You make us like filthy scum in the estimation of the nations.

I have become the laughingstock of all people, their mocking song all day long.

Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed.

י (Yod) The hands of tenderhearted women cooked their own children, who became their food, when my people were destroyed.

א (Alef)Alas! The city once full of people now sits all alone! The prominent lady among the nations has become a widow! The princess who once ruled the provinces has become a forced laborer!

כ (Kaf) All her people groaned as they searched for a morsel of bread. They exchanged their valuables for just enough food to stay alive.“Look, O Lord! Consider that I have become worthless!”

צ (Tsade) The Lord is right to judge me! Yes, I rebelled against his commands. Please listen, all you nations, and look at my suffering! My young women and men have gone into exile.

כ (Kaf) My eyes are worn out from weeping; my stomach is in knots. My heart is poured out on the ground due to the destruction of my helpless people; children and infants faint in the town squares.

ג (Gimel) Even the jackals nurse their young at their breast, but my people are cruel, like ostriches in the desert.

ו (Vav) The punishment of my people exceeded that of of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment with no one to help her.

ז (Zayin) 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.