The Lord cried out, ¹  “Who in the world ²  will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will grieve over you? Who will stop long enough ³  to inquire about how you are doing? ⁴ 

As you stand in those places ¹  announce, ‘Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah and all you citizens of Jerusalem. Listen to what the Lord says. ² 

The Lord says, ‘Be very careful if you value your lives! ¹  Do not carry any loads ²  in through ³  the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

So the prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the people who were living in Jerusalem. ¹ 

I made Jerusalem ¹  and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. ²  I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object ³  of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. ⁴  Such is already becoming the case! ⁵ 

Indeed, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  has already spoken ²  about the valuable articles that are left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

Now at that time, ¹  the armies of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem. ²  The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse ³  attached to the royal palace of Judah.

Under his rule Judah will enjoy safety ¹  and Jerusalem ²  will live in security. At that time Jerusalem will be called “The Lord has provided us with justice.” ³ 

I will punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, ¹  the priests, and all the other people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf. ² 

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. The siege began in the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah. ¹ 

The Babylonians ¹  burned down the royal palace, the temple of the Lord, and the people’s homes, ²  and they tore down the wall of Jerusalem. ³ 

So my anger and my wrath were poured out and burned like a fire through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. That is why they have become the desolate ruins that they are today.’

The person who lives in Zion says, “May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives.” Jerusalem says, “May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people.” ¹ 

You who have escaped the sword, ¹  go, do not delay. ²  Remember the Lord in a faraway land. Think about Jerusalem. ³ 

¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem ²  for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal ³  daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger when he drove them out of his sight. ¹  Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.

The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.

ח (Khet) Jerusalem committed terrible sin; ¹  therefore she became an object of scorn. ²  All who admired ³  her have despised her ⁴  because they have seen her nakedness. ⁵  She groans aloud ⁶  and turns away in shame. ⁷ 

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