י Yodh
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
aSit on the ground; they bare silent.
They have thrown cdust up on their heads;
They have girded themselves with dsackcloth.
The evirgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads down to the ground.
כ Kaph
11 My aeyes fail because of tears;
My binmost being is greatly disturbed;
My cheart is poured out on the earth
dBecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
When einfants and nursing babies faint
In the open squares of the city.
ל Lamedh
12 They say to their mothers,
“aWhere is grain and wine?”
As they faint like a wounded man
In the open squares of the city,
As their blife is poured out
On their mothers’ bosom.
מ Mem
13 What shall I testify about you?
To what ashall I equate you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
To what shall I liken you as I comfort you,
O bvirgin daughter of Zion?
For your destruction is as vast as the sea;
Who can cheal you?
נ Nun
14 Your aprophets have beheld for you
Worthless and ineffective visions;
And they have not buncovered your iniquity
So as to return you from captivity,
But they have cbeheld for you worthless and misleading oracles.
ס Samekh
15 All who pass along the way
aClap their hands in derision at you;
They bhiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem,
“Is this the city of which they said,
‘cThe perfection of beauty,
dThe joy of the whole earth’?”
פ Pe
16 All ayour enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They hiss and bgnash their teeth.
They say, “We have cswallowed her up!
Surely this is the dday for which we have hoped;
We have found it, we have seen it.”
ע Ayin
17 Yahweh has adone what He purposed;
He has completed His word
Which He commanded from days of old.
He has pulled down bwithout sparing,
And He has caused the enemy to cbe glad over you;
He has dexalted the might of your adversaries.
צ Tsadhe
18 Their aheart cried out to the Lord,
“O bwall of the daughter of Zion,
Let your ctears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief;
Let your eyes not be still.
ק Qoph
19 Arise, cry aloud in the anight
At the head of the night watches;
bPour out your heart like water
Before the presence of the Lord;
Lift up your hands to Him
For the clife of your infants
Who are dfaint because of hunger
At the head of every street.”