"*** LAMENTATIONS01 ***" 
"Jerusalem sits deserted weeping like a widow How deserted sits Jerusalem , once so full of people . Like a widow has she become , she who was once great among the nations . The queen has become a slave . How bitterly she weeps at night , with tears upon her cheeks , for she has no one to comfort her. No one comes to her appointed feasts . All her gateways are empty . Her children have been exiled . 4The Lord has brought her to grief , because of her many sins . Jerusalem sinned greatl"
"y and became unclean Jerusalem sinned greatly and became unclean . All who honoured her now despise her, for they have seen her nakedness . She herself groans and turns her face away , for filthiness clung to her skirts . All her treasures have been stolen . Foreign nations entered her Temple sanctuary . Jerusalem speaks of her suffering Look and see all you who pass by me , is there any sorrow like the sorrow Jehovah has inflicted upon me in the day of his fierce anger? My sins have been made into a yoke and put upon my neck . He handed me over to thosewhom I could not withstand . The Lord"
"has trodden the daughter of Judah as in a winepress . The horrors of the Babylonian siege Look upon my suffering all you peoples . My young men and maidens have been exiled . My priests and elders perished for lack of food. My eyes fail from weeping . My heart is in torment , for I have been most rebellious . My people are destroyed . In both streets and houses the sword brought death . My chastisement was greater than the punishment of Sodom , which was overthrown in a day . Children died of thirst and hunger Because of thirst the infant s tongue clung to the roof of its mouth . Children"
"begged for bread but no one gave them any . Their lives ebbed away in their mothers arms as they cried out , Where is my bread and drink? The once fair skin of the people shrivelled on their bones like black dry wood They who were raised in wealth and once feasted on delicacies , lay on ash heaps . Their skin , once whiter than milk , with cheeks as red as rubies , became dark as soot . Their skin shrivelled on their bones like drywood . Those who died by the sword were better off than those racked with hunger who died offamine . Mothers boiled and at e own children for food With their own"
"hands mothers even boiled and ate their own children . Eyes watched in vain for Egypt to come and help Our eyes failed , ever watching for help . We watched in vain for a nation that could not save us. No one to comfort Jerusalem This is why I weep . My eyes flow rivers of tears . I stretch out my hands but no one comforts me . I have become an unclean thing . Jehovah my Lord is righteous yet I rebelled against him . O Lord , people hear my groaning but no one comforts me , they rejoice at what you have done . Hasten the day you have announced against the nations , that they too may become"
"like me . The Lord has destroyed his city and his holy house My Lord Jehovah is like an enemy . He has swallowed up Israel . He has destroyed all her palaces and her strongholds . He has laid waste his city and destroyed his holy house . The enemy raised a shout in the Temple , as on the day of a feast . Jeremiah the prophet speaks to Jerusalem What can I say to you O Jerusalem that I may comfort you? For your wound is as deep as the sea . Who can heal you? The visions of your prophets were false . They did not expose your sins to ward off your captivity . Now all who pass your way mock and"
"shake their heads and say , Is this the city that was once called the perfection of beauty , the joy of the whole earth? Your enemies gloat and say , We have devoured her . This was the day we longed for and now we have seen it . Jehovah has done what he decreed Jehovah has done what he decreed long ago. He has overthrown Jerusalem without pity . O daughter of Zion , let your tears flow like a river , night and day . Give yourself no relief . Give your eyes no rest . Arise and cry out in the night , pour out your heart like a river to the Lord . Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your"
"children who died from hunger in everystreet . Jeremiah laments the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem O Lord whom have you ever treated likethis? Should women eat their own children? Should priest and prophet be slaughtered in the house of the Lord? Should young men and maidens and the elderly lie together in the dust of the streets , slain by the sword . You have slaughtered us without pity . You summoned against us terror on every side . In the day of your anger no one escaped . False prophets and sinful priests to blame The Lord gave full vent to his wrath . He kindled a fire in Jerusalem"
"that consumed her foundations . The kings of the earth did not believe that enemies could enter the gates of Jerusalem , but it happened because of the sins of ourprophets and priests . False prophets and priests now suffering in exile Now these prophets and priests wander aimlessly through foreign streets , so defiled with blood that no one dare touch them . Men cry out to them , Away with you Touch us not You are unclean When they flee elsewhere they are soon told, You can stay here no longer . Jehovah himself has scattered them and no longer watches over them . They are shown no honour ."
"The daily shame of exile Remember O Lord what has happened to us. Look and see our disgrace . Our women were ravished and defiled in Jerusalem and in the towns around . Princes were hung up by their hands . We now have become orphans . We must pay for our firewood and even the water we drink . Slaves rule over us . Elders are shown no respect . Young men toil at millstones and boys stagger under loads of wood . Joy is gone from our hearts . Our dancing has turned to mourning . Young men have ceased their music . Mount Zion sits deserted . Wild jackals prowl over it . Lord shut out our"
"prayers Woe to us , for we have sinned . Because of these things our eyes grow dim . Even when we cried out for help , the Lord shut out our prayers . He drew his bow and pierced our hearts with arrows from his quiver . Judah the laughing stock of the nations We have became the laughing stock of the nations . They mock us in song all day long . Jehovah has broken our teeth with gravel and trampled us in the dust . We have been deprived of peace and have forgotten what prosperity is . Our splendour is gone and all that we had hoped for from the Lord . Yet because of the Lords great love we"
"have hope Yet, because of the Lord s great love we have hope . For his compassion never fails . Great is his faithfulness . The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him and who seek him . Shoulder your yoke from the Lord patiently It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord . It is good for a man to bear a yoke in his youth . Let him shoulder it patiently , for the Lord has laid it upon him . Let him bow his face to the earth and offer his cheek to the one who would strike him . There is yet hope . The Lord will not reject forever . For although the Lord brings grief he is also"
"compassionate . 67Great is his unfailing love . He does not willingly afflict and bring grief to the children of men. Let us examine our ways and return to the Lord Why should we complain when punished for our sins? Rather let us examine our ways andreturn to the Lord . Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say , We have rebelled and sinned and you did not forgive us . Therefore we have suffered terror , ruin and destruction . A prayer to the Lord for restoration O Lord who reigns forever , why have you forsaken us so long? Restore us to yourself O Jehovah , that we may"
"return . Renew our days as of old . Have you totally rejected us? Is your anger that great toward us?"