Shomron calls out, “My sins have overtaken me,
my children are gone abroad, away from me.”
And Ahalivah cried out, “My palaces were burned.”
And Zion declared, “God has forsaken me.”
For you, Ahalivah, it is improper,
to consider our suffering similar,
would you compare your ruin
to my ruin and my affliction?
I, Ahalah, the itinerant,
have been stubbornly defiant,
my perfidy rose up against me,
my defiance testified against me,
in a short time, I paid for my infidelity,
Tiglath-pileser consumed my progeny,
he stripped me of my property
and seized my jewelry,
and to Chalach and Chabor
he carried off my prisoners,
be still, Ahalivah, do not weep as I do,
you stayed many years, but I just a few.
And Ahalivah cried out, “My palaces were burned.”
And Zion declared, “God has forsaken me.”
Ahalivah responds, I was similarly obfuscated,
like Ahalah, the Lord of my youth I desecrated,
be still, Ahalah, as my torment is reevaluated,
you were once expelled, but I was often extricated,
twice was I by the Chaldeans subjugated,
I was a wretched captive to Babylon designated,
the Temple, where I found honor, was immolated,
after seventy years in Babylon, I was reinstated,
I returned to Zion, the Temple rejuvenated,
but once again, I was not long situated
before Edom took me, I was almost obliterated,
my multitudes to all the lands dissipated.
And Ahalivah cried out, “My palaces were burned.”
And Zion declared, “God has forsaken me.”
The One who takes pity on the indigent,
take pity on their impoverishment,
take note of their impairment,
and the length of their banishment,
do not be angry to an extreme extent,
take note of their steep descent,
please heal them from their impediment,
console them in their bereavement,
for You are their hope, their empowerment,
renew our days as in their commencement,
as You said, “God, the Builder of Jerusalem.”