¹⁶ “This is why I weep
    and my eyes overflow with tears.^(A)
No one is near to comfort^(B) me,
    no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
    because the enemy has prevailed.”^(C)

¹⁷ Zion stretches out her hands,^(D)
    but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has decreed for Jacob
    that his neighbors become his foes;^(E)
Jerusalem has become
    an unclean^(F) thing^(G) among them.

¹⁸ “The Lord is righteous,^(H)
    yet I rebelled^(I) against his command.
Listen, all you peoples;
    look on my suffering.^(J)
My young men and young women
    have gone into exile.^(K)