Nehemiah 9:36-37

9:36 “So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy its good things – we are slaves! 9:37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, and we are in great distress!

Psalms 44:11-14

44:11 You handed us over like sheep to be eaten;

you scattered us among the nations.

44:12 You sold your people for a pittance;

you did not ask a high price for them.

44:13 You made us an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.

44:14 You made us an object of ridicule among the nations;

foreigners treat us with contempt.

Psalms 137:1-3

Psalm 137

137:1 By the rivers of Babylon

we sit down and weep

when we remember Zion.

137:2 On the poplars in her midst

we hang our harps,

137:3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs;

those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying:

“Sing for us a song about Zion!”

Isaiah 32:9-14

The Lord Will Give True Security

32:9 You complacent women,

get up and listen to me!

You carefree daughters,

pay attention to what I say!

32:10 In a year’s time

you carefree ones will shake with fear,

for the grape harvest will fail,

and the fruit harvest will not arrive.

32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones!

Shake with fear, you carefree ones!

Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –

put sackcloth on your waist!

32:12 Mourn over the field,

over the delightful fields

and the fruitful vine!

32:13 Mourn over the land of my people,

which is overgrown with thorns and briers,

and over all the once-happy houses

in the city filled with revelry.

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded city is abandoned.

Hill and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited.

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there.

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 3:61

ש (Sin/Shin)

3:61 You have heard their taunts, O Lord,

all their plots against me.

Lamentations 5:1

The People of Jerusalem Pray:

5:1 O Lord, reflect on what has happened to us;

consider and look at our disgrace.