Why do you keep on forgetting ¹  us? Why do you forsake us so long?

unless ¹  you have utterly rejected us ²  and are angry with us beyond measure. ³ 

ז (Zayin) Her consecrated ones ¹  were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies more ruddy than corals, their hair ²  like lapis lazuli. ³ 

כ (Kaf) The Lord fully vented ¹  his wrath; he poured out his fierce anger. ²  He started a fire in Zion; it consumed her foundations. ³ 

פ (Pe) Zion spread out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob; his neighbors ¹  have become his enemies. Jerusalem has become like filthy garbage ²  in their midst. ³ 

נ (Nun) Your prophets saw visions for you that were worthless lies. ¹  They failed to expose your sin so as to restore your fortunes. ²  They saw oracles for you that were worthless ³  lies.

ג (Gimel) He has walled me in ¹  so that I cannot get out; he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains. ² 

“My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, ¹  so I will put my hope in him.

We must pay money ¹  for our own water; ²  we must buy our own wood at a steep price. ³ 

We have submitted ¹  to Egypt and Assyria in order to buy food to eat. ² 

The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!

ח (Khet) Now their appearance ¹  is darker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it is dried up, like tree bark.

צ (Tsade) Our enemies ¹  hunted us down at every step ²  so that we could not walk about in our streets. Our end drew near, our days were numbered, ³  for our end had come!

פ (Pe) All your enemies gloated over you. ¹  They sneered and gnashed their teeth; they said, “We have destroyed ²  her! Ha! We have waited a long time for this day. We have lived to see it!” ³ 

ס (Samek) People cry to them, “Turn away! You are unclean! Turn away! Turn away! Don’t touch us!” So they have fled and wander about; but the nations say, ¹  “They may not stay here any longer.”