I
King James Version — 1611
In Plain English
The City Sits Alone
1How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!
1How lonely the city sits, she who was once crowded with people! She has become like a widow. She who was great among the nations, a princess among the provinces, now pays tribute like a servant.
2She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
2She cries bitterly through the night, and the tears stay on her cheeks. Of all her lovers, not one is there to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.
3Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.
3Judah has gone away into captivity after suffering and hard slavery. She lives among the nations and finds no rest; everyone chasing her caught up with her in the narrow places.
4The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
4The roads to Zion are in mourning, because no one comes to the holy feasts. All her gates stand empty, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she herself is full of bitterness.
5Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
5Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are doing well, because the LORD has made her suffer for her many sins. Her children have been marched off into captivity ahead of the enemy.
Her Beauty Departed
6And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.
6All the beauty of the daughter of Zion has drained away. Her princes have become like deer that can find no pasture; they stumble along without strength ahead of the hunter.
7Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.
7In the days of her suffering and wandering, Jerusalem remembers all the treasures she had in days gone by. When her people fell into the enemy's hands and no one helped her, her foes looked on and mocked her sabbaths.
8Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
8Jerusalem has sinned terribly, and so she has become unclean. Everyone who once honored her now looks down on her, because they have seen her stripped bare. She herself groans and turns her face away.
9Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.
9Her filth clings to her skirts; she never thought about how it would end. So her fall was shocking, and she had no one to comfort her. "O LORD, look at my suffering, for the enemy has grown so proud."
Foreign Hands in the Sanctuary
10The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.
10The enemy has laid his hands on all her treasures. She has watched foreign nations walk into her sanctuary, the very people you commanded never to enter your assembly.
11All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile.
11All her people groan as they search for bread. They have traded their treasures for food just to stay alive. "Look, O LORD, and see how worthless I have become."
Is There Any Sorrow Like My Sorrow
12Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
12Does it mean nothing to you, all of you passing by? Look and see: is there any sorrow like my sorrow, the sorrow that was laid on me, that the LORD brought down on me in the day of his burning anger?
13From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.
13From above he sent fire into my bones, and it overpowered them. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He left me devastated and faint all day long.
14The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the LORD hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.
14The yoke of my sins was tied on by his hand; they are twisted together and laid across my neck. He has drained my strength away. The LORD has handed me over to people I cannot stand up against.
15The LORD hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the LORD hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.
15The LORD has trampled all my strong warriors right in my midst. He called an army together against me to crush my young men. The LORD has stamped on the virgin daughter of Judah as if in a winepress.
16For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.
16This is why I weep; my eyes, my eyes stream with tears, because the one who could comfort me and revive my soul is far away. My children are left desolate, because the enemy has won.
No One to Comfort Her
17Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.
17Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The LORD has ordered that Jacob's enemies should surround him; Jerusalem is like an unclean thing among them.
18The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
18The LORD is in the right, for I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples, and look at my sorrow: my young women and my young men have gone into captivity.
19I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.
19I called out to my lovers, but they let me down. My priests and my elders died in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive.
Let Their Wickedness Come Before You
20Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
20Look, O LORD, for I am in deep distress. My insides are churning; my heart is turned over inside me, because I rebelled so terribly. Outside, the sword takes away children; inside the house, there is only death.
21They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.
21People have heard me groaning, but no one comforts me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble, and they are glad that you did it. Bring the day you have announced, so they become just like me.
22Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
22Let all their wickedness come before you, and deal with them as you have dealt with me for all my sins. For my groans are many, and my heart is faint.
II
King James Version — 1611
In Plain English
The Lord as an Enemy
1How hath the LORD covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!
1How the LORD has covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger! He has thrown the glory of Israel down from heaven to earth, and in the day of his anger he did not remember his footstool.
2The LORD hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.
2The LORD has swallowed up every home of Jacob without pity. In his wrath he has torn down the fortresses of the daughter of Judah and leveled them to the ground. He has dishonored the kingdom and its princes.
3He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.
3In his fierce anger he has cut off all the strength of Israel. He pulled back his right hand as the enemy came on, and he burned against Jacob like a blazing fire that devours everything around it.
4He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.
4He bent his bow like an enemy; his right hand was raised like a foe. He struck down everyone who was lovely to look at in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he poured out his fury like fire.
5The LORD was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
5The LORD has become like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel; he has swallowed up all her palaces and wrecked her fortresses. He has piled grief upon grief on the daughter of Judah.
The Feasts, the Walls, and the Gates
6And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
6He has torn down his own dwelling as if it were a garden hut; he has destroyed his meeting place. The LORD has made Zion forget its feasts and sabbaths, and in his furious anger he has rejected king and priest alike.
7The LORD hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.
7The LORD has rejected his altar and turned away from his sanctuary. He has handed the walls of her palaces over to the enemy; they raised a shout in the house of the LORD as if it were a feast day.
8The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.
8The LORD decided to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not hold back his hand from destroying. He made rampart and wall mourn; together they crumbled.
9Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.
9Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has smashed and broken their bars. Her king and her princes are scattered among the nations. There is no more law, and her prophets receive no vision from the LORD.
Dust on Their Heads
10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
11Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
11My eyes are worn out from crying; my insides are in turmoil. My heart is poured out on the ground over the ruin of the daughter of my people, because children and nursing babies faint in the streets of the city.
12They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers’ bosom.
12They cry to their mothers, "Where is bread and wine?" as they faint like wounded men in the city streets, as their lives slip away in their mothers' arms.
Your Wound Is Wide as the Sea
13What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?
13What can I say for you? What can I compare you to, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I set beside you to comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? Your wound is as wide as the sea. Who can heal you?
14Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.
14Your prophets saw visions for you that were empty and foolish. They never exposed your sin so as to turn back your captivity; instead the messages they gave you were false and led you into exile.
15All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
15Everyone who passes by claps their hands at you. They hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: "Is this the city people called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?"
16All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.
16All your enemies open their mouths wide against you. They hiss and grind their teeth and say, "We have swallowed her up! This is the day we were waiting for. We have lived to see it!"
17The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.
17The LORD has done what he planned; he has carried out the word he gave long ago. He has torn down without pity. He has let your enemy gloat over you and has lifted up the strength of your foes.
Pour Out Your Heart Like Water
18Their heart cried unto the LORD, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
18Their hearts cried out to the LORD. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no rest; do not let your eyes stop weeping.
19Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the LORD: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.
19Get up and cry out in the night, at the start of every watch. Pour out your heart like water before the face of the LORD. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your little children, who faint from hunger at the corner of every street.
Should Women Eat What They Have Borne
20Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
20Look, O LORD, and think about who it is you have done this to. Should women eat what they have borne, the little children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.
21Young and old lie together on the ground in the streets. My young women and young men have fallen by the sword. You killed them in the day of your anger; you slaughtered them without pity.
22Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD’s anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
22You summoned terrors against me from every side, as if calling people to a feast day. In the day of the LORD's anger no one escaped or survived. The children I held and raised, my enemy has wiped out.
III
King James Version — 1611
In Plain English
I Am the Man That Hath Seen Affliction
1I AM the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
1I am the man who has seen suffering under the rod of his wrath.
2He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
2He has driven me on and led me into darkness, not into light.
3Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.
3Yes, he has turned against me; he turns his hand against me again and again, all day long.
4My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.
4He has worn away my flesh and my skin; he has broken my bones.
5He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
5He has built siege works against me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
6He has made me live in dark places, like those who died long ago.
7He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.
7He has walled me in so that I cannot get out; he has weighed me down with heavy chains.
8Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.
8Even when I cry out and shout for help, he shuts out my prayer.
9He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.
9He has blocked my roads with cut stone; he has made my paths twist and turn.
A Bear Lying in Wait
10He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
10To me he has been like a bear waiting in ambush, like a lion hiding in secret.
11He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.
11He dragged me off my path and tore me to pieces; he left me in ruins.
12He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
12He bent his bow and set me up as the target for his arrow.
13He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.
13He shot the arrows from his quiver deep into my heart.
14I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.
14I became a joke to all my people; they sing about me all day long.
15He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
15He has filled me with bitterness; he has made me drink my fill of wormwood.
16He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
16He has broken my teeth on gravel; he has pressed me down into the ashes.
17And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.
