8. God drew up plans to tear down the walls of Daughter Zion.He assembled his crew, set to work and went at it.Total demolition! The stones wept!
9. Her city gates, iron bars and all, disappeared in the rubble:her kings and princes off to exile—no one left to instruct or lead;her prophets useless—they neither saw nor heard anything from God.
10. The elders of Daughter Zion sit silent on the ground.They throw dust on their heads, dress in rough penitential burlap—the young virgins of Jerusalem, their faces creased with the dirt.
11. My eyes are blind with tears, my stomach in a knot.My insides have turned to jelly over my people’s fate.Babies and children are fainting all over the place,
12. Calling to their mothers, “I’m hungry! I’m thirsty!”then fainting like dying soldiers in the streets,breathing their last in their mothers’ laps.
13. How can I understand your plight, dear Jerusalem?What can I say to give you comfort, dear Zion?Who can put you together again? This bust-up is past understanding.