\NormalFont\ShortTitle{EKHAH}

{\MT Ekhah

\par }{\IS Introduction

\par }{\IP The Book of Lamentations, especially
1:21; 2:2f speak of two phases of the Day of the L-rd, the first already past in the fall of Jerusalem and the dissolution of the people of Judah, and a second in store for the gloating enemies of G-dʼs people. Therefore those who speak of “Israelʼs Final Holocaust” had better be reminded that it will also be a holocaust for all the nations of the world. Jeremiah is the traditional author of Lamentations in the closing days of Judahʼs conflict with Babylon around 586, the date of Jerusalemʼs final capitulation to Nebuchadnezzar. The ninth of Av (August) is the Jewish commemoration of this disaster, and on that day, a full fast day, this scroll is read in the synagogue following the evening services. The other days associated in some way with this event are the Tenth of Tevet (marking the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem), the Seventeenth of Tammuz (which marks the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege), and the Fast of Gedaliah (the third day of Tishri, the day following Rosh HaShanah, Tzom Gedaliah commemorating his assassination after he was appointed Governor of the Jewish people by Nebuchadnezzar). In this book of Ekhah (Lamentations), Jerusalem is personified and she weeps bitterly (1:2) because Judah has gone into the Golus (Exile) — see
1:3-5. The prodigal city remembers the wonderful days of old when her festivals brought rejoicing multitudes to her Beis Hamikdash. Now those days are gone, and she is mocked and despised, and enemies have invaded her sanctuary (1:10). Like the Moshiach, hanged on the etz, the city is naked and humiliated and left to be seen by passers-by. “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Consider, and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith
{\ND{Hashem}} hath afflicted me in the Yom Charon Af
{\ADD{(day of His fierce anger)}}” (Lam 1:12). See
Lam 2:22. Jerusalem remembers her false prophets with their false and misleading visions (2:14) and her prophets who obtain no vision from the L-rd (2:9) and she remembers her own rebellion against G-dʼs word (1:18), and sees that all this desolation of altar and sanctuary, all this abolition of festival and Shabbos, is just punishment from
{\ND{Hashem}} Himself. The Gentile enemies gloat over her when they see Jerusalemʼs destruction in the Babylonian Exile, but she calls on G-d to bring on the Day of the L-rd when all the Gentile nations of the world will become as Jerusalem is (1:21). Judgment only begins at the household of G-d. See
3:64 and
Zech 1:15; 2:8. A terrible picture of Gehinnom is seen in
3:7-8, for here we view a people (pre-Exilic Jerusalem) who refused to know G-d and we see them frozen in Gehinnom-like divine judgment. We are reminded again of the pierced Moshiach surrounded by mockers when we read
3:14. See also
3:30,52-57. The burden of proof today is still on Judahʼs religious leaders as to whether or not they rebel against G-dʼs word (1:18), since it was their sins which caused the destruction of Jerusalem (4:13-16). They were as unreliable as that ally Egypt, a nation that could not save (4:17). Jewish religious leaders must prove that they rightly interpret the word of G-d, because that desolate Jerusalem is still a rebuke and a challenge against them. Note for street ministry: homelessness is mentioned in
5:2. Jerusalemʼs survivors are homeless after G-dʼs judgment falls on them. But see the song of hope in
3:22-23. We see that to be thus humbled is good (3:27-29). There is hope in
3:31-32. If we don't grow bitter toward G-d but instead test and examine our ways and return to the L-rd, then there is indeed good in being humbled by
{\ND{Hashem}} (3:39-40). The hope of Israelʼs ultimate return to G-d is stated in
4:22 and
5:21. This is still the great hope of all Biblically defined believers. When one reads this book one needs to revisit the material in
Lv 26 and
Dt 27—28. See.
Lam 2:17. This book is a vindication of Jeremiahʼs ministry and many of the prophetic themes of his preaching. Immediately in Jeremiahʼs ministry G-d shows him the coming crisis that we see has played out in Lamentations, represented by a “boiling pot, tilted away from the north” (Jer 1:13). This pot was going to boil over and pour its hot lava of destruction as foreign soldiers came down on Jerusalem from the north. This threat from the north (Jer 1:14; 4:6; 6:1,22; 10:22; 13:20; 16:15; 25:9,26; 31:8) became concrete in the persons of King Nebuchadnezzarʼs Babylonian soldiers. G-d is telling Jeremiah to preach that there is no escape from these soldiers. The people have broken G-dʼs Law and now
{\ND{Hashem}} is sending His divine marshalls to put the people under arrest and take them off to Babylon to serve a Seventy Year Exile prison sentence (Jer 25:11-12; 29:10). Go peaceably, Jeremiah preaches, and you will live. If the nation humbles itself and waits on
{\ND{Hashem}}, the nation will return. But whoever attempts to resist the divine arrest will be put to death. They will be like bad figs (Jer 24:8), and because of their disobedience G-d will not give them a heart to know Him (Jer 24:7). This was Jeremiahʼs hard message, which cost him dearly, and brought great persecution down on his head. But, ironically, weak, isolated Jeremiah, the maggid with the dangerous and wrath-provoking message, is in much safer hands than the sonerous-voiced false prophets and power-wielding political leaders, who stir up violence against Jeremiah as a traitor. For
{\ND{Hashem}} promises to protect Jeremiah but to put to death these enemies of his, both Jews and Gentiles, with judgment beginning at the household of G-d (see
Jer 1:18-19; 25:8-9,29) and climaxing in the Day of the L-rd (Jer 25:33; 46:10). “Flight shall fail the shepherds” (Jer 25:35), a prophecy that proved true for fleeing King Zedekiah, the last king of Judah (Jer 52:1-11). All the wicked must drink the lethal cup of judgment that is coming (Jer 25:28), even ultimately that anti-Moshiach King of Babylon (Jer 25:26). The reason for the coming Babylonian Exile is given in
Jer 5:18-19, the land of Israel was full of elilim (idols). See also
Jer 9:12-16; 10:5,18,21; 16:11-13. The sin of Manasseh (Jer 15:4; 2Kgs 21:6), especially child sacrifice (Jer 7:30-34) brought great national disaster on Judah, just as the abortion holocaust will bring great grief on any country. Consequently, G-dʼs wrath burns against her, and G-d is going to turn Jerusalem into an abortion and it will be no place to marry or to bear children (Jer 16:3-4). Jerusalem will be like a rejected prostitute (Jer 3:2-3; 4:29-31) because she has stubbornly rejected
{\ND{Hashem}}, her true husband, and has given herself in spiritual adultery to false g-ds, the Baals and all the worthless foreign idols that have taken over her land. Nothing short of the Babylonian exile would cure her of this sin of changing her g-ds (Jer 2:11). What is amazing is that the kingdom of Judah does not learn her lesson by seeing the idolatrous northern kingdom of Israel go off (722 B.C.E.) into captivity because of this very sin (Jer 3:6-10); Judah has to undergo a similar punishment herself to get cured of idolatry. But, to put it simply, the main fault that brought all this punishment on G-dʼs people was refusal to listen to the prophetic Word of the Scriptures (Jer 25:4-7; 32:33-35; 35:15-17). Jeremiah did not have a popular message to preach (look at it —
Jer 13:19; also 15:10), and many people opposed him. Who wanted to hear someone prophesy massacre and national desolation (see, for example
Jer 9:22)? But all Jeremiah was preaching was Deuteronomy 28 and its covenant reprisals and curses (see
Jer 11:2-4; 34:18). Nevertheless, some men from Jeremiahʼs hometown (Anatot near Jerusalem) were so embarrassed and infuriated by his preaching that they started a conspiracy to kill him (Jer 11:8-23). The political leaders were stupid, because they did not inquire of the L-rd (Jer 10:21) but had rejected the Word of G-d (Jer 8:9).



