Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord^(I)
    while in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you,^(J) Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof^(K) of my mouth
    if I do not remember^(L) you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem^(M)
    my highest joy.

⁷ Remember, Lord, what the Edomites^(N) did
    on the day Jerusalem fell.^(O)
“Tear it down,” they cried,
    “tear it down to its foundations!”^(P)
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,^(Q)
    happy is the one who repays you
    according to what you have done to us.
⁹ Happy is the one who seizes your infants
    and dashes them^(R) against the rocks.

¹³ What can I say for you?^(A)
    With what can I compare you,
    Daughter^(B) Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you,
    that I may comfort you,
    Virgin Daughter Zion?^(C)
Your wound is as deep as the sea.^(D)
    Who can heal you?

¹⁴ The visions of your prophets
    were false^(E) and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
    to ward off your captivity.^(F)
The prophecies they gave you
    were false and misleading.^(G)

¹⁵ All who pass your way
    clap their hands at you;^(H)
they scoff^(I) and shake their heads^(J)
    at Daughter Jerusalem:^(K)
“Is this the city that was called
    the perfection of beauty,^(L)
    the joy of the whole earth?”^(M)

¹⁶ All your enemies open their mouths
    wide against you;^(N)
they scoff and gnash their teeth^(O)
    and say, “We have swallowed her up.^(P)
This is the day we have waited for;
    we have lived to see it.”^(Q)

¹⁷ The Lord has done what he planned;
    he has fulfilled^(R) his word,
    which he decreed long ago.^(S)
He has overthrown you without pity,^(T)
    he has let the enemy gloat over you,^(U)
    he has exalted the horn^[a] of your foes.^(V)

¹⁸ The hearts of the people
    cry out to the Lord.^(W)
You walls of Daughter Zion,^(X)
    let your tears^(Y) flow like a river
    day and night;^(Z)
give yourself no relief,
    your eyes no rest.^(AA)

¹⁹ Arise, cry out in the night,
    as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart^(AB) like water
    in the presence of the Lord.^(AC)
Lift up your hands^(AD) to him
    for the lives of your children,
who faint^(AE) from hunger
    at every street corner.

²⁰ “Look, Lord, and consider:
    Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,^(AF)
    the children they have cared for?^(AG)
Should priest and prophet be killed^(AH)
    in the sanctuary of the Lord?^(AI)

²¹ “Young and old lie together
    in the dust of the streets;
my young men and young women
    have fallen by the sword.^(AJ)
You have slain them in the day of your anger;
    you have slaughtered them without pity.^(AK)

²² “As you summon to a feast day,
    so you summoned against me terrors^(AL) on every side.
In the day of the Lord’s anger
    no one escaped^(AM) or survived;
those I cared for and reared^(AN)
    my enemy has destroyed.”