כ (Kaf) For the Lord ¹  will not reject us forever. ² 

to defraud a person in a lawsuit – the Lord ¹  does not approve ²  of such things!

ר (Resh) O Lord, ¹  you championed ²  my cause, ³  you redeemed my life.

ס (Samek) He rounded up ¹  all my mighty ones; ²  The Lord ³  did this ⁴  in ⁵  my midst. He summoned an assembly ⁶  against me to shatter my young men. The Lord has stomped like grapes ⁷  the virgin daughter, Judah. ⁸ 

מ (Mem) Whose command was ever fulfilled ¹  unless the Lord ²  decreed it?

נ (Nun) My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke; ¹  they are fastened together by his hand. He has placed his yoke ²  on my neck; ³  he has sapped my strength. ⁴  The Lord ⁵  has handed me over ⁶  to those whom I cannot resist.

א (Alef) Alas! ¹  The Lord ²  has covered Daughter Zion ³  with his anger. ⁴  He has thrown down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth; he did not protect ⁵  his temple ⁶  when he displayed his anger. ⁷ 

ה (He) The Lord, ¹  like an enemy, destroyed ²  Israel. He destroyed ³  all her palaces; he ruined her ⁴  fortified cities. He made everyone in Daughter Judah mourn and lament. ⁵ 

ז (Zayin) The Lord ¹  rejected ²  his altar and abhorred his temple. ³  He handed over to the enemy ⁴  her palace walls; the enemy ⁵  shouted ⁶  in the Lord’s temple as if it were a feast day. ⁷ 

ר (Resh) Look, O Lord! Consider! ¹  Whom have you ever afflicted ²  like this? Should women eat their offspring, ³  their healthy infants? ⁴  Should priest and prophet be killed in the Lord’s ⁵  sanctuary?

ב (Bet) The Lord ¹  destroyed ²  mercilessly ³  all the homes of Jacob’s descendants. ⁴  In his anger he tore down the fortified cities ⁵  of Daughter Judah. He knocked to the ground and humiliated the kingdom and its rulers. ⁶ 

צ (Tsade) Cry out ¹  from your heart ²  to the Lord, ³  O wall of Daughter Zion! ⁴  Make your tears flow like a river all day and all night long! ⁵  Do not rest; do not let your tears ⁶  stop!

ק (Qof) Get up! Cry out in the night ¹  when the night watches start! ²  Pour out your heart ³  like water before the face of the Lord! ⁴  Lift up your hands ⁵  to him for your children’s lives; ⁶  they are fainting ⁷  at every street corner. ⁸