\par }\PoetryChap{1}{\Q \VerseOne{1}How doth HaIr
{\ADD{(the city, Yerushalayim)}} sit solitary,

\par }{\Q that was full of people!

\par }{\Q How is she become like an almanah
{\ADD{(widow)}}!

\par }{\Q She that was great among the Goyim,

\par }{\Q and sarah
{\ADD{(princess)}} among the provinces,

\par }{\Q how is she become a forced laborer!


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{2}She weepeth bitterly in the lailah
{\ADD{(night)}},

\par }{\Q and her tears are on her cheeks;

\par }{\Q among all her lovers she hath no Menachem
{\ADD{(comforter)}};

\par }{\Q all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;

\par }{\Q they have become her enemies.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{3}Yehudah is gone into the Golus
{\ADD{(Exile)}} under affliction,

\par }{\Q and under great avodah
{\ADD{(servitude)}};

\par }{\Q she dwelleth among the Goyim;

\par }{\Q she findeth no manoach
{\ADD{(rest)}};

\par }{\Q all her rodefim
{\ADD{(persecutors)}}

\par }{\Q overtook her in dire straits.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{4}The darkhei Tziyon
{\ADD{(approaches to Tziyon)}} do mourn,

\par }{\Q because none come to mo'ed
{\ADD{(set feasts)}};

\par }{\Q all her she'arim
{\ADD{(gates)}} are desolate;

\par }{\Q her kohanim sigh,

\par }{\Q her betulot
{\ADD{(virgins)}} are afflicted,

\par }{\Q and she is in bitterness.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{5}Her adversaries are now the rosh
{\ADD{(supreme, master)}};

\par }{\Q her enemies prosper;

\par }{\Q for
{\ND{Hashem}} hath afflicted her

\par }{\Q because of the multitude of her peysha'im
{\ADD{(transgressions)}};

\par }{\Q her olalim
{\ADD{(little children)}} are gone

\par }{\Q into captivity before the enemy.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{6}And from Bat Tziyon

\par }{\Q all her beauty has departed;

\par }{\Q her sarim
{\ADD{(princes)}} are become like deer

\par }{\Q that find no pasture,

\par }{\Q and they are gone without strength

\par }{\Q before the rodef
{\ADD{(persecutor, pursuer)}}.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{7}In the yamim
{\ADD{(days)}} of her affliction

\par }{\Q and of her persecutions,

\par }{\Q Yerushalayim remembers all her pleasant things

\par }{\Q that she had miymei kedem
{\ADD{(in the days of old)}}.

