¹ How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!

² The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and its princes.

³ He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth on every side.

⁴ He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.

⁵ The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.

⁶ And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and in the indignation of his anger hath despised the king and the priest.

⁷ The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.

⁸ The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.

⁹ Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more: her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.

¹⁰ The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

¹¹ My eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.

¹² They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers' bosom.

¹³ What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?

¹⁴ Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not revealed thy iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.

¹⁵ All that pass by, clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call the Perfection of beauty, the Joy of the whole earth?

¹⁶ All thy enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.

¹⁷ The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thy enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thy adversaries.

¹⁸ Their heart cried to the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thy eye cease.

¹⁹ Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands towards him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.

²⁰ Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

²¹ The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thy anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.

²² Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors around, so that in the day of the LORD'S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up, hath my enemy consumed.

¹ And seeing the multitudes, he ascended a mountain: and when he was seated, his disciples came to him.

² And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

³ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

⁵ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

⁹ Blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called children of God.

¹⁰ Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

¹² Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt hath lost its savor, with what shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot by men.

¹⁴ Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

¹⁵ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a close vessel, but on a candlestick: and it giveth light to all that are in the house.

¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

¹⁸ For verily I say to you, Till heaven and earth shall pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

¹⁹ Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do, and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰ For I say to you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

²¹ Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment:

²² But I say to you, That whoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment: and whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire.

²³ Therefore if thou shalt bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath aught against thee;

²⁴ Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

²⁵ Agree with thy adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

²⁶ Verily, I say to thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

²⁷ Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

²⁸ But I say to you, That whoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

²⁹ And if thy right eye shall cause thee to sin, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

³⁰ And if thy right hand shall cause thee to sin, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

³¹ It hath been said, Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

³² But I say to you, That whoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of lewdness, causeth her to commit adultery: and whoever shall marry her that is divorced, committeth adultery.

³³ Again, ye have heard that it hath been said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform to the Lord thy oaths:

³⁴ But I say to you, Swear not at all: neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

³⁵ Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King,

³⁶ Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

³⁷ But let your communication be, Yea, yea, Nay, nay: for whatever is more than these cometh of evil.

³⁸ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.

³⁹ But I say to you, That ye resist not evil: but whoever shall strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

⁴⁰ And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

⁴¹ And whoever shall constrain thee to go one mile, go with him two.

⁴² Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away.

⁴³ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy:

⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you;

⁴⁵ That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

⁴⁶ For if ye love them who love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

⁴⁷ And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

⁴⁸ Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.