I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, ¹  so that you will once again be built up. Once again you will take up the tambourine and join in the happy throng of dancers. ² 

“The virgin ¹  Israel has fallen down and will not get up again. She is abandoned on her own land with no one to help her get up.” ² 

This is what the Lord says about him: ¹  “The virgin daughter Zion ²  despises you, she makes fun of you; Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you. ³ 

He said, “You will no longer celebrate, oppressed ¹  virgin daughter Sidon! Get up, travel to Cyprus, but you will find no relief there.” ² 

this is what the Lord says about him: ¹  “The virgin daughter Zion ²  despises you – she makes fun of you; daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you. ³ 

Therefore, the Lord says, “Ask the people of other nations whether they have heard of anything like this. Israel should have been like a virgin. But she has done something utterly revolting!

I will say, ¹  ‘My dear children of Israel, ²  keep in mind the road you took when you were carried off. ³  Mark off in your minds the landmarks. Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back. Return, my dear children of Israel. Return to these cities of yours.

Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment, ¹  you dear poor people of Egypt. ²  But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use; ³  there will be no healing for you.

י (Yod) The elders of Daughter Zion sit ¹  on the ground in silence. ²  They have thrown dirt on their heads; They have dressed in sackcloth. ³  Jerusalem’s young women ⁴  stare down at the ground. ⁵ 

They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they may marry a virgin from the house of Israel ¹  or a widow who is a priest’s widow.

They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation ¹  ruined the reputation ²  of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

“Fall down! Sit in the dirt, O virgin ¹  daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on a throne, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, ²  you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.

“Tell these people this, Jeremiah: ¹  ‘My eyes overflow with tears day and night without ceasing. ²  For my people, my dear children, ³  have suffered a crushing blow. They have suffered a serious wound. ⁴ 

מ (Mem) With what can I equate ¹  you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you ²  so that ³  I might comfort you, O Virgin Daughter Zion? Your wound is as deep ⁴  as the sea. ⁵  Who can heal you? ⁶