1. She is the book of the precepts of God,the law that endures forever;All who cling to her will live,but those will die who forsake her.
2. Turn, O Jacob, and receive her:walk by her light toward splendor.
3. Do not give your glory to another,your privileges to an alien nation.
4. Blessed are we, O Israel;for what pleases God is known to us!
5. Take courage, my people!Remember, O Israel,
6. You were sold to the nationsnot for destruction;It was because you angered Godthat you were handed over to your foes.
7. For you provoked your Makerwith sacrifices to demons and not to God;
8. You forgot the eternal God who nourished you,and you grieved Jerusalem who nurtured you.
9. She indeed saw coming upon youthe wrath of God; and she said:“Hear, you neighbors of Zion!God has brought great mourning upon me,
10. For I have seen the captivitythat the Eternal One has broughtupon my sons and daughters.
11. With joy I nurtured them;but with mourning and lament I sent them away.
12. Let no one gloat over me,a widow, bereft of many;For the sins of my children I am left desolate,because they turned from the law of God,
13. and did not acknowledge his statutes;In the ways of God’s commandments they did not walk,nor did they tread the disciplined paths of his justice.
14. “Let Zion’s neighbors come—Remember the captivity of my sons and daughters,brought upon them by the Eternal One.
15. He has brought against them a nation from afar,a nation ruthless and of alien speech,That has neither reverence for old agenor pity for the child;
16. They have led away this widow’s beloved sons,have left me solitary, without daughters.
17. What can I do to help you?