children, which faint for hunger in the front of every street.

Look, O LORD, and see whom thou hast so corrupted. Shall the women of her womb eat the fruit of her womb, and the youngest of her children by a span? Shall prophets and priests be slain in the sanctuary of the LORD?

Boys and old men lay in the streets of the earth: my virgins and my young men fell by the sword. Thou hast slain in the day of thy wrath: thou hast slain without mercy.

Thou hast called mine enemies round about, as on a solemn day; that none escaped, nor remained, in the day of the LORD’S wrath. Those whom I have nourished and brought up, the enemy hath slain.
(Lamentations)
Chapter 3
Lament and Consolation.

I am a wretched man, which must see the rod of his fury.

He hath led me, and made me go into darkness, and not into light.

He hath turned his hand against me, and hath dealt otherwise with me for all things.

He hath made old my flesh and my skin, and hath bruised my bones.

He hath built me up, and compassed me about with gall and trouble.

He hath laid me in darkness, as the dead in the world.

He hath walled me up, that I cannot come out; he hath put me in hard bonds.

And though I cry and shout, he stoppeth mine ears at my prayer.

He hath walled up my way with pieces, and turned back my path.

He lay in wait for me like a bear, like a lion in secret.

He hath made me to lack the way. He hath cut me in pieces, and made me vile.

He hath bent his bow, and hath put me to the point of the arrow.

He shot from the quiver into my kidneys.

I am a mockery to all my people, and daily, their song.

He hath satiated me with bitterness, and made me drunken with wormwood.

He hath broken my teeth into small pieces. He rolled me in the ashes.

My soul is cast out of peace; I must forget the good.

And I said, My fortune is gone, and my hope is in the LORD.

Remember how I am so miserable and forsaken, soaked with wormwood and gall.

Thou shalt remember it, for my soul saith unto me.

I take that to heart, so I’m still hoping.

The goodness of the LORD is, that we are not finished: his mercy hath no end, 23. But it is new every morning, and thy faithfulness is great.

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

For the LORD is good to him that waiteth for him, and to the soul that seeketh him.

It is a precious thing to be patient, and to hope in the help of the LORD.

It is a precious thing for a man to bear the yoke in his youth, 28. That a forsaken man be patient when anything assails him,

and put his mouth in the dust, and wait for hope 30. And let him be smitten on the cheeks, and put upon him much reproach.

For the LORD doth not cast out for ever,

but he will have mercy again according to his great kindness; 33. Because he afflicteth not men with his heart, neither grieveth them, 34. As if he would tread all the captives of the earth under his feet.

And let a man’s right be bent before the Most High.

And let a man’s cause be perverted, as though the LORD saw it not.

Who then can say that these things are done without the commandment of the LORD?

And that neither evil nor good come out of the mouth of the Most High?

How then do men murmur in life? Let every man murmur against his sin.

And let us search and search our nature, and turn unto the LORD.

Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in heaven.

We have sinned and been disobedient. Therefore thou hast not spared, 43. But thou hast poured out wrath upon us, and persecuted us, and slain us without mercy.

thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that no prayer could pass through.

thou hast made us dung and filth among the nations.

All our enemies open their mouths against us.

We are pressed and afflicted with terror and fear.

Mine eyes run with rivers of water over the affliction of the daughter of my people.

My eyes flow, and cannot cease; for there is no cessation,

Until the LORD look down from heaven, and see therein.

my eye eats away my life for the daughter of my city.

Mine enemies have chased me as a bird without a cause.
Fifty-three. They killed my life in a pit and threw stones at me.

They have also poured water upon my head. Then said I, Now am I gone.

But I called upon thy name, O LORD, from beneath the pit;

And thou heardest my voice. Hide not thine ears from my groaning and my crying!

Draw nigh unto me when I call thee, and say, Fear not.

Lead, O Lord, the cause of my soul, and redeem my life!

O Lord, see how I am wronged, and help me to my right!

Thou seest all their vengeance, and all their thoughts against me.

O LORD, thou hearest their reproach, and all their thoughts concerning me, 62. The lips of mine adversaries, and their poems against me daily.

Behold, they go down, or they rise up, they sing of me a little song.

Reward them, O Lord, according to their deserts.

Let their hearts be troubled, and let them feel your curse!

Pursue them with fury, and destroy them under the heaven of the LORD!
(Lamentations)
Chapter 4
Lamentation over the affliction of the Jews.

How the gold is so darkened, and the fine gold is so ugly, and the stones of the sanctuary lie scattered in the front of every street!

The noble children of Zion, which are like unto gold, how are they now compared unto earthen pots, which a potter maketh!

The dragons give their breasts unto their young, and suckle them: but the daughter of my people must be unmerciful, as an ostrich in the wilderness.

The infant’s tongue cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children cry for bread, and there is none to break it for them.

They that ate the sweetest things before, now languish in the streets: they that were brought up in silks before, now must lie in dung.

The iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was turned back suddenly, and there came no hand to it.

Their Nazarites were purer than snow, and clearer than milk; their form was redder than coral; their appearance was like sapphire.

But now their form is so dark with blackness, that they are not known in the streets: their skin hangeth upon their legs, and they are as thin as a log.

It happened unto them that were slain by the sword, that they died of hunger, that fainted, and were slain for want of the fruit of the field.

The most merciful women have cooked their own children, that they might eat in the affliction of the daughter of my people.

The LORD hath executed his fury, he hath poured out his fierce anger; he hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath consumed the foundations thereof.

The kings of the earth believed it not, neither all the people of the world, that the adversary and the enemy should enter into the gates of Jerusalem.

And it was because of the sin of their prophets, and because of the iniquity of their priests, that they shed the blood of the righteous within.

They went to and fro in the streets like the blind, and were stained with blood, and could not touch their garments,

But called unto them: Depart, ye unclean; depart, depart; touch nothing. For they were afraid of them, and fled from them: so that it was said among the heathen also, They shall not tarry long there.

Wherefore the anger of the LORD hath scattered them, and will not look upon them any more, because they honoured not the priests, nor showed mercy unto the elders.

Yet our eyes gaped at the vain help, till they were wearied at once, as we waited for a people that after all could not help us.

We were chased, that we should not walk in our streets. Then came our end: our days are ended, and our end is come.

Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, and lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

The anointed of the LORD, which was our consolation, was taken captive, when they disturbed us, whom we comforted ourselves to live under his shadow among the heathen.

Yea, be glad and rejoice, O daughter of Edom, which dwellest in the land of Uz: for the cup shall come upon thee also, thou also shalt be drunken and blessed; 22. But thine iniquity is ended, O daughter of Zion; he will no more suffer thee to depart: but thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish, and he will find out thy sins.
(Lamentations)
Chapter 5
Jeremiah’s prayer for deliverance of the evil afflicted Jewish people.

Remember, O Lord, how we are: look and see our reproach.

Our inheritance is given to strangers, and our houses to foreigners.

We are orphans, and have no father: our mothers are as widows.

Our own water we must drink for money; our wood we must have brought for a price.

we are driven about by the neck, and though we are weary, yet they will not let us rest.

We have yielded ourselves unto Egypt and Assyria, that we may have bread to eat.

Our fathers have sinned, and are no more: and we must recompense their iniquity.

Servants rule over us, and