"For these [things] I weep; My eye, my eye overflows with water; Because the comforter, who should restore my life, Is far from me. My children are desolate Because the enemy prevailed."

My eyes fail with tears, My heart is troubled; My bile is poured on the ground Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the children and the infants Faint in the streets of the city.

Their heart cried out to the Lord, "O wall of the daughter of Zion, Let tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no relief; Give your eyes no rest.

"Arise, cry out in the night, At the beginning of the watches; Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him For the life of your young children, Who faint from hunger at the head of every street."

So I have been allotted months of futility, And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.

I am weary with my groaning; All night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears.

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted.

You hold my eyelids [open;] I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search.

Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!

Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come.

For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion: 'How we are plundered! We are greatly ashamed, Because we have forsaken the land, Because we have been cast out of our dwellings.' "

But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for [your] pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And run down with tears, Because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.

"I called for my lovers, [But] they deceived me; My priests and my elders Breathed their last in the city, While they sought food To restore their life.

"And [when] you [are] plundered, What will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, Though you adorn [yourself] with ornaments of gold, Though you enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you will make yourself fair; [Your] lovers will despise you; They will seek your life.

" Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, And lift up your voice in Bashan; Cry from Abarim, For all your lovers are destroyed.

The wind shall eat up all your rulers, And your lovers shall go into captivity; Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated For all your wickedness.

All your lovers have forgotten you; They do not seek you; For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, With the chastisement of a cruel one, For the multitude of your iniquities, [Because] your sins have increased.

"surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, [and] all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.

" Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: 'Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you, From whom you have alienated yourself, And I will bring them against you from every side:

And they shall come against you With chariots, wagons, and war-horses, With a horde of people. They shall array against you Buckler, shield, and helmet all around. 'I will delegate judgment to them, And they shall judge you according to their judgments.

She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find [them.] Then she will say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, For then [it was] better for me than now.'

"These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.

"And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire.

Her uncleanness [is] in her skirts; She did not consider her destiny; Therefore her collapse was awesome; She had no comforter. "O LORD, behold my affliction, For [the] enemy is exalted!"

"For these [things] I weep; My eye, my eye overflows with water; Because the comforter, who should restore my life, Is far from me. My children are desolate Because the enemy prevailed."

Zion spreads out her hands, [But] no one comforts her; The LORD has commanded concerning Jacob [That] those around him [become] his adversaries; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

"They have heard that I sigh, [But] no one comforts me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; They are glad that You have done [it.] Bring on the day You have announced, That they may become like me.

[There is] no one to guide her Among all the sons she has brought forth; Nor [is there any] who takes her by the hand Among all the sons she has brought up.

These two [things] have come to you; Who will be sorry for you? -- Desolation and destruction, famine and sword -- By whom will I comfort you?

My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook, Like the streams of the brooks that pass away,

" He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

My relatives have failed, And my close friends have forgotten me.

I am a reproach among all my enemies, But especially among my neighbors, And [am] repulsive to my acquaintances; Those who see me outside flee from me.

All the brothers of the poor hate him; How much more do his friends go far from him! He may pursue [them with] words, [yet] they abandon [him.]

Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth From her who lies in your bosom.