Lam 2:11-19 | ESV | STEP | My eyes are spent with weeping ; my stomach churns ; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people , because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city .

11 ^aMy eyes are spent with weeping;
^bmy stomach churns;
^cmy bile is poured out to the ground
^dbecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
^ebecause infants and babies ^ffaint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
^g“Where is bread and wine?”
^has they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosom.
13 What can I say for you, ⁱto what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
^jWhat can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
^kFor your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 ^lYour prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
^mthey have not exposed your iniquity
to ⁿrestore your fortunes,
^obut have seen for you ^poracles
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
^qthey hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
^rthe perfection of beauty,
^sthe joy of all the earth?”
16 ^tAll your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We ^uhave swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; ^vwe see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out ^whis word,
which he commanded ^xlong ago;
^yhe has thrown down ^zwithout pity;
^aahe has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the ^abmight of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O ^acwall of the daughter of Zion,
^adlet tears stream down like a torrent
^aeday and night!
^afGive yourself no rest,
^agyour eyes no respite!
19 “Arise, ^ahcry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
^aiPour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
^ajLift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
^akwho faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”