Lamentations 1:12-22

English Standard Version

¹²“Is it nothing to you, all ^(A)you who pass by?
    ^(B)Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
    which was brought upon me,
which ^(C)the Lord inflicted
    on ^(D)the day of his fierce anger.

¹³“From on high he ^(E)sent fire;
    into my bones^[a] he made it descend;
^(F)he spread a net for my feet;
    he turned me back;
^(G)he has left me stunned,
    faint all the day long.

¹⁴“My transgressions were bound^[b] into ^(H)a yoke;
    by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
    he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
    of those whom I cannot withstand.

¹⁵“The Lord rejected
    all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
    to crush my young men;
^(I)the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
    the virgin daughter of Judah.

¹⁶“For these things ^(J)I weep;
    my eyes flow with tears;
for ^(K)a comforter is far from me,
    one to ^(L)revive my spirit;
my children are desolate,
    for the enemy has prevailed.”

¹⁷^(M)Zion stretches out her hands,
    but ^(N)there is none to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
    that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
    a filthy thing among them.

¹⁸^(O)“The Lord is in the right,
    ^(P)for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
    and see my suffering;
^(Q)my young women and my young men
    have gone into captivity.

¹⁹“I called to ^(R)my lovers,
    but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
    perished in the city,
while ^(S)they sought food
    to revive their strength.

²⁰“Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;
    ^(T)my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
    because I have been very rebellious.
^(U)In the street the sword bereaves;
    in the house it is like death.

²¹“They heard^[c] ^(V)my groaning,
    yet ^(W)there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
    ^(X)they are glad that you have done it.
You have brought^[d] the day you announced;
    ^(Y)now let them be as I am.

²²^(Z)“Let all their evildoing come before you,
    and deal with them
as ^(AA)you have dealt with me
    because of all my transgressions;
for ^(AB)my groans are many,
    and ^(AC)my heart is faint.”