\par }{\Q When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,

\par }{\Q and there was no ozer
{\ADD{(helper)}} for her,

\par }{\Q the adversaries saw her,

\par }{\Q and did mock at her downfall.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{8}Yerushalayim hath grievously sinned;

\par }{\Q therefore she is niddah\FTNT{*}{{\FR 1:8 }{\FT{}}{\XT{Lv 15:19}}}{\ADD{(unclean, Jewish womanʼs untouchability during menstruation)}};

\par }{\Q all that honored her despise her,

\par }{\Q because they have seen her erom
{\ADD{(nakedness)}};

\par }{\Q yea, she sigheth, and turneth away for shame.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{9}Her filthiness is in her skirts;

\par }{\Q she remembereth not her latter end;

\par }{\Q therefore she sank appallingly;

\par }{\Q she had no Menachem
{\ADD{(comforter)}}.

\par }{\Q O
{\ND{Hashem}}, behold my affliction;

\par }{\Q for the enemy hath triumphed.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{10}The adversary hath spread out his hand

\par }{\Q upon all her precious things;

\par }{\Q for she hath seen how the Goyim

\par }{\Q entered into her [Beis] Hamikdash,

\par }{\Q whom Thou didst command that

\par }{\Q they should not enter into Thy Kahal
{\ADD{(congregation, community)}}.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{11}All her people sigh, they seek lechem;

\par }{\Q they have given their precious things

\par }{\Q for bread to revive the nefesh;

\par }{\Q see, O
{\ND{Hashem}}, and consider

\par }{\Q that I am become despised.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{12}Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?

\par }{\Q Consider, and see

\par }{\Q if there be any sorrow like my sorrow,

\par }{\Q which is done unto me,

\par }{\Q wherewith
{\ND{Hashem}} hath afflicted me

\par }{\Q in the Yom Charon Af
{\ADD{(day of His fierce anger)}}.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{13}From above hath He sent eish

\par }{\Q into my atzamot
{\ADD{(bones)}}, and it prevaileth against them;

\par }{\Q He hath spread a net for my feet,

\par }{\Q He hath turned me back;

\par }{\Q He hath made me desolate and kol hayom
{\ADD{(ever)}} languishing.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{14}The yoke of my peysha'im hath been fastened by His hand;

\par }{\Q they\FTNT{†}{{\FR 1:14 }{\FT{i.e., my sins}}} intertwine themselves and set upon my tzavar
{\ADD{(neck)}};

\par }{\Q He hath made my strength to fall;

\par }{\Q Adonoi hath delivered me into their hands,

\par }{\Q from whom I am not able to rise up.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{15}Adonoi hath taken away

\par }{\Q all my strong ones in my midst;

\par }{\Q He hath proclaimed a mo'ed
{\ADD{(set time)}} against me

\par }{\Q to crush my young men;

\par }{\Q Adonoi hath trodden the winepress

\par }{\Q for the Betulat Bat Yehudah.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{16}For these things I weep;

\par }{\Q mine eye, mine eye runneth down with mayim,

\par }{\Q because the Menachem
{\ADD{(comforter)}}

\par }{\Q that should refresh my nefesh is far from me;

\par }{\Q my children are desolate,

\par }{\Q because the enemy hath prevailed.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{17}Tziyon stretcheth forth her hands,

\par }{\Q yet there is no Menachem
{\ADD{(comforter)}} for her;

\par }{\Q {\ND{Hashem}} hath commanded concerning Ya'akov,

\par }{\Q that his adversaries should be round about him;

\par }{\Q Yerushalayim is as a niddah
{\ADD{(menstruous woman)}} among them.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{18}Tzaddik is
{\ND{Hashem}};

\par }{\Q for I have rebelled against His mouth;

\par }{\Q hear, I pray you, kol amim
{\ADD{(all people)}},

\par }{\Q and behold my sorrow;

\par }{\Q my betulot and my bochurim

\par }{\Q are gone into captivity.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{19}I called for my lovers,

\par }{\Q but they have deceived me;

\par }{\Q my kohanim and my zekenim

\par }{\Q gave up the ghost\FTNT{‡}{{\FR 1:19 }{\FT{i.e., expired}}} in HaIr
{\ADD{(the City)}},

