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10 Jerusalem elders of daughter Zion are mute,
    dispensing no precious wisdom.
They sit on the ground distraught, clad in sackcloth;
    they hurl dust on their heads.
The young maidens of Jerusalem hang their heads
    down to the ground.

11 Knowing the fate of Zion, my insides are in turmoil and pour out
    for Jerusalem, the devastation of the daughter of my people.
I can’t see because of the tears for the children in the streets—
    I can’t stop crying for infants and toddlers too weak to wail.
My people are destroyed.

12 Little Children: Mother, grain and wine—where is it?

Like the wounded,
    collapsing in the city streets,
They pine and die
    on their mother’s breast.

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10 The elders of Daughter Zion
    sit on the ground in silence;(A)
they have sprinkled dust(B) on their heads(C)
    and put on sackcloth.(D)
The young women of Jerusalem
    have bowed their heads to the ground.(E)

11 My eyes fail from weeping,(F)
    I am in torment within(G);
my heart(H) is poured out(I) on the ground
    because my people are destroyed,(J)
because children and infants faint(K)
    in the streets of the city.

12 They say to their mothers,
    “Where is bread and wine?”(L)
as they faint like the wounded
    in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away(M)
    in their mothers’ arms.(N)

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