2 ‘Judah mourns,her cities languish;they wail for the land,and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
3 The nobles send their servants for water;they go to the cisternsbut find no water.They return with their jars unfilled;dismayed and despairing,they cover their heads.
4 The ground is crackedbecause there is no rain in the land;the farmers are dismayedand cover their heads.
5 Even the doe in the fielddeserts her newborn fawnbecause there is no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heightsand pant like jackals;their eyes failfor lack of food.’
7 Although our sins testify against us,do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.For we have often rebelled;we have sinned against you.
8 You who are the hope of Israel,its Saviour in times of distress,why are you like a stranger in the land,like a traveller who stays only a night?