1 ¡ Cuán solitaria ha quedado la otrora ciudad populosa! ¡Cual viuda ha quedado la capital de las naciones! ¡La princesa de las provincias es ahora tributaria!

How lonely sits the city That was full of people! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces Has become a forced laborer!

2 P or las noches, amargas lágrimas corren por sus mejillas. Ni uno solo de sus amantes viene a consolarla. Sus amigos le fallaron; ¡se volvieron sus enemigos!

She weeps bitterly in the night And her tears are on her cheeks; She has none to comfort her Among all her lovers. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.

3 P resa de la aflicción y de cruel esclavitud, Judá marcha al cautiverio; ahora habita entre las naciones sin hallar descanso alguno. La acosan sus perseguidores, la ponen en aprietos.

Judah has gone into exile under affliction And under harsh servitude; She dwells among the nations, But she has found no rest; All her pursuers have overtaken her In the midst of distress.

4 D e luto están los caminos de Sión. Ya nadie asiste a las fiestas. Todas sus puertas están derribadas. Sus sacerdotes lloran. Amargada está Sión, y afligidas sus doncellas.

The roads of Zion are in mourning Because no one comes to the appointed feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests are groaning, Her virgins are afflicted, And she herself is bitter.

5 S us enconados enemigos son ahora grandes magnates. ¡El Señor la afligió por sus muchas rebeliones, y sus jóvenes marchan ahora al cautiverio, arreados por el enemigo!

Her adversaries have become her masters, Her enemies prosper; For the Lord has caused her grief Because of the multitude of her transgressions; Her little ones have gone away As captives before the adversary.

6 L a sin par belleza de Sión se ha esfumado; sus príncipes andan como ciervos en busca de pastos; fuerzas no tienen para oponerse a sus perseguidores.

All her majesty Has departed from the daughter of Zion; Her princes have become like deer That have found no pasture; And they have fled without strength Before the pursuer.

7 J erusalén recuerda su aflicción y sus rebeliones; recuerda tantas cosas agradables de que gozó en los tiempos antiguos; recuerda cuando cayó ante el enemigo y nadie vino en ayuda de su pueblo; recuerda cómo la miraban sus enemigos y se burlaban de su caída.

In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her precious things That were from the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the adversary And no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, They mocked at her ruin.

8 P ero Jerusalén pecó. ¡Por eso ha sido rechazada! Al verla desnuda, la desprecian quienes antes la admiraban; y ella, sollozante, corre a esconderse.

Jerusalem sinned greatly, Therefore she has become an unclean thing. All who honored her despise her Because they have seen her nakedness; Even she herself groans and turns away.

9 C ubierta está de inmundicia. No tuvo en cuenta su futuro. Ha caído a lo más bajo, y en su desconsuelo exclama: «¡Mira, Señor, mi aflicción! ¡Mira cómo se regodean mis enemigos!»

Her uncleanness was in her skirts; She did not consider her future. Therefore she has fallen astonishingly; She has no comforter. “ See, O Lord, my affliction, For the enemy has magnified himself!”

10 E l enemigo se ha adueñado de todos sus tesoros. Jerusalén ha visto a los paganos irrumpir en su santuario, aun cuando prohibiste que esa gente entrara en tu congregación.

The adversary has stretched out his hand Over all her precious things, For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, The ones whom You commanded That they should not enter into Your congregation.

11 E ntre sollozos, sus habitantes buscan algo qué comer; cambian por comida sus objetos más preciados para lograr volver a la vida. «¡Mírame, Señor! ¡Toma en cuenta mi desconsuelo!»

All her people groan seeking bread; They have given their precious things for food To restore their lives themselves. “See, O Lord, and look, For I am despised.”

12 U stedes, que van por el camino, ¿esto no los conmueve? ¡Consideren si hay dolor que se compare con el mío! ¡La ira del Señor se encendió y me envió este sufrimiento!

“Is it nothing to all you who pass this way? Look and see if there is any pain like my pain Which was severely dealt out to me, Which the Lord inflicted on the day of His fierce anger.

13 E nvió un fuego desde lo alto que me consumió los huesos; tendió una red a mi paso y me hizo retroceder; me dejó en completa ruina, y sufro a todas horas.

“From on high He sent fire into my bones, And it prevailed over them. He has spread a net for my feet; He has turned me back; He has made me desolate, Faint all day long.

14 E l Señor mismo me ha atado al yugo de mis rebeliones; me ha puesto en el cuello ataduras que acaban con mis fuerzas; me ha dejado en manos de enemigos que no puedo vencer.

“The yoke of my transgressions is bound; By His hand they are knit together. They have come upon my neck; He has made my strength fail. The Lord has given me into the hands Of those against whom I am not able to stand.

15 E l Señor ha pisoteado en mis calles a todos mis hombres fuertes; ha convocado tropas para derrotar a mis valientes; ¡ha prensado a la virginal Judá como si prensara uvas!

“The Lord has rejected all my strong men In my midst; He has called an appointed time against me To crush my young men; The Lord has trodden as in a wine press The virgin daughter of Judah.

16 É sta es la causa de mis lágrimas. El llanto brota de mis ojos, pues no tengo a nadie que me consuele; ¡no tengo a nadie que me reanime! ¡Mis hijos han sido derrotados! ¡El enemigo nos venció!

“For these things I weep; My eyes run down with water; Because far from me is a comforter, One who restores my soul. My children are desolate Because the enemy has prevailed.”

17 S ión tiende las manos suplicante, y no hay quien la consuele; el Señor hizo que los vecinos de Jacob se volvieran sus enemigos; ¡Jerusalén les resulta algo repugnante!

Zion stretches out her hands; There is no one to comfort her; The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob That the ones round about him should be his adversaries; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

18 P ero el Señor es justo. ¡Yo me rebelé contra su palabra! ¡Oigan esto, pueblos todos, y consideren mi dolor! ¡Mis doncellas y mis jóvenes fueron llevados al cautiverio!

“The Lord is righteous; For I have rebelled against His command; Hear now, all peoples, And behold my pain; My virgins and my young men Have gone into captivity.

19 P edí ayuda a mis amantes, pero ellos me fallaron; en la ciudad, mis sacerdotes y mis ancianos perecieron; buscaban comida para volver a la vida.

“I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; My priests and my elders perished in the city While they sought food to restore their strength themselves.

20 ¡ Mírame, Señor, atribulada y con gran angustia interna! El corazón me da vuelcos por causa de mi gran rebeldía. Allá afuera, hace estragos la espada; aquí adentro, predomina la muerte.

“See, O Lord, for I am in distress; My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is overturned within me, For I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword slays; In the house it is like death.

21 M e oyen sollozar, pero no hay quien me consuele; Saben mis enemigos de mi mal, y se alegran de lo que me haces. ¡Envía ya el día que tienes anunciado, y que les vaya como a mí!

“They have heard that I groan; There is no one to comfort me; All my enemies have heard of my calamity; They are glad that You have done it. Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed, That they may become like me.

22 ¡ Hazlos comparecer ante ti por toda su maldad, y trátalos como a mí por todas mis rebeliones! ¡Demasiadas son mis lágrimas! ¡Tengo deshecho el corazón!

“Let all their wickedness come before You; And deal with them as You have dealt with me For all my transgressions; For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”