ה (He)
1:5 Her foes subjugated her; 1
her enemies are at ease. 2
For the Lord afflicted her
because of her many acts of rebellion. 3
Her children went away
captive 4 before the enemy.
ו (Vav)
1:6 All of Daughter Zion’s 5 splendor 6
has departed. 7
Her leaders became like deer;
they found no pasture,
so they were too exhausted to escape 8
from the hunter. 9
ר (Resh)
2:20 Look, O Lord! Consider! 10
Whom have you ever afflicted 11 like this?
Should women eat their offspring, 12
their healthy infants? 13
Should priest and prophet
be killed in the Lord’s 14 sanctuary?
ש (Sin/Shin)
2:21 The young boys and old men
lie dead on the ground in the streets.
My young women 15 and my young men
have fallen by the sword.
You killed them when you were angry; 16
you slaughtered them without mercy. 17
ת (Tav)
2:22 As if it were a feast day, you call 18
enemies 19 to terrify me 20 on every side. 21
On the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped or survived.
My enemy has finished off
those healthy infants whom I bore 22 and raised. 23
ב (Bet)
4:2 The precious sons of Zion
were worth their weight in gold –
Alas! – but now they are treated like 24 broken clay pots,
made by a potter. 25
ג (Gimel)
4:3 Even the jackals 26 nurse their young
at their breast, 27
but my people 28 are cruel,
like ostriches 29 in the desert.
ד (Dalet)
4:4 The infant’s tongue sticks
to the roof of its mouth due to thirst;
little children beg for bread, 30
but no one gives them even a morsel. 31
ה (He)
4:5 Those who once feasted on delicacies 32
are now starving to death 33 in the streets.
Those who grew up 34 wearing expensive clothes 35
are now dying 36 amid garbage. 37
ו (Vav)
4:6 The punishment 38 of my people 39
exceeded that of 40 of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment
with no one to help her. 41
ז (Zayin)
4:7 Her consecrated ones 42 were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies more ruddy than corals,
their hair 43 like lapis lazuli. 44
ח (Khet)
4:8 Now their appearance 45 is darker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it is dried up, like tree bark.
ט (Tet)
4:9 Those who died by the sword 46 are better off
than those who die of hunger, 47
those who 48 waste away, 49
struck down 50 from lack of 51 food. 52
י (Yod)
4:10 The hands of tenderhearted women 53
cooked their own children,
who became their food, 54
when my people 55 were destroyed. 56
9:21 ‘Death has climbed in 57 through our windows.
It has entered into our fortified houses.
It has taken away our children who play in the streets.
It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’