Psalms 79:1-4; Lamentations 2:15-16; Joel 2:17

1 O God, pagan nations have conquered your land, your special possession. They have defiled your holy Temple and made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.

2 They have left the bodies of your servants as food for the birds of heaven. The flesh of your godly ones has become food for the wild animals.

3 Blood has flowed like water all around Jerusalem; no one is left to bury the dead.

4 We are mocked by our neighbors, an object of scorn and derision to those around us.

15 All who pass by jeer at you. They scoff and insult beautiful Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city called ‘Most Beautiful in All the World’ and ‘Joy of All the Earth’?”

16 All your enemies mock you. They scoff and snarl and say, “We have destroyed her at last! We have long waited for this day, and it is finally here!”

17 Let the priests, who minister in the LORD ’s presence, stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar. Let them pray, “Spare your people, LORD ! Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery. Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say, ‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”