• Aleph

  • 1 How dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out At the head of every street.

  • Beth

  • 2 The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as earthen jars, The work of a potter’s hands!

  • Gimel

  • 3 Even jackals offer the breast; They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become cruel Like ostriches in the wilderness.

  • Daleth

  • 4 The tongue of the nursing baby cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The infants ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.

  • He

  • 5 Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in crimson Embrace ash pits.

  • Vav

  • 6 So the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown as in a moment, And no hands whirled toward her.

  • Zayin

  • 7 Her Nazirites were purer than snow; They were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than corals, Their polishing was like lapis lazuli.

  • Heth

  • 8 Their form is blacker than soot; They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin is shriveled on their bones; It is withered, it has become like wood.

  • Teth

  • 9 Better are those pierced through with the sword Than those pierced through with hunger; For their life flows away, being stricken For lack of the produce of the field.

  • Yodh

  • 10 The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

  • Kaph

  • 11 Yahweh has spent His wrath; He has poured out His burning anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has devoured its foundations.

  • Lamedh

  • 12 The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

  • Mem

  • 13 Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous;

  • Nun

  • 14 They wandered, blind, in the streets; They were defiled with blood So that no one could touch their garments.

  • Samekh

  • 15 “Depart! Unclean!” they cried of themselves. “Depart, depart, do not touch!” So they fled and wandered; Men among the nations said, “They shall not continue to sojourn with us.”

  • Pe

  • 16 The presence of Yahweh has eradicated them; He will not continue to look at them; They did not honor the priests; They did not favor the elders.

  • Ayin

  • 17 Yet our eyes were spent, Looking for help was vanity; In our watching we have watched For a nation that could not save.

  • Tsadhe

  • 18 They hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our open squares; Our end drew near, Our days were finished, For our end had come.

  • Qoph

  • 19 Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They hotly pursued us on the mountains; They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

  • Resh

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

  • Sin

  • 21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, Who inhabits the land of Uz; But the cup will pass on to you as well; You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

  • Tav

  • 22 The punishment of your iniquity has come to an end, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer. But He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins!