And it came to pass, after Israel was taken captive, and Jerusalem made desolate, [that] Jeremiah sat weeping, and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said: ALEPH. How does the city that was filled with people sit solitary! She has become as a widow: she that was magnified among the nations, and princess among the provinces, has become tributary.

And He has stripped me of my glory, and has taken the crown from my head.

You have overthrown the covenant of Your servant; You have profaned his sanctuary, [casting it] to the ground.

Say to the king and the princes, Humble yourselves, and sit down; for your crown of glory is removed from your head.

You have taken off the turban and put on the crown, it shall not have such [another] after it: you have abased that which was high, and exalted that which was low.

Fear none of those things which you are about to suffer. Behold indeed, the devil is about to cast [some] of you into prison, so that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no man may take your crown.

HETH. Jerusalem has sinned a great sin; therefore has she come into tribulation, all that used to honor her have afflicted her, for they have seen her shame: yea, she herself groaned, and turned backward.

TSADE. The Lord is righteous, for I have provoked His mouth. Hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my grief: my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.

ALEPH. How has the Lord darkened in His wrath the daughter of Zion! He has cast down the glory of Israel from heaven to earth, and has not remembered His footstool.

MEM. For the sins of her prophets, and iniquities of her priests, who shed righteous blood in the midst of her,

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sins, [however,] diminish [them].

Wherefore now their glory has been brought low, and the shame of their countenance has withstood them, and they have proclaimed their sin as Sodom, and made it manifest.

Woe to the transgressor! Evils shall happen to him according to the works of his hands.

Has not your forsaking Me brought these things upon you? Says the Lord your God.

Your apostasy shall correct you, and your wickedness shall reprove you. Know then, and see, that your forsaking Me [has been] bitter to you, says the Lord your God; and I have taken no pleasure in you, says the Lord your God.

Your ways and your devices have brought these things upon you; this is your wickedness, for [it is] bitter, for it has reached to your heart.

All hands shall be completely weakened, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture.

Their silver shall be cast forth in the streets, and their gold shall be despised: their souls shall not be satisfied, and their bellies shall not be filled; for it was the punishment of their iniquities.

And I will deliver them into the hands of strangers to make them a prey, and to the pests of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane them.

In you they have received gifts to shed blood; they have received in you interest and usurious increase; and by oppression you have brought your wickedness to the full, and have forgotten Me, says the Lord.

shall your heart endure? Shall your hands be strong in the days which I bring upon you? I the Lord have spoken, and will do [it].

And I will give heritages in you in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but rather confined [them] to Tartarus, and delivered [them] into chains of darkness, reserved for judgment;

and reducing the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, He condemned [them] to destruction, having made [them] an example who were to be ungodly,