Reading 1  Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19 The Lord has consumed without pityall the dwellings of Jacob;He has torn down in his angerthe fortresses of daughter Judah;He has brought to the ground in dishonorher king and her princes.On the ground in silence sitthe old men of daughter Zion;They strew dust on their headsand gird themselves with sackcloth;The maidens of Jerusalembow their heads to the ground.Worn out from weeping are my eyes,within me all is in ferment;My gall is poured out on the groundbecause of the downfall of the daughter of my people,As child and infant faint awayin the open spaces of the town.In vain they ask their mothers,“Where is the grain?”As they faint away like the woundedin the streets of the city,And breathe their lastin their mothers’ arms.To what can I liken or compare you,O daughter Jerusalem?What example can I show you for your comfort,virgin daughter Zion?For great as the sea is your downfall;who can heal you?Your