The people of Jerusalem speak
1Why did this happen to us?
Look how empty the city is.
A lot of people lived here before.
The city has become like a widow.
All the people of the world thought
that it was a big and important city.
But the people of the city must work
for other nations now.
2They cry all night,
and their tears flow over their cheeks.
There is no one who wants to help the city,
not one of those who have loved her.
Her friends have become unfaithful.
They have become her enemies.
3The people of Judah have become prisoners.
They suffer and have to work very hard.
They live among the other nations
and they can not find a place to rest.
The people of Judah could not escape
all the enemies who chased
and caught them.
4There is no one walking
on the road to Jerusalem,
and no one who comes to celebrate a feast.
There are no people coming through the gates.
The priests are crying,
the young girls are mourning,
and everyone in the city is suffering.
5The enemies of Jerusalem
are ruling the city,
and they will succeed in what they are doing.
This has happened because the Lord
is punishing the people of the city
for all the sins they have done.
They have had to leave the city,
and they have become prisoners.
Their enemies have caught them.
6All the important people
of the city of Zion have had to go away.
The officials have become like a deer
that can not find any grass to eat.
They have become weak,
and they were too weak to fight
against the people who were chasing them.
7Jerusalem is like a widow
who is suffering and thinks
about the good times long ago
and all the beautiful things that she had.
She remembers that she has no place
to stay now because her enemies
defeated her people and
there was no one who could help them.
Other enemies were looking at them and
they laughed when the city was destroyed.
8The people of Jerusalem have sinned a lot.
That is why the city has become
like a naked and dirty woman.
Long ago people respected her,
but now they mock and humiliate her
because they see that she is naked.
And what does she do?
She sighs and turns away her face.
9Her clothes have become impure.
She did not think about
what could happen to her.
No one believed that things
could become so bad for her.
No one helped her.
The people in Jerusalem shouted and said:
‘Lord, look how we are suffering.
The enemies are doing to us
what they want to do.’
10They have taken all our beautiful
and precious things for themselves.
We saw Gentiles coming into your temple.
But Lord, You said that
Gentiles may not come in where
your congregation comes together.
11All the people of the city
were crying and groaning
when they were looking for food to eat.
They had to pay a lot of money
to get food because they were hungry.
The people of Jerusalem shout and say:
‘Lord, please look at us and see
how they humiliate us.’
12‘All of you who walk past us,
why don't you help us?
There is no other city that suffers
as much as we do.
It is the Lord who makes us suffer so much.
The Lord did not punish other cities
as much as He punished us
when He became angry with us.
13He sent fire from above to burn the city.
He put down a trap in front of our feet
to catch us.
He made us fall on our backs
and left us alone,
He made us sick and weak every day.
14The Lord took all our sins
and He put them together and
tied them and He hung them around our necks.
We are weak. We are not strong anymore.
The Lord helped our enemies to defeat us.
We could do nothing against them.
15The Lord has humiliated all our strong men
who could fight.
The enemies enjoyed it
when they defeated our men.
The Lord has trampled the people of Judah
like people trample grapes in a wine-press.
16We cry about these things,
and our eyes overflow with tears
because there was no one
who could help or comfort us.
Our people were destroyed because
the enemies were too strong for us.’
17The people in Jerusalem put out their hands
and ask someone to help,
but no one helps them.
The Lord has sent the neighbours
of Jacob to become their enemies.
Jerusalem has become like a dirty cloth
among them.
18The people in Jerusalem shouted and said:
‘The Lord has done right,
because we did not listen.
We were rebellious_against Him.
Nations, you all must listen.
Look how we are suffering.
Our young girls and men have had to leave,
and they have become prisoners.
19We called people who loved us before this,
but they betrayed us.
Our priests and our leaders died
while they were looking for food in the city,
because they were hungry.
20Lord, please look how we are suffering.
It hurts inside us,
and our hearts are broken
because we have rebelled_against You.
Our people die in war
on the streets and in their homes.
21All our enemies have heard
how we cry and moan,
but no one has come to help us.
When our enemies hear how we are suffering,
they are happy
because You have done this to us.
You told us that this would happen
one day and You have made it happen.
Now please punish our enemies
like You have punished us.
22Remember the bad things that they have done
and do to them as You did to us
when we rebelled_against You.
We can not stop crying and complaining.
Our hearts have become weak.’