\par }{\Q while they sought okhel
{\ADD{(food)}}

\par }{\Q to revive their nefashot.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{20}Consider, O
{\ND{Hashem}} how I am in distress;

\par }{\Q my bowels are troubled;

\par }{\Q mine lev is turned within me;

\par }{\Q for I have grievously rebelled;

\par }{\Q without,\FTNT{§}{{\FR 1:20 }{\FT{i.e., outside}}} the cherev
{\ADD{(sword)}} bereaveth,

\par }{\Q within\FTNT{*}{{\FR 1:20 }{\FT{i.e., babayit, at home}}} it is like mavet
{\ADD{(death)}}.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{21}They have heard that I sigh;

\par }{\Q there is no Menachem
{\ADD{(comforter)}};

\par }{\Q all mine enemies have heard of my trouble;

\par }{\Q they are glad that Thou hast done it;

\par }{\Q Thou bringest the Yom Karata
{\ADD{(the day that Thou has proclaimed)}},

\par }{\Q that they\FTNT{†}{{\FR 1:21 }{\FT{see
}}{\XT{1:18}}} [all the peoples] may be like me.


\par }{\Q \VS{22}Let all their wickedness come before Thee;

\par }{\Q and do unto them,

\par }{\Q as Thou hast done unto me for all my peysha'im;

\par }{\Q for my sighs are many,

\par }{\Q and my lev is faint.




\par }\PoetryChap{2}{\Q \VerseOne{1}How hath Adonoi covered Bat Tziyon

\par }{\Q with a cloud in His anger,

\par }{\Q and hurled down from Shomayim

\par }{\Q unto Eretz the tiferet Yisroel,

\par }{\Q and remembered not His hadom
{\ADD{(footstool)}}

\par }{\Q in the Day of His Wrath!


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{2}Adonoi hath swallowed up

\par }{\Q all the habitations of Ya'akov, and hath not pitied;

\par }{\Q He hath torn down in His Wrath

\par }{\Q the strongholds of Bat Yehudah;

\par }{\Q He hath brought them down to the ground;

\par }{\Q chillel
{\ADD{(He hath defiled)}} the mamlachah and the sarim
{\ADD{(princes)}} thereof.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{3}He hath cut off in His fierce anger

\par }{\Q kol keren Yisroel;

\par }{\Q He hath drawn back His right hand

\par }{\Q from before the oyev,

\par }{\Q and He burned against Ya'akov like a flaming eish,

\par }{\Q which devoureth all around.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{4}He hath bent His keshet
{\ADD{(bow)}} like an oyev;

\par }{\Q He took His stand with His right hand as an adversary,

\par }{\Q and slaughtered all that were pleasant

\par }{\Q to the eye in the ohel Bat Tziyon;

\par }{\Q He poured out His fury like eish.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{5}Adonoi was like an oyev;

\par }{\Q He hath swallowed up Yisroel,

\par }{\Q He hath swallowed up all her armonot
{\ADD{(palaces)}};

\par }{\Q He hath destroyed His strongholds,

\par }{\Q and hath increased in Bat Yehudah mourning and lamentation.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{6}And He hath violently destroyed His sukkah,

\par }{\Q as if it were of a gan
{\ADD{(garden)}};

\par }{\Q He hath laid waste His Mo'ed;

\par }{\Q {\ND{Hashem}} hath caused Mo'ed and Shabbos

\par }{\Q to be forgotten in Tziyon,

\par }{\Q and in the indignation of His anger

\par }{\Q hath spurned Melech and Kohen.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{7}Adonoi hath cast off His Mizbe'ach,

\par }{\Q He hath disowned His Mikdash,

\par }{\Q He hath given up into the yad oyev

\par }{\Q the chomot armonot of hers;

\par }{\Q they have raised shouts in the Beis
{\ND{Hashem}},

\par }{\Q as in the Yom Mo'ed.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{8}{\ND{Hashem}} hath purposed to destroy

\par }{\Q the Chomat Bat Tziyon;

\par }{\Q He hath stretched out a measuring line,

\par }{\Q He hath not withdrawn His hand from destroying;

\par }{\Q therefore He made the rampart and the chomah to lament;

\par }{\Q they languished together.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{9}Her she'arim are sunk into the ground;

\par }{\Q He hath destroyed and broken her bars;

\par }{\Q her melech and her sarim
{\ADD{(princes)}} are among the Goyim;

\par }{\Q the torah is no more;

\par }{\Q her nevi'im also find no chazon
{\ADD{(vision)}} from
{\ND{Hashem}}.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{10}The Ziknei Bat Tziyon sit upon the ground,

\par }{\Q and keep silence;

\par }{\Q they have cast up aphar upon their heads;

\par }{\Q they have girded themselves with sackcloth;

\par }{\Q the Betulot Yerushalayim hang down

\par }{\Q their heads to the ground.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{11}Mine eyes do fail from weepings,

\par }{\Q my insides are troubled,

\par }{\Q empty and poured upon ha'aretz,

\par }{\Q for the destruction of Bat Ami;

\par }{\Q because the olel and the infant

\par }{\Q swoon in the rechovot of the city.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{12}They say to their imahot:

\par }{\Q Where is grain and yayin?

