28th September 2025 - "How Lonely Sits the City" - Lamentations 1

Lamentations 1 English Standard Version How Lonely Sits the City 1 How lonely sits the city     that was full of people! How like a widow has she become,     she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces     has become a slave. 2 She weeps bitterly in the night,     with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers     she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;     they have become her enemies. 3 Judah has gone into exile because of affliction[a]     and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations,     but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her     in the midst of her distress.[b] 4 The roads to Zion mourn,     for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate;     her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted,[c]     and she herself suffers bitterly. 5 Her foes have become the head;     her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her     for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away,     captives before the foe. 6 From the daughter of Zion     all her majesty has departed. Her princes have become like deer     that find no pasture; they fled without strength     before the pursuer. 7 Jerusalem remembers     in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things     that were hers from days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe,     and there was none to help her, her foes gloated over her;     they mocked at her downfall. 8 Jerusalem sinned grievously;     therefore she became filthy; all who honoured her despise her,     for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans     and turns her face away. 9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;     she took no thought of her future;[d] therefore her fall is terrible;     she has no comforter. “O Lord, behold my affliction,     for the enemy has triumphed!” 10 The enemy has stretched out his hands     over all her precious things; for she has seen the nations     enter her sanctuary, those whom you forbade     to enter your congregation. 11 All her people groan     as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food     to revive their strength. “Look, O Lord, and see,     for I am despised.” 12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?     Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,     which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted     on the day of his fierce anger. 13 “From on high he sent fire;     into my bones[e] he made it descend; he spread a net for my feet;     he turned me back; he has left me stunned,     faint all the day long. 14 “My transgressions were bound[f] into 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; the Lord has trodden as in a winepress     the virgin daughter of Judah. 16 “For these things I weep;     my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me,     one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate,     for the enemy has prevailed.” 17 Zion stretches out her hands,     but there is none to comfort her; the Lord has commanded against Jacob     that his neighbours should be his foes; Jerusalem has become     a filthy thing among them. 18 “The Lord is in the right,     for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples,     and see my suffering; my young women and my young men     have gone into captivity. 19 “I called to my lovers,     but they deceived me; my priests and elders     perished in the city, while they sought food     to revive their strength. 20 “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;     my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me,     because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves;     in the house it is like death. 21 “They heard[g] my groaning,     yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble;     they are glad that you have done it. You have brought[h] the day you announced;     now let them be as I am. 22 “Let all their evildoing come before you,     and deal with them as you have dealt with me     because of all my transgressions; for my groans are many,     and my heart is faint.” Footnotes Lamentations 1:3 Or under affliction Lamentations 1:3 Or in the narrow passes Lamentations 1:4 Septuagint, Old Latin dragged away Lamentations 1:9 Or end Lamentations 1:13 Septuagint; Hebrew bones and Lamentations 1:14 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain Lamentations 1:21 Septuagint, Syriac Hear Lamentations 1:21 Syriac Bring