15 “The Master piled up my best soldiers in a heap,
    then called in thugs to break their fine young necks.
    The Master crushed the life out of fair virgin Judah.

16 “For all this I weep, weep buckets of tears,
    and not a soul within miles around cares for my soul.
    My children are wasted, my enemy got his way.”

17 Zion reached out for help, but no one helped.
    God ordered Jacob’s enemies to surround him,
    and now no one wants anything to do with Jerusalem.

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15 “The Lord has rejected
    all the warriors in my midst;(A)
he has summoned an army(B) against me
    to[a] crush my young men.(C)
In his winepress(D) the Lord has trampled(E)
    Virgin Daughter(F) Judah.

16 “This is why I weep
    and my eyes overflow with tears.(G)
No one is near to comfort(H) me,
    no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
    because the enemy has prevailed.”(I)

17 Zion stretches out her hands,(J)
    but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has decreed for Jacob
    that his neighbors become his foes;(K)
Jerusalem has become
    an unclean(L) thing(M) among them.

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 1:15 Or has set a time for me / when he will