\par }{\Q Say they when they swooned like the wounded

\par }{\Q in the rechovot Ir,

\par }{\Q when their nefesh ebbed away

\par }{\Q into the kheyk imahot of them.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{13}What thing shall I say to thee?

\par }{\Q What thing shall I liken to thee, O Bat Yerushalayim?

\par }{\Q What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee,

\par }{\Q O Betulat Bat Tziyon?

\par }{\Q For thy shever
{\ADD{(destruction)}} is as gadol as the yam.

\par }{\Q Who can heal thee?


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{14}Thy nevi'im have seen false

\par }{\Q and worthless visions for thee;

\par }{\Q and they have not exposed thine avon,

\par }{\Q to ward off thy captivity;

\par }{\Q but have seen for thee mase'ot shav

\par }{\Q and madduchim
{\ADD{(false and misleading burdens, oracles)}}.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{15}All that pass by clap their hands at thee;

\par }{\Q they hiss and wag their head at Bat Yerushalayim,

\par }{\Q saying: Is this the Ir that men call

\par }{\Q Kelilat Yofi Masos L'Khol HaAretz

\par }{\Q {\ADD{(perfection in beauty, the joy of the whole earth)}}?


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{16}All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee;

\par }{\Q they hiss and gnash their teeth;

\par }{\Q they cry: We have swallowed her!

\par }{\Q This is the Yom that we waited for;

\par }{\Q we have found, we have seen it.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{17}{\ND{Hashem}} hath done that which He had devised;

\par }{\Q He hath fulfilled His word

\par }{\Q that He decreed in the yemai kedem;

\par }{\Q He hath overthrown, and hath not pitied,

\par }{\Q and He hath caused thine oyev to gloat over thee,

\par }{\Q He hath exalted the keren of thine adversaries.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{18}Their lev cried unto Adonoi:

\par }{\Q O Chomat Bat Tziyon,

\par }{\Q let tears run down like a river yomam valailah;

\par }{\Q give thyself no relief;

\par }{\Q let not thine eye rest.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{19}Arise, cry out balailah;

\par }{\Q in the beginning of the night watches

\par }{\Q pour out thine lev like mayim

\par }{\Q before the face of Adonoi;

\par }{\Q lift up thy hands to Him

\par }{\Q for the nefesh of thy ollelim,

\par }{\Q that faint for hunger on every street corner.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{20}Look,
{\ND{Hashem}}, and consider

\par }{\Q to whom Thou hast done this.

\par }{\Q Shall the nashim eat their offspring,

\par }{\Q the children they have cared for?

\par }{\Q Shall the Kohen and the Navi

\par }{\Q be slain in the Mikdash Adonoi?


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{21}The na'ar and the zaken lie

\par }{\Q in the dust of the streets;

\par }{\Q my betulot and my bochurim

\par }{\Q are fallen by the cherev;

\par }{\Q Thou hast slain them in the Day of Thy Wrath;

\par }{\Q Thou hast slaughtered, and not pitied.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{22}Thou hast summoned as in a Yom Mo'ed

\par }{\Q my terrors all around,

\par }{\Q so that in the Yom Af
{\ND{Hashem}}

\par }{\Q none escaped nor remained;

\par }{\Q those that I have swaddled and reared

\par }{\Q hath mine oyev consumed.




\par }\PoetryChap{3}{\Q \VerseOne{1}I am the gever that hath seen affliction

\par }{\Q by the rod of His wrath.


\par }{\Q \VS{2}He hath driven me away, and brought me

\par }{\Q into choshech, but not into ohr.


\par }{\Q \VS{3}Surely against me is He turned;

\par }{\Q He turneth His yad against me kol hayom.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{4}My basar and my ohr
{\ADD{(skin)}} hath He made old;

\par }{\Q He hath broken my atzmot.


\par }{\Q \VS{5}He hath set up siegeworks against me,

\par }{\Q and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.


\par }{\Q \VS{6}He hath set me in dark places,

\par }{\Q like the mesei olam
{\ADD{(long dead)}}.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{7}He hath hedged me about, that I cannot escape;

\par }{\Q He hath made my chain heavy.


\par }{\Q \VS{8}Also when I cry and call out,

\par }{\Q He shutteth out my tefillah.


\par }{\Q \VS{9}He hath barred my ways with hewn stone,

\par }{\Q He hath made my paths crooked.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{10}He was unto me like a dov
{\ADD{(bear)}} lying in wait,

\par }{\Q and like an aryeh in mistarim
{\ADD{(hiding places)}}.


\par }{\Q \VS{11}He hath turned aside the darkhei of mine, and pulled me in pieces;

\par }{\Q He hath made me desolate.


