ arms.
¹³ To what can I liken you or compare you,
    O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I do to rescue and comfort you,
    O virgin daughter of Zion?
Your ruin is as vast as the sea.
    Who can heal you?
¹⁴ The visions that your prophets revealed to you
    were false and worthless.
They did not lay bare your guilt
    so that you might reverse your fortunes.
The visions they proclaimed to you
    were erroneous and deceptive.^[a]
15 All those who pass by
    clap their hands at you.
They hiss and wag their heads
    at the daughter of Jerusalem,
“Is this the city once described as perfect in beauty,
    the joy of the whole world?”
¹⁶ All your enemies do not hesitate
    to open their mouths against you.
They hiss and gnash their teeth;
    they cry out, “We have devoured her!
This is the day we longed for;
    at last we have seen it.”
¹⁷ The Lord has done what he planned;
    he has carried out his threat.
As he decreed from days of old,
    he has destroyed without pity.
He has permitted the enemy to rejoice over you
    and exalted the strength of your foes.
¹⁸ Cry out to the Lord,
    O wall of the daughter of Zion.
Let your tears flow like a torrent
    both day and night.
Allow yourself no respite;
    give your eyes no rest.
¹⁹ Arise and cry out during the night
    at the beginning of every watch.^[b]
Pour out your heart like water
    in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him
    for the lives of your children
who are fainting from hunger
    at the corner of every street.
²⁰ Look, O Lord, and consider:
    whom have you ever treated in this fashion?
Should women eat their little ones,
    the children to whom they gave birth?
Should priest and prophet be killed
    in the sanctuary of the Lord?
²¹ The young and the old are lying dead
    on the ground in the streets.
My young women and my young men
    have fallen by the sword.
On the day of your anger you have slain them,
    slaughtering them without pity.