17You have pushed my soul far away from peace; I have forgotten what good times were.
18And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
18So I said, "My strength is gone, and so is my hope in the LORD."
This I Recall to My Mind
19Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
19I remember my suffering and my wandering, the wormwood and the bitterness.
20My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
20My soul keeps remembering them, and it sinks down within me.
21This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
21But this I call to mind, and because of it I have hope:
Mercies New Every Morning
22It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
22It is only the LORD's kindness that keeps us from being destroyed; his compassion never gives out.
23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
23It comes fresh every morning; how great your faithfulness is!
24The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
24"The LORD is all I have," my soul says; "so I will put my hope in him."
It Is Good to Wait Quietly
25The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
25The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the person who goes looking for him.
26It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
26It is good to hope, and to wait quietly, for the LORD to save.
27It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
27It is good for a man to carry the yoke while he is young.
28He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
28Let him sit alone in silence, because the LORD has laid it on him.
29He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
29Let him put his face in the dust; there may still be hope.
30He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.
30Let him offer his cheek to the one who strikes him; let him take his fill of insults.
He Does Not Afflict Willingly
31For the LORD will not cast off for ever:
31For the LORD will not cast anyone off forever.
32But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
32Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, because his kindness is so great.
33For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
33For he takes no pleasure in causing people hurt or sorrow.
34To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
34When all the prisoners of the land are crushed underfoot,
35To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,
35when a man is denied his rights right in front of the Most High,
36To subvert a man in his cause, the LORD approveth not.
36when a man is cheated in his case, the LORD does not approve of such things.
Who Can Speak and It Comes to Pass
37Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
37Who can speak and make it happen, unless the Lord has commanded it?
38Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?
38Do not both hard times and good times come from the mouth of the Most High?
39Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
39Why should any living person complain when he is punished for his sins?
Let Us Search and Try Our Ways
40Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
40Let us examine our ways and test them, and turn back to the LORD.
41Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
41Let us lift up our hearts along with our hands to God in heaven.
42We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
42"We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven."
You Have Covered Yourself With a Cloud
43Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
43You wrapped yourself in anger and hunted us down; you killed without pity.
44Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.
44You wrapped yourself in a cloud so that no prayer could get through.
45Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.
45You have made us like garbage and filth among the peoples.
46All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
46All our enemies open their mouths wide against us.
47Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.
47Terror and traps have come upon us, ruin and destruction.
48Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
48Streams of tears run from my eyes over the ruin of the daughter of my people.
My Eye Trickles Down Without Intermission
49Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
49My eyes keep flowing without stopping, without any pause,
50Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.
50until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.
51Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.
51What my eyes see breaks my heart, because of all the young women of my city.
Out of the Low Dungeon
52Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
52My enemies hunted me down like a bird, for no reason at all.
53They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
53They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones down on me.
54Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
54The water closed over my head, and I said, "I am finished."
55I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.
55I called on your name, O LORD, from the bottom of the pit.
56Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
56You heard my voice: "Do not close your ear to my gasping, to my cry for help."
57Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.
57You came near on the day I called to you; you said, "Do not be afraid."
Judge Thou My Cause
58O LORD, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
58O LORD, you took up my case; you bought back my life.
59O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.
59O LORD, you have seen the wrong done to me; judge my cause.
60Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.
60You have seen all their revenge, all their scheming against me.
61Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations against me;
61You have heard their insults, O LORD, all their plots against me,
62The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.
62the whispers of those who rise against me and their plans against me all day long.
63Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.
63Look at them, sitting down or standing up; I am the song they mock me with.
Render Unto Them a Recompence
64Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.
64Pay them back, O LORD, for what their hands have done.
65Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.
65Give them hard, stubborn hearts; let your curse fall on them.
66Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD.
66Chase them down in anger and wipe them out from under the LORD's heavens.
IV
King James Version — 1611
In Plain English
The Gold Has Lost Its Shine
1How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
1How the gold has lost its shine! How the purest gold has changed! The sacred stones lie scattered at the corner of every street.
2The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
2The precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in fine gold, how they are now treated like clay pots, the work of a potter's hands!
3Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
3Even the sea monsters offer the breast and nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become heartless, like ostriches in the desert.
