[Opening Lament] How lonely the city beneath the red sky, How silent the courts where the pilgrims drew nigh. The walls that had echoed with psalm and with prayer Breathed smoke into morning; no festival there. [Verse 1] Nebuchadnezzar surrounded the gate; Famine grew sharp as the siege lengthened late. Mothers searched streets where no bread could be found; Soldiers broke through when the wall struck the ground. Zedekiah fled by the garden at night, But armies pursued him near Jericho's light. [Refrain] The city burned, The temple fell. Bronze went to Babylon, And captives as well. The city burned, As prophets had cried; Mercy was mocked Till no remedy survived. [Verse 2] The king saw his sons slain before him; Then eyes were put out, and he traveled in chain. The house Solomon built was consumed in the fire; The palace and dwellings became ash and pain. Pillars were broken, the vessels were carried; Priests were executed, the remnant displaced. [Bridge] Seventy years for the sabbaths neglected, The land kept silence in judgment and waste. [Final Lament] The city burned, But the covenant story Was not buried forever Beneath fallen glory. A remnant went east with the promise still heard; Exile could discipline, not cancel the word.