(The Lamentations of Jeremiah)
Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?2:15
This book consists of five dirges for Jerusalem—songs of sorrow and despair for the ruined city, in which the prophet Jeremiah, in bitter grief, cries out for sympathy for Jerusalem, the pride of Judah, now conquered and humiliated:
How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she become as a widow! she that was great among nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become a tributary!1:1
Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.1:3
Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.1:5
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.1:12
All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem. . . .2:15
Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever. . . . Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.5:20–21