Old Testament: Lamentations 1:1-6

¹How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal. ²She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies. ³Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she lives now among the nations, and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.⁴The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter. ⁵Her foes have become the masters, her enemies prosper, because the Lord has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. ⁶From daughter Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like stags that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer.

Psalm: Lamentations 3:19-26 or Psalm 137

¹⁹ The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
   is wormwood and gall!
²⁰ My soul continually thinks of it
   and is bowed down within me.
²¹ But this I call to mind,
   and therefore I have hope:
²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,^*
   his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
   ‘therefore I will hope in him.’
²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
   to the soul that seeks him.
²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly
   for the salvation of the Lord.

or

¹ By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, *
       when we remembered you, O Zion.
² As for our harps, we hung them up *
       on the trees in the midst of that land.
³ For those who led us away captive asked us for a song,
  and our oppressors called for mirth: *
      “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
⁴ How shall we sing the Lord’s song *
       upon an alien soil?
⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem, *
       let my right hand forget its skill.
⁶ Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth
  if I do not remember you, *
       if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.
⁷ Remember the day of Jerusalem, O Lord,
  against the people of Edom, *
       who said, “Down with it! down with it!
       even to the ground!”
⁸ O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, *
       happy the one who pays you back
       for what you have done to us!
⁹ Happy shall he be who takes your little ones, *
       and dashes them against the rock!

Old Testament: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4

¹The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw. ²O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? ³Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. ⁴So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous— therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

¹I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint. ²Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. ³For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. ⁴Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith.

Psalm: Psalm 37:1-10

¹ Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; *
       do not be jealous of those who do wrong.
² For they shall soon wither like the grass, *
       and like the green grass fade away.
³ Put your trust in the Lord and do good; *
       dwell in the land and feed on its riches.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord, *
       and he shall give you your heart’s desire.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, *
       and he will bring it to pass.
⁶ He will make your righteousness as clear as the light *
       and your just dealing as the noonday.
⁷ Be still before the Lord *
       and wait patiently for him.
⁸ Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, *
       the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
⁹ Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; *
       do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.
¹⁰ For evildoers shall be cut off, *
       but those who wait upon the Lord shall possess the land.