Chronological Plan

³⁷Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, When the Lord has not commanded it?

³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed?

³⁹Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD;

⁴¹Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.

⁴²We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned.

⁴³You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and not pitied.

⁴⁴You have covered Yourself with a cloud, That prayer should not pass through.

⁴⁵You have made us an offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples.

⁴⁶All our enemies Have opened their mouths against us.

⁴⁷Fear and a snare have come upon us, Desolation and destruction.

⁴⁸My eyes overflow with rivers of water For the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹My eyes flow and do not cease, Without interruption,

⁵⁰Till the LORD from heaven Looks down and sees.

⁵¹My eyes bring suffering to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city.

⁵²My enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird.

⁵³They silenced my life in the pit And threw stones at me.

⁵⁴The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!”

⁵⁵I called on Your name, O LORD, From the lowest pit.

⁵⁶You have heard my voice: “Do not hide Your ear From my sighing, from my cry for help.”

⁵⁷You drew near on the day I called on You, And said, “Do not fear!”

⁵⁸O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.

⁵⁹O LORD, You have seen how I am wronged; Judge my case.

⁶⁰You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me.

⁶¹You have heard their reproach, O LORD, All their schemes against me,

⁶²The lips of my enemies And their whispering against me all the day.

⁶³Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I am their taunting song.

⁶⁴Repay them, O LORD, According to the work of their hands.

⁶⁵Give them a veiled heart; Your curse be upon them!

⁶⁶In Your anger, Pursue and destroy them From under the heavens of the LORD.

¹How the gold has become dim! How changed the fine gold! The stones of the sanctuary are scattered At the head of every street.

²The precious sons of Zion, Valuable as fine gold, How they are regarded as clay pots, The work of the hands of the potter!

³Even the jackals present their breasts To nurse their young; But the daughter of my people is cruel, Like ostriches in the wilderness.

⁴The tongue of the infant clings To the roof of its mouth for thirst; The young children ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.

⁵Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those who were brought up in scarlet Embrace ash heaps.

⁶The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown in a moment, With no hand to help her!

⁷Her Nazirites were brighter than snow And whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, Like sapphire in their appearance.

⁸Now their appearance is blacker than soot; They go unrecognized in the streets; Their skin clings to their bones, It has become as dry as wood.

⁹Those slain by the sword are better off Than those who die of hunger; For these pine away, Stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.

¹⁰The hands of the compassionate women Have cooked their own children; They became food for them In the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹The LORD has fulfilled His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, And it has devoured its foundations.

¹²The kings of the earth, And all inhabitants of the world, Would not have believed That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem—

¹³Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who shed in her midst The blood of the just.

¹⁴They wandered blind in the streets; They have defiled themselves with blood, So that no one would touch their garments.

¹⁵They cried out to them, “Go away, unclean! Go away, go away, Do not touch us!” When they fled and wandered, Those among the nations said, “They shall no longer dwell here.”

¹⁶The face of the LORD scattered them; He no longer regards them. The people do not respect the priests Nor show favor to the elders.

¹⁷Still our eyes failed us, Watching vainly for our help; In our watching we watched For a nation that could not save us.

¹⁸They tracked our steps So that we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near; Our days were over, For our end had come.

¹⁹Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the heavens. They pursued us on the mountains And lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

²⁰The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, Was caught in their pits, Of whom we said, “Under his shadow We shall live among the nations.”

²¹Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, You who dwell in the land of Uz! The cup shall also pass over to you And you shall become drunk and make yourself naked.

²²The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; He will no longer send you into captivity. He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will uncover your sins!

¹Remember, O LORD, what has come upon us; Look, and behold our reproach!

²Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, And our houses to foreigners.

³We have become orphans and waifs, Our mothers are like widows.

⁴We pay for the water we drink, And our wood comes at a price.

⁵They pursue at our heels; We labor and have no rest.

⁶We have given our hand to the Egyptians And the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.

⁷Our fathers sinned and are no more, But we bear their iniquities.

⁸Servants rule over us; There is none to deliver us from their hand.

⁹We get our bread at the risk of our lives, Because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin is hot as an oven, Because of the fever of famine.

¹¹They ravished the women in Zion, The maidens in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes were hung up by their hands, And elders were not respected.

¹³Young men ground at the millstones; Boys staggered under loads of wood.

¹⁴The elders have ceased gathering at the gate, And the young men from their music.

¹⁵The joy of our heart has ceased; Our dance has turned into mourning.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷Because of this our heart is faint; Because of these things our eyes grow dim;

¹⁸Because of Mount Zion which is desolate, With foxes walking about on it.

¹⁹You, O LORD, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation.

²⁰Why do You forget us forever, And forsake us for so long a time?

²¹Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old,

²²Unless You have utterly rejected us, And are very angry with us!