4The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
4The nursing baby's tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth from thirst. Little children beg for bread, but no one breaks off a piece for them.
5They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
5Those who once ate fine food lie starving in the streets; those raised in scarlet robes now cling to garbage heaps.
Worse Than Sodom
6For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
6The punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment for Sodom's sin, which was overthrown in a moment with no human hand laid on her.
7Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
7Her Nazarites were purer than snow and whiter than milk; their bodies were redder than rubies, their looks like polished sapphire.
8Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
8Now their faces are darker than soot; no one recognizes them in the streets. Their skin has shriveled onto their bones; it has dried up like a stick.
9They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
9Those killed by the sword are better off than those killed by hunger, who waste away, pierced through by the lack of food from the fields.
10The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
10With their own hands, tender-hearted women have cooked their own children; the children became their food in the ruin of the daughter of my people.
The Fire in Zion
11The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
11The LORD has spent his fury; he has poured out his fierce anger. He lit a fire in Zion that burned up her foundations.
12The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
12The kings of the earth and all the people of the world would never have believed that an enemy, an attacker, could march through the gates of Jerusalem.
13For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
13It happened because of the sins of her prophets and the wrongs of her priests, who shed the blood of the innocent right in the middle of her.
14They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.
14They wandered the streets like blind men, so stained with blood that no one could touch their clothes.
15They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.
15"Go away! Unclean!" people shouted at them. "Go away, go away, don't touch us!" So they fled and wandered, and among the nations people said, "They can't stay here any longer."
16The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.
16The LORD's anger has scattered them; he will look on them no more. The priests are shown no respect, and the elders are shown no favor.
Watching for a Nation That Could Not Save
17As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
17As for us, our eyes wore out looking for help that never came. From our watchtowers we watched for a nation that could not save us.
18They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
18They stalked our every step until we could not walk in our own streets. Our end was near; our days were numbered, for our end had come.
19Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
19Those chasing us were faster than eagles in the sky. They ran us down on the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert.
20The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
20The very breath of our life, the LORD's anointed king, was caught in their traps, the one we said would shelter us, so that we could live among the nations under his shadow.
A Word to Edom
21Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
21Go ahead and celebrate, O daughter of Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But the cup will be passed to you too; you will get drunk and strip yourself bare.
22The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.
22Your punishment is complete, O daughter of Zion; he will not send you into exile again. But he will punish your sin, O daughter of Edom; he will lay your sins out in the open.
V
King James Version — 1611
In Plain English
Remember, O LORD, What Is Come Upon Us
1Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.
1Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look, and see our disgrace.
2Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
2Our land has been handed to strangers, our homes to foreigners.
3We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
3We are orphans without fathers; our mothers are like widows.
4We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
4We have to pay for the water we drink; our own firewood is sold to us.
5Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
5Those who chase us are right at our necks; we work hard and get no rest.
6We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
6We have held out our hands to Egypt and to Assyria just to get enough bread.
We Have Borne Their Iniquities
7Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
7Our fathers sinned, and now they are gone, and we carry the weight of their wrongs.
8Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
8Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to rescue us from their hands.
9We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
9We risk our lives to get our bread, because of the sword out in the wilderness.
10Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
10Our skin is hot and dark like an oven from the burning pangs of hunger.
The Women, the Princes, the Elders
11They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.
11They have violated the women in Zion and the young girls in the towns of Judah.
12Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
12Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect.
13They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
13Young men are forced to grind at the mill; boys stagger under loads of wood.
14The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick.
14The elders no longer sit at the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
The Crown Is Fallen From Our Head
15The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
15The joy has gone out of our hearts; our dancing has turned into mourning.
16The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
16The crown has fallen from our heads. How terrible for us, because we have sinned!
17For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
17Because of this our hearts are faint; because of these things our eyes have grown dim.
18Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
18Because Mount Zion lies in ruins, foxes now prowl across it.
Turn Thou Us Unto Thee
19Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.
19But you, O LORD, remain forever; your throne lasts from one generation to the next.
20Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
20Why do you keep on forgetting us? Why do you leave us alone for so long?
21Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
21Bring us back to you, O LORD, and we will come back; make our days new again, as they were long ago.
22But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
22But you have completely rejected us; you are furious with us.