Lamentations 1:8

ח (Khet)

1:8 Jerusalem committed terrible sin;

therefore she became an object of scorn.

All who admired her have despised her

because they have seen her nakedness.

She groans aloud

and turns away in shame.

Lamentations 1:17

The Prophet Speaks:

פ (Pe)

1:17 Zion spread out her hands,

but there is no one to comfort her.

The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob;

his neighbors have become his enemies.

Jerusalem has become

like filthy garbage in their midst.

Lamentations 2:10

י (Yod)

2:10 The elders of Daughter Zion

sit on the ground in silence.

They have thrown dirt on their heads;

They have dressed in sackcloth.

Jerusalem’s young women stare down at the ground.

Lamentations 4:12

ל (Lamed)

4:12 Neither the kings of the earth

nor the people of the lands ever thought

that enemy or foe would enter

the gates of Jerusalem.

Lamentations 1:7

ז (Zayin)

1:7 Jerusalem remembers,

when she became a poor homeless person,

all her treasures

that she owned in days of old.

When her people fell into an enemy’s grip,

none of her allies came to her rescue.

Her enemies gloated over her;

they sneered at her downfall.

Lamentations 2:13

מ (Mem)

2:13 With what can I equate you?

To what can I compare you, O Daughter Jerusalem?

To what can I liken you

so that I might comfort you, O Virgin Daughter Zion?

Your wound is as deep as the sea.

Who can heal you?

Lamentations 2:15

ס (Samek)

2:15 All who passed by on the road

clapped their hands to mock you.

They sneered and shook their heads

at Daughter Jerusalem.

“Ha! Is this the city they called

‘The perfection of beauty,

the source of joy of the whole earth!’?”