\par }{\Q \VS{12}He hath bent His keshet,

\par }{\Q and set me as a target for the khetz
{\ADD{(arrow)}}.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{13}He hath caused the arrows of His quiver

\par }{\Q to enter into my organs.


\par }{\Q \VS{14}I was a derision to kol ami;

\par }{\Q and their\FTNT{*}{{\FR 3:14 }{\FT{mocking}}} song kol hayom.


\par }{\Q \VS{15}He hath filled me with merorim
{\ADD{(bitter herbs)}};

\par }{\Q He hath made me drunk with suffering.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{16}He hath also broken my teeth with gravel,

\par }{\Q He hath covered me with aphar.


\par }{\Q \VS{17}And Thou hast removed my nefesh far off from shalom;

\par }{\Q I forgot tovah
{\ADD{(prosperity)}}.


\par }{\Q \VS{18}And I said: My strength and my hope

\par }{\Q is perished from
{\ND{Hashem}}.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{19}Remember mine oni
{\ADD{(affliction)}} and my misery,

\par }{\Q the sorrow and the trouble.


\par }{\Q \VS{20}My nefesh hath them still in remembrance,

\par }{\Q and is downcast in me.


\par }{\Q \VS{21}This I recall to my lev,

\par }{\Q therefore have I hope:


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{22}Because of the chasdei
{\ND{Hashem}} we are not consumed,

\par }{\Q for His rachamim fail not.


\par }{\Q \VS{23}They are chadashim every boker;

\par }{\Q great is Thy faithfulness.


\par }{\Q \VS{24}{\ND{Hashem}} is my chelek, saith my nefesh;

\par }{\Q therefore in hope will I wait for Him.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{25}{\ND{Hashem}} is tov unto them that wait for Him,

\par }{\Q to the nefesh that seeketh Him.


\par }{\Q \VS{26}It is good that a man should both hope

\par }{\Q and quietly wait for the Teshu'at
{\ND{Hashem}}.


\par }{\Q \VS{27}It is tov for a gever that

\par }{\Q he bear the ol
{\ADD{(yoke)}} from his youth.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{28}He sitteth alone and keepeth silence,

\par }{\Q because He hath laid it upon him.


\par }{\Q \VS{29}He putteth his mouth in the aphar;

\par }{\Q there may yet be tikvah.


\par }{\Q \VS{30}He offereth his lekhi
{\ADD{(cheek)}} to him that striketh him;

\par }{\Q he is filled full with reproach.\FTNT{†}{{\FR 3:30 }{\FT{}}{\XT{Isa 50:6}}}


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{31}For Adonoi will not cast off l'olam
{\ADD{(forever)}};


\par }{\Q \VS{32}But though He cause grief,

\par }{\Q yet will He have compassion according to the rov chasadav
{\ADD{(the multitude of His mercies)}}.


\par }{\Q \VS{33}For He doth not afflict willingly

\par }{\Q nor bring grief to Bnei Ish.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{34}To crush under His feet

\par }{\Q kol asirei eretz
{\ADD{(all the prisoners of the earth)}},


\par }{\Q \VS{35}To turn aside the mishpat gever
{\ADD{(the right of a man)}}

\par }{\Q before the face of Elyon,


\par }{\Q \VS{36}To subvert a man in his cause,

\par }{\Q Adonoi approveth not.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{37}Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass,

\par }{\Q when Adonoi commandeth it not?


\par }{\Q \VS{38}Out of the mouth of Elyon proceedeth not

\par }{\Q hara'ot
{\ADD{(the woe)}} and hatov
{\ADD{(the good)}}?


\par }{\Q \VS{39}Why doth an adam chai
{\ADD{(any man alive)}} complain,

\par }{\Q a gever for the punishment of his sins?


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{40}Let us search and test derakheinu
{\ADD{(our ways)}},

\par }{\Q and let us turn again to
{\ND{Hashem}}.


\par }{\Q \VS{41}Let us lift up levavenu
{\ADD{(our heart)}} with our hands

\par }{\Q unto El baShomayim.


\par }{\Q \VS{42}We have transgressed and have rebelled;

\par }{\Q Atah lo salachta
{\ADD{(Thou hast not pardoned, forgiven)}}.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{43}Thou hast covered with af
{\ADD{(anger)}}, and pursued us;

\par }{\Q Thou hast slain, Thou hast not pitied.


\par }{\Q \VS{44}Thou hast covered Thyself with an anan,

\par }{\Q that our tefillah not pass through.


\par }{\Q \VS{45}Thou hast made us as the offscouring

\par }{\Q and refuse among the amim.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{46}Kol oyveinu
{\ADD{(all our enemies)}}

\par }{\Q have opened their mouths against us.


\par }{\Q \VS{47}Pachad
{\ADD{(terror)}} and a snare is come upon us,

\par }{\Q ruin and destruction.


\par }{\Q \VS{48}Mine eye runneth down with streams of mayim

\par }{\Q for the destruction of Bat Ami.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{49}Mine eye will flow down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission


\par }{\Q \VS{50}Till
{\ND{Hashem}} look down, and behold from Shomayim.


\par }{\Q \VS{51}Mine eye affecteth mine nefesh

\par }{\Q because of all the banot of my city.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{52}Mine enemies hunted me down,

\par }{\Q like a tzippor
{\ADD{(bird)}}, without cause.


\par }{\Q \VS{53}They have cut off my life in the bor
{\ADD{(pit)}}

\par }{\Q and cast an even
{\ADD{(stone)}} upon me.


\par }{\Q \VS{54}Mayim flowed over mine rosh;

\par }{\Q then I said: I am cut off.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{55}I called upon Thy Shem,
{\ND{Hashem}},

\par }{\Q out of the lowest pit.


\par }{\Q \VS{56}Thou hast heard my voice;

\par }{\Q close not thine ear at my sighing,

\par }{\Q at my cry.


\par }{\Q \VS{57}Thou drewest near on the Yom that I called upon Thee;

\par }{\Q Thou saidst: Fear not.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{58}Adonoi, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my nefesh;

\par }{\Q Thou hast redeemed my life.


\par }{\Q \VS{59}{\ND{Hashem}}, Thou hast seen my wrong;

\par }{\Q uphold my cause.


\par }{\Q \VS{60}Thou hast seen all their vengeance

\par }{\Q and all their machsh'vot against me.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{61}Thou hast heard their reproach,
{\ND{Hashem}},

\par }{\Q and all their machsh'vot against me;


\par }{\Q \VS{62}The whisperings of those that rose up against me,

\par }{\Q and their muttering against me kol hayom.


\par }{\Q \VS{63}Behold their sitting down, and their rising up;

\par }{\Q Ani
{\ADD{(I)}} am their mocking song.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{64}Render unto them a gemul
{\ADD{(recompence)}},
{\ND{Hashem}},

\par }{\Q according to the work of their hands.


\par }{\Q \VS{65}Give them hardness of lev as thy curse unto them.


\par }{\Q \VS{66}Pursue in anger and destroy them

\par }{\Q from under HaShomayim of
{\ND{Hashem}}.




\par }\PoetryChap{4}{\Q \VerseOne{1}How has the zahav lost its luster!

\par }{\Q How is the most fine gold changed!

\par }{\Q The avnei kodesh are poured out on every street corner.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{2}The precious Bnei Tziyon,

\par }{\Q comparable to fine gold,

\par }{\Q how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers,

\par }{\Q the work of the hands of the yotzer
{\ADD{(potter)}}!


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{3}Even the jackals offer the breast;

\par }{\Q they nurse their young ones;

\par }{\Q the Bat Ami is become heartless,

\par }{\Q like the ostriches in the midbar.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{4}The leshon of the nursing infant

\par }{\Q cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst;

\par }{\Q the olalim beg for lechem,

\par }{\Q and no man giveth it unto them.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{5}They that did feed delicately

\par }{\Q are destitute in the chutzot;

\par }{\Q they that were brought up in purple

\par }{\Q lie on dunghills.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{6}For the punishment of the iniquity of the Bat Ami

\par }{\Q is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom,

\par }{\Q that was overthrown as in a moment,

\par }{\Q and no hands helped her.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{7}Her nobles were purer than snow;

\par }{\Q they were whiter than cholov,

\par }{\Q they were more ruddy in body than rubies,

\par }{\Q their appearance was of sapphire;


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{8}Their visage is blacker than soot;

\par }{\Q they are not known in the streets;

\par }{\Q their skin cleaveth to their atzmot;

\par }{\Q it is dried up, it is become like a stick.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{9}They that are slain with the cherev

\par }{\Q are better than they that are slain with hunger;

\par }{\Q for these pine away,

\par }{\Q being pierced for want of the increase of the sadeh.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{10}The hands of the pitiful nashim

\par }{\Q have cooked their own yeladim;

\par }{\Q they were their meat

\par }{\Q in the destruction of the Bat Ami.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{11}{\ND{Hashem}} hath accomplished His fury;

\par }{\Q He hath poured out His charon af,

\par }{\Q and hath kindled an eish in Tziyon,

\par }{\Q and it hath devoured the yesodot thereof.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{12}The malkhei eretz,

\par }{\Q and all the inhabitants of the tevel
{\ADD{(world)}},

\par }{\Q would not have believed that the adversary and the oyev

\par }{\Q should have entered into the sha'arei Yerushalayim.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{13}For the sins of her Nevi'im,

\par }{\Q and the iniquities of her Kohanim,

\par }{\Q that have shed the dahm of the Tzaddikim

\par }{\Q in the midst of her.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{14}They have groped about like ivrim
{\ADD{(blind men)}} in the streets;

\par }{\Q they have defiled themselves with dahm,

\par }{\Q so that men dare not touch their garments.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{15}They cried unto them: Go away;

\par }{\Q tamei
{\ADD{(unclean)}}!

