א (Alef)
2:1 Alas! The Lord has covered
Daughter Zion with his anger.
He has thrown down the splendor of Israel
from heaven to earth;
he did not protect his temple
when he displayed his anger.
ב (Bet)
2:2 The Lord destroyed mercilessly
all the homes of Jacob’s descendants.
In his anger he tore down
the fortified cities of Daughter Judah.
He knocked to the ground and humiliated
the kingdom and its rulers.
ג (Gimel)
2:3 In fierce anger he destroyed
the whole army of Israel.
He withdrew his right hand
as the enemy attacked.
He was like a raging fire in the land of Jacob;
it consumed everything around it.
ד (Dalet)
2:4 He prepared his bow like an enemy;
his right hand was ready to shoot.
Like a foe he killed everyone,
even our strong young men;
he has poured out his anger like fire
on the tent of Daughter Zion.
ה (He)
2:5 The Lord, like an enemy,
destroyed Israel.
He destroyed all her palaces;
he ruined her fortified cities.
He made everyone in Daughter Judah
mourn and lament.
ו (Vav)
2:6 He destroyed his temple as if it were a vineyard;
he destroyed his appointed meeting place.
The Lord has made those in Zion forget
both the festivals and the Sabbaths.
In his fierce anger he has spurned
both king and priest.
ז (Zayin)
2:7 The Lord rejected his altar
and abhorred his temple.
He handed over to the enemy
her palace walls;
the enemy shouted in the Lord’s temple
as if it were a feast day.
ח (Khet)
2:8 The Lord was determined to tear down
Daughter Zion’s wall.
He prepared to knock it down;
he did not withdraw his hand from destroying.
He made the ramparts and fortified walls lament;
together they mourned their ruin.
ע (Ayin)
2:17 The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled his promise
that he threatened long ago:
He has overthrown you without mercy
and has enabled the enemy to gloat over you;
he has exalted your adversaries’ power.
צ (Tsade)
2:18 Cry out from your heart to the Lord,
O wall of Daughter Zion!
Make your tears flow like a river
all day and all night long!
Do not rest;
do not let your tears stop!
ק (Qof)
2:19 Get up! Cry out in the night
when the night watches start!
Pour out your heart like water
before the face of the Lord!
Lift up your hands to him
for your children’s lives;
they are fainting
at every street corner.
ר (Resh)
2:20 Look, O Lord! Consider!
Whom have you ever afflicted like this?
Should women eat their offspring,
their healthy infants?
Should priest and prophet
be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?
ש (Sin/Shin)
2:21 The young boys and old men
lie dead on the ground in the streets.
My young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword.
You killed them when you were angry;
you slaughtered them without mercy.
ת (Tav)
2:22 As if it were a feast day, you call
enemies to terrify me on every side.
On the day of the Lord’s anger
no one escaped or survived.
My enemy has finished off
those healthy infants whom I bore and raised.