1  How the gold has grown dim,

how the pure gold is changed!

The holy stones lie scattered

^mat the head of every street.

2  The precious sons of Zion,

worth their weight in fine gold,

how they are regarded as ⁿearthen pots,

the work of a potter’s hands!

3  Even jackals offer the breast;

they nurse their young;

but the daughter of my people has become cruel,

^olike the ostriches in the wilderness.

4  ^pThe tongue of the nursing infant sticks

to the roof of its mouth for thirst;

the children beg for food,

but no one gives to them.

5  Those who once feasted on delicacies

perish in the streets;

those who were brought up in purple

embrace ash heaps.

6  For the chastisement¹ of the daughter of my people has been greater

than the punishment² of ^qSodom,

which was ^roverthrown in a moment,

and no hands were wrung for her.³

7  Her princes were purer than snow,

^swhiter than milk;

their bodies were more ruddy than coral,

the beauty of their form⁴ was like sapphire.⁵

8  ^tNow their face is blacker than soot;

they are not recognized in the streets;

their ^uskin has shriveled on their bones;

it has become as dry as wood.

9  Happier were the victims of the sword

than the victims of hunger,

who wasted away, pierced

by lack of the fruits of the field.

10  The hands of compassionate women

have boiled their own children;

they became their food

during the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11  The Lord ^vgave full vent to his wrath;

he poured out his hot anger,

and he ^wkindled a fire in Zion

that consumed its foundations.

12  The kings of the earth did not believe,

nor any of the inhabitants of the world,

that foe or enemy could enter

the gates of Jerusalem.

13  This was for the sins of her prophets

and the iniquities of her priests,

who shed in the midst of her

the blood of the righteous.

14  They wandered, ^xblind, through the streets;

they were so defiled with blood

that no one was able to touch

their garments.

15  “Away! ^yUnclean!” people cried at them.

“Away! Away! Do not touch!”

So they became fugitives and wanderers;

people said among the nations,

“They shall stay with us no longer.”

16  The Lord himself⁶ has ^zscattered them;

he will regard them no more;

no honor was shown to the priests,

^ano favor to the elders.

17  ^bOur eyes failed, ever watching

vainly for help;

in our watching we watched

for a nation which could not save.

18  They dogged our steps

so that we could not walk in our streets;

our ^cend drew near; our days were numbered,

for our end had come.

19  Our pursuers were ^dswifter

than the eagles in the heavens;

they chased us on the mountains;

they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

20  The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed,

was captured in their pits,

of whom we said, “Under his shadow

we shall live among the nations.”

21  Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,

you who dwell in the land of ^eUz;

but ^fto you also the cup shall pass;

you shall become ^gdrunk and strip yourself bare.

22  The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;

he will keep you in exile no longer;⁷

but ^hyour iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;

he will uncover your sins.

^b“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”;

^c“You are a priest forever,

after the order of ^dMelchizedek.”

1  ^rIn you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

^sin your righteousness deliver me!

2  Incline your ear to me;

rescue me speedily!

Be a ^trock of refuge for me,

a strong fortress to save me!

3  For you are my rock and my fortress;

and ^ufor your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;

4  ^vyou take me out of the net they have hidden for me,

for you are my refuge.

5  ^wInto your hand I commit my spirit;

you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

6  ^xI hate¹ those who pay regard to worthless idols,

but I trust in the Lord.

7  I will rejoice and be ^yglad in your steadfast love,

because you have seen my affliction;

you have known the distress of my soul,

8  and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;

you have set my feet in a ^zbroad place.

9  Be gracious to me, O Lord, for ^aI am in distress;

^bmy eye is wasted from grief;

my soul and my body also.

10  For my life is spent with sorrow,

and my years with ^csighing;

my strength fails because of my iniquity,

and ^dmy bones waste away.

11  Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,

especially to my neighbors,

and an object of dread to my ^eacquaintances;

those who see me in the street flee from me.

12  ^fI have been forgotten like one who is dead;

I have become ^glike a broken vessel.

13  For ^hI hear the whispering of many—

terror on every side!—

as they scheme together against me,

as they plot to take my life.

14  But I trust in you, O Lord;

ⁱI say, “You are my God.”

15  My times are in your hand;

rescue me ^jfrom the hand of my enemies and ^kfrom my persecutors!

16  ^lMake your face shine on your servant;

save me in your steadfast love!

17  O Lord, let me not be put to shame,

for I call upon you;

let the wicked be put to shame;

let them go silently to Sheol.

18  Let the lying lips be mute,

which speak insolently against the righteous

in pride and contempt.

19  Oh, how abundant is your goodness,

which you have stored up for those who fear you

and worked for those who take refuge in you,

in the sight of the children of mankind!

20  In the ^mcover of your presence you hide them

from the plots of men;

you store them in your ⁿshelter

from the strife of tongues.

21  Blessed be the Lord,

for he has ^owondrously shown his steadfast love to me

when I was in a besieged city.

22  ^pI had said in my alarm,²

^q“I am cut off from your sight.”

But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy

when I cried to you for help.

23  Love the Lord, all you his saints!

The Lord preserves the faithful

but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.

24  Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

all you who ^rwait for the Lord!