\par }{\Q Depart, depart, touch not;

\par }{\Q so they fled away and wandered. They said among the Goyim:

\par }{\Q They shall no more sojourn there.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{16}The anger of
{\ND{Hashem}} hath scattered them;

\par }{\Q He will no more regard them;

\par }{\Q they respected not the persons of the Kohanim;

\par }{\Q they showed no favor to the Zekenim.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{17}As for us, our eyes failed

\par }{\Q looking in vain for ezratenu
{\ADD{(our help)}};

\par }{\Q from our towers we have watched

\par }{\Q for a nation that could not save us.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{18}They stalk our steps,

\par }{\Q that we cannot go in our streets;

\par }{\Q kitzeinu
{\ADD{(our end)}} is near, our yamim are numbered;

\par }{\Q for kitzeinu is come.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{19}Our pursuers are swifter

\par }{\Q than the eagles of Shomayim;

\par }{\Q they pursued us upon the mountains,

\par }{\Q they laid wait for us in the midbar.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{20}The Moshiach of
{\ND{Hashem}}, who was our very life,

\par }{\Q was taken in their traps,

\par }{\Q of whom we said: Under his shadow [of protection]

\par }{\Q we shall live among the Goyim.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{21}Rejoice and be glad, O Bat Edom,

\par }{\Q that dwellest in Eretz Utz;

\par }{\Q the kos
{\ADD{(cup)}} also shall pass unto thee;

\par }{\Q thou shalt be drunk, and shalt be stripped naked.


\par }{\BB \par }
{\Q \VS{22}The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O Bat Tziyon;

\par }{\Q He will no more prolong your Golus;

\par }{\Q He will visit thine iniquity, O Bat Edom;

\par }{\Q He will expose thy sins.




\par }\PoetryChap{5}{\Q \VerseOne{1}Remember,
{\ND{Hashem}}, what is come upon us;

\par }{\Q consider, and behold our reproach.


\par }{\Q \VS{2}Our nachalah is turned over to zarim,

\par }{\Q our batim
{\ADD{(houses)}} to foreigners.


\par }{\Q \VS{3}We are yetomim and fatherless,

\par }{\Q immoteinu are like almanot.


\par }{\Q \VS{4}We must pay kesef for our own mayim;

\par }{\Q our wood is sold unto us.


\par }{\Q \VS{5}Our necks are under persecution;

\par }{\Q we are weary, and have no rest.


\par }{\Q \VS{6}We have submitted to the Mitzrayim,

\par }{\Q and to the Assyrians, to get enough lechem.


\par }{\Q \VS{7}Avoteinu have sinned, and are no more;

\par }{\Q and we have borne their iniquities.


\par }{\Q \VS{8}Avadim have ruled over us;

\par }{\Q there is none that doth deliver us out of their yad.


\par }{\Q \VS{9}We get our lechem with the peril of our lives

\par }{\Q because of the cherev of the midbar.


\par }{\Q \VS{10}Our skin was hot like an oven

\par }{\Q because we burn with ra'av
{\ADD{(hunger, famine)}}.


\par }{\Q \VS{11}They ravished the nashim in Tziyon,

\par }{\Q and the betulot in the towns of Yehudah.


\par }{\Q \VS{12}Sarim
{\ADD{(princes)}} are hanged by their yad;

\par }{\Q the faces of Zekenim were not respected.


\par }{\Q \VS{13}They took the bochurim to grind,

\par }{\Q and the ne'arim staggered under the wood.


\par }{\Q \VS{14}The zekenim have ceased from the sha'ar,

\par }{\Q the bochurim from their music.


\par }{\Q \VS{15}The joy of our heart is gone;

\par }{\Q mekholeinu
{\ADD{(our dance)}} is turned into mourning.


\par }{\Q \VS{16}The ateret is fallen from our head;

\par }{\Q woe unto us, for we have sinned!


\par }{\Q \VS{17}For this our lev is faint;

\par }{\Q because of these things our eyes are dim.


\par }{\Q \VS{18}Because of the Har Tziyon, which is desolate,

\par }{\Q the jackals prowl upon it.


\par }{\Q \VS{19}Thou,
{\ND{Hashem}}, remainest forever;

\par }{\Q Thy throne from generation to generation.


\par }{\Q \VS{20}Why dost Thou forget us forever,

\par }{\Q and forsake us for so long?


\par }{\Q \VS{21}Restore us,
{\ND{Hashem}}, to Thyself

\par }{\Q that we may return;

\par }{\Q renew yamenu
{\ADD{(our days)}} as of old.


\par }{\Q \VS{22}Unless Thou hast utterly rejected us

\par }{\Q and Thou art angry with us beyond